The first action aims to carry out works to improve accessibility, orientation, and communication along some itineraries and tourist routes with particular attention to overcoming height differences; adequate pavements; natural guidelines and tactile walking surfaces; the identification of adequately equipped rest points; safety measures; equipped sanitary facilities; fixed furniture accessible to everyone. Information along the itineraries and tourist routes will also be made accessible through an approach based on Universal Design with multiple language modes: AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication), Easy to read language, remote LIS video interpreting, subtitling, and tactile maps.

The routes and itineraries that will be the subject of this action are:

Bergamo-Brescia Cultural Cycle
Route Bergamo-Brescia Walk, known as the Way of the Sisters
Itineraries in Upper Bergamo
Trails on the Brescia side of Lake Garda
Tourist routes in the Bergamasque Valleys in Clusone
Tourist routes in Valle Camonica - Massi di Cemmo
Tourist routes in Valle Camonica - Corni Freschi
Walks and multisensory experiences in Val Taleggio
Trails on the Bergamo mountains at Colli di San Fermo

The project includes the activation of 26 internships dedicated to people with disabilities in tourist services, with particular attention to the lake and mountain areas of Bergamo and Brescia, also in connection with the event Bergamo-Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023 and in collaboration with Visit Bergamo and Visit Brescia.

The internships will be proposed in the following areas:

a) in tourist reception services and related public and private information desks (museums, tourist offices, information points, etc.);
b) in tourist escort and guide services;
c) in accommodation and catering services;
d) in any other related areas.

The training of tourism operators for welcoming, supporting, and accompanying vulnerable people and those with disabilities is a strategic element of the project. The action includes the design and implementation of training courses aimed at raising local tourism awareness about the quality of
hospitality for tourists with disabilities.
Useful tools will be offered to fully satisfy the customer with disabilities, allowing tourism operators to understand the needs of tourists with disabilities and how to organize an accessible and usable tourist offer. The training will focus on the central aspects of a successful tourist proposal:
the accessibility of spaces/environments; the usability of tourist experiences; the quality of hospitality and customer relations; the accessibility and usability of communication and information; the effectiveness of marketing policies; the accessibility and usability of events and manifestations. The training courses will be aimed at the following professional figures operating in the identified areas:

• Tourist guides (involving local Tourist Guide associations already in contact with the tourist promotion agencies of the two provinces Visit Bergamo and Visit Brescia);
• Operators of tourist Info Points.
• Operators and managers of accommodation and catering facilities (involving sector
• associations such as Ascom, Confesercenti, Confcooperative, Distretto Urbano del
• Commercio, etc.)
• Operators and managers of museum, cultural, and tourism services.
• Staff at reception/information/booking points of healthcare facilities (through the project
• group's entities and institutions, relevant healthcare facilities will be identified in
• collaboration with ATS Bergamo and ATS Brescia).

With this initiative, the aim is to increase the wealth of information available to tourists withdisabilities, making it easier and more convenient to organize trips and excursions. There will also be an enhancement in the capacity to provide information to tourists with disabilities regarding the accessibility and usability of the territory at the 40 tourist Info Points in Bergamo and Brescia.
Participation in tourism fairs will further promote Accessible Tourism in Lombardy, with particular attention to the accessibility and usability of tourism offerings in the lake and mountain areas of Bergamo and Brescia, also in connection with the event Bergamo-Brescia Italian Capital of Culture
2023.
Additionally, events will be promoted and organized at local/regional/national levels to disseminate the initiatives related to the project. Synergies will be developed with initiatives promoted in the territories of Bergamo and Brescia, focusing particularly on the major event Bergamo and Brescia
Capitals of Culture 2023.
The presence of other regional or national events will provide further opportunities fordisseminating the project and its outcomes.