A Pioneer Curriculum for Designing Tourism Experiences for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People
▶Summary
Accessible tourism is a market of growing significance. However the tourism sector is still failing to serve the needs of people with disabilities. Only 9% of touristic services provide accessible...
▶Objectives
The objectives of the project were to: (a) Offer a better understanding of the requirements of tourists with hearing impairments as a valuable share of the tourism market (referring to physical access, accommodation, food, activities, attractions and transport). (b) Create employment opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing people to work as tourist agents creating accessible vacations for their peers. (c) Train travel agents in how to serve deaf customers and customers with hearing impairments. Staff who are well-trained with a ‘can-do’ attitude are important in improving travel enjoyment for these groups of customers. (d) Create a European community of deaf and hard of hearing people that will be advising peers to organise their trips in the visiting country.
▶Activities
The main activities of the project leading to the desired results were: (a) Development of a curriculum on entry-level travel agent basics adequate for people with hearing impairments (Result 1: Feelit Curriculum). (b) Development of curriculum on designing Tourism Experiences for Deaf and hard of hearing people (Result 1: Feelit Curriculum). (c) Development of an online e-learning platform with the course materials in all consortium languages and all countries sign languages (Result 2: Feelit online eLearning platform). (d) Training of people with hearing loss from each country on the entry-level travel agent basics course (the total minimum number was 12 DHH. The project reached 25 DHH). (e) Training and certification of people with hearing loss and professionals from each country on designing Tourism Experiences for Deaf and hard of hearing people ((the total minimum numbers were 12 DHH and 40 professionals. The project reached 25 DHH and 46 professionals).(Result 4: Feelit certification system). (f) Development of a short game(playing in VR and PC screens) and a handbook with infographics for tourist providers in a co-design approach with the certified trainees, building empathy for visitors with hearing impairments(Result 4: Feelit handbook with 3D game). (g) Development of an online community of FEELIT operators(Result 5: FeeliT online community)
▶Impact
The results of the project were: R1: a) A curriculum on entry-level travel agent basics adequate for people with hearing impairments. b) A curriculum on design accessible vacation for deaf and hard of hearing people (both for existing travels agents and also for people with hearing impairments followed R1) R2: An online e-learning platform with the course materials in all consortium languages and all countries sign languages. R3: A certification scheme for both target groups to acquire the FeeliT certification. R4: A VR and PC 3D game and a handbook with infographics for tourist providers to understand how it feels to be a visitor with hearing impairments in a foreign country. R5: An online community of FeelIt operators ready to support visitors with hearing impairments that want to visit their countries