Visitors Invited to the Sensory Trail at the Tourism Exhibition – Experience, Understand, and Make Tourism More Accessible for All

During the tourism exhibition–fair Balttour from February 6 to 8, visitors will have the opportunity not only to discover travel destinations but also to personally experience what it means to move around, receive information, and navigate the environment with mobility, visual, or hearing impairments. Everyone is invited to visit the Sensory Trail – a specially designed experiential zone where practical activities help deepen understanding of accessibility in tourism.

The Sensory Trail will be a place where human experience, technology, and solutions meet, helping tourism professionals and visitors alike to see the environment from a different perspective.

What can you experience on the Sensory Trail?
The Sensory Trail will feature three activity stations and specially designed pathways where visitors can:
*try moving in a wheelchair across different types of surfaces,
*test their agility and understand the everyday obstacles faced by people with mobility impairments,
*explore assistive devices that help people with visual or hearing impairments perceive their surroundings,
*learn how tourism services can be made clearer, safer, and more accessible for everyone.
This will not be just theory – it will be a real, sensory-based experience that often changes perceptions about seemingly “small details” in the environment.

Meet professionals and NGOs in the field of accessibility
Visitors will have the opportunity to meet in person with experts who work daily on accessibility issues and represent people with various functional impairments:
*Association of People with Disabilities and Their Friends “Apeirons”, including public relations specialist Reinis Darkēvics,
*Apeirons digital accessibility expert Gatis Preiss, who will invite visitors to test website accessibility for people with visual impairments,
*Gatis Grīntāls (Exceed) – the first company in Latvia specializing in typhlotechnics, providing assistive devices for people with visual impairments,
*A representative of the Latvian Association of the Deaf, introducing assistive listening devices and communication solutions,
*Līga Ķikute from the service dog association “Teodors”,
*Riga Association of the Partially Sighted and Blind “Redzi mani”,
*Project managers from the Kurzeme Planning Region working on environmental accessibility projects – Alise Lūse, Aija Neilande, and project coordinator Inga Hartika.

Staff working on the Sensory Trail can be recognized by their white T-shirts, with the logos of their represented organizations placed high on the back, at shoulder level. This placement was chosen deliberately so the logos remain visible even when a person is seated in a wheelchair.

The Sensory Trail will help visitors understand how people with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments feel when interacting with the outside world – including while traveling, attending events, or staying overnight. This experience is especially valuable for tourism entrepreneurs, guides, event organizers, and municipal representatives.

Visitors to the Sensory Trail will also have the chance to participate in a lottery and win surprise prizes. The Trail’s opening hours follow the exhibition program.

Participation in the exhibition is supported by the project “Development of Accessible Tourism Routes (Access Routes)” (EE-LV00043), implemented with financial support from the EU Interreg Estonia–Latvia Programme 2021–2027, providing regions with knowledge, tools, and practical examples for creating inclusive environments in tourism and cultural heritage.

Project activities are carried out with the support of the Interreg Estonia–Latvia Programme 2021–2027.