Accessible museums in Italy: an overview.

Abstract

The number of people with disabilities is increasing worldwide. The result is the need for their greater involvement in the economy, to build an inclusive society. The cultural sector must also play its role, in a wider project of welcoming tourism. This paper illustrates the evolution and the current situation of accessible museums in Italy, presenting some valid experiences to propose useful benchmarking to public entities, associations, etc. After an adequate review of international literature, a summary of the evolution of the Italian situation is presented, obviously linked to other tourist-cultural initiatives such as museums, natural and archaeological parks, etc. Despite some limitations, Italy, as a privileged international tourist destination, can be a valid reference for many other nations that want to develop accessible cultural tourism.

Keywords

• Accessible museums
• tourism in Italy
• accessible tourism
• universal tourism
• disability
• benchmarking