Genoa: the 2024 edition of the Accessible Sea Guide has been presented.

Presented in the Region the 2024 edition of the Accessible Sea Guide, the annual mapping of Liguria's coastlines equipped for people with motor disabilities.
The guide, developed thanks to the collaboration between the Liguria Region, the Regional Council for the Protection of the Rights of the Disabled, Inail, the Liguria Regional Directorate and Aism (Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association), is a useful vademecum for identifying bathing establishments, free beaches and equipped free beaches in which – thanks to specific services – accessibility to the shoreline and the sea is guaranteed.

The agency in Liguria took care of the editing and the graphic design.

There are numerous innovations compared to the 2023 edition, in particular the collaboration of 53 volunteers - awarded during the press conference - activated by Aism and the National Association of State Police, Odv group of Genoa and a more detailed mapping of Ligurian beaches, as well as a dedicated update of the app MyLiguria, for an even more "smart" use of the Guide, and the creation of the section “Accessible Tourism” on the site lamialiguria.it.
In the entirely digital edition of Accessible Sea Guide 2024, there are 222 structures registered and verified, with a significant increase in the accessible seaside tourist offer of 44% compared to 2023 when there were 154.
The Guide is designed not only to inform tourists, but also to help Ligurian citizens and residents with reduced mobility to orient themselves in the offer of accessible beaches in the Region.

Furthermore, compared to previous editions, the 2024 edition has a simplified legend that allows you to consult at a glance all the services available on the various beaches, from Ponente to Levante to enable tourists to choose.
The information reported in the volume is the result of the verification of the volunteers who went to the establishments and the equipped free beaches of the Ligurian coast, starting from those who took part in the survey by completing the questionnaire sent to all managers in recent months.

The on-site checks were carried out in the month of June until 5 July 2024, necessarily when the season had already begun to ensure the most up-to-date picture possible with respect to the practicability of the places, services and beach.
Furthermore, depending on the individual characteristics, establishments and beaches have been divided according to their accessibility, between “accessible” and to “conditional accessibility”.

“The 2024 Accessible Sea Guide is an important tool for increasing accessible and inclusive tourism in the Liguria Region – comments the regional councilor for Tourism Augusto Sartori – also because this issue is a political priority for us: thanks to the use of the capital Funt in 2023, more than 2 million euros were committed to the Municipalities for the construction of small infrastructures to improve accessibility and, also in 2023, interventions were concluded and promoted in various Municipalities on the Ligurian coast (in particular Sestri Levante, Pietra Ligure and the surrounding municipalities) with funds from the Ministry of Social Policies amounting to more than 1,2 million euros which have achieved the goal of making the Ligurian coasts even more welcoming for those with motor difficulties. I would like to thank in particular the volunteers of Aism and those of the National Association of the State Police, Odv group of Genoa who have worked tirelessly to help the institutions in this challenge. I am also pleased that the working group has involved the tourist accommodation associations as the accessible hotel type accommodation facilities will soon be included in the section of the regional website dedicated to accessible tourism, to further encourage tourist enjoyment by all people with reduced mobility even in other seasons of the year”.

“The number of accessible beaches in Liguria continues to grow: it is a sign of the quality of this work, in the awareness that the level of civility of a community is also measured in its capacity for 360-degree inclusion of people with motor disabilities. – declares the regional councillor for social policies Giacomo Giampedrone – My thanks go in particular to the Regional Council, to Inail, to Aism and to all the subjects who have guaranteed their precious support in the preparation of this vademecum, useful for identifying the bathing establishments, the free beaches and the equipped free beaches where full accessibility to the shoreline and to our beautiful sea is guaranteed, also this year the Italian champion of blue flags. The Accessible Sea Guide 2024 is therefore an essential tool that we also want to continue to offer in the future to Ligurians and to the many tourists, including those with disabilities, who will choose Liguria for their holidays”.

“The 44% growth in accessible beaches registered is certainly gratifying data – states Maritime State Property Councilor Marco Scajola –. I want to thank all the managers who responded, considerably enriching our Guide which is confirmed, also for the 2024 edition, as a useful and appreciated tool. As the Maritime State Property Department, this year too, we have responded to all the questions received from coastal municipalities for works to remove architectural barriers and, since 2015, we have collaborated profitably to make our beaches accessible to every person. We have also recently financed barrier removal works in private buildings and, through the many urban regeneration works underway, we are making streets, squares and venues more easily accessible."

“This year we surveyed over 800 free beaches, free equipped beaches, bathing establishments: more than a quarter of the facilities surveyed were therefore accessible, an excellent result but which can improve – declares Claudio Puppo, coordinating secretary of the Regional Disability Council – As a regional council, in fact, we note that many structures that have not been admitted in the Guide are only due to minimal deficiencies: either they do not have a walkway to enter the water or they do not have a changing room or they do not have a shower. Our hope is that managers can fill these small gaps in order to satisfy an increasingly larger user base."

"The mapping of Ligurian beaches enhances the convergence of intent and collaboration between the bodies and associations active in the territory and responds to the principles of accessibility, social participation and non-discrimination contained in the 2009 UN declaration on the rights of persons with disabilities, principles adopted, also by Inail, with the Regulation for the provision of interventions for the functional recovery of the person, autonomy and for reintegration into relational life (no. 404 of December 2021). The methodology underlying the census is also in line with the definition of disability contained in the United Nations document as "interaction between the person and the characteristics of the surrounding environment – says the Regional Director of Inail Liguria, Angela Razzino – As an Institute that has made the global integrated protection of people with work-related disabilities the guiding star of its action, including rehabilitation, we have invested in this survey since 2015 because enjoying leisure, well-being and free time activities accelerates the recovery of residual potential and it increases awareness that the user is at the center of the institutions' attention. I hope that opportunities for socializing and sharing free time will progressively spread thanks to the availability of facilities that can be used by everyone, regardless of their disability condition".

“Also in 2024 Aism, through the fundamental involvement of its volunteers, has actively contributed to the mapping of the accessibility of Ligurian beaches, thus improving the summer tourist experience and the usability of one of the strong points of the Liguria Region not only for people with disabilities but for all citizens. – declares the director of General Affairs and Institutional Relations of Aism Paolo Bandiera – The collaboration with the Liguria Region, which is part of a protocol that has been active for several years and that, in addition to the scope of inclusive tourism and accessibility, also touches on other aspects related to disability and inclusion, constitutes the strategic and operational framework in which we have given our contribution to this important initiative, increasing this year both the number of Aism volunteers involved, and the beaches mapped, and those verified to be accessible, in line with our commitment to promote and support accessible and inclusive tourism projects for all. Because tourism and the usability of spaces also constitute an essential right for people with disabilities and a significant component of the life project that we want to make increasingly a reality for every citizen with disabilities.