Another Hidden City walk in Vrchlabí

We had the pleasure to host the 2nd Hidden City Tour in Vrchlabí. Together with primary school pupils from a local school we had the pleasure to experience the magic of Vrchlabí with walking sticks, in wheelchairs and with special visual aids simulating a variety of visual impairments. Through games, quizzes and interactive activities the pupils got a glimpse into a whole new Vrchlabí than the town that they have known all their lives. We created shared memories, experiences, we raised awareness and contributed towards creating a community that is one step closer towards inclusion and accessibility for all.

Another Hidden City walk in Pécs/HU

The youth is always an important target group. On the one hand, because they are accepting, there is not really a need to explain to them what it means to accept difference. On the other hand, because with them we can best shape future societies.

On 7. December 2024 we held a Hidden City Tor-Tour for 40 secondary school students in the city centre of Pécs (HU). We walked and talked with students of tourism among the Advent decorations.
They will be tour guides and travel agents in the future, so it was really important that they learn about the importance of accessibility.
We thank and congratulate their teachers for making this topic important to the students.

“Walk in our shoes” project in Universal Air’s in-flight magazine

We are very proud and we think it is a great opportunity for hundreds of people flying from all over the world to read about the accessibility of tourism in the Visegrad countries!

Universal Air’s Winter 2024-2025 in-flight magazine features the Hidden City Tor-Tour in the three cities of the project. Universal Air’s beautiful in-flight magazine will inform readers that in Pécs, Poznan and Vrchlabi accessible tourism facilities are available for people with disabilities, elderly people, families with young children and anyone else who is more comfortable.

Our advertisement in the magazine aims to promote the Hidden City Tor tour as a best practice and a unique opportunity for accessible tourism. As part of our “Walk in Our Shoes” project, supported by the Visegrad Fund, the Hungarian People First Association promoted the Hidden City Tor-Tour to its Polish and Czech partners through training and study tours. Currently, the tour is being implemented not only in Pécs, but also in Poznan and Vrchlabi, and we have also raised awareness of the tour among the flying public.

Now it’s time for the Czech and Polish walks!

The monitoring phase of our project supported by the Visegrad Fund is now underway. This means that what the Hungarian People First Association was able to pass on from the “Hidden City” sensitisation walk has been passed on to the Polish and Czech partners. Now it is the turn of Sowelo and EYCB to use in their own cities what they have learned and seen. Develop and pilot their own Hidden City tours, organise a network of partners, build relationships, make contracts, in other words, think further about how the project could work well in their city and country.

Sowelo is planning another Hidden City sensitisation walk in Poznan/Poland at the end of November 2024. The concept is similar, but an informal group of young people will be involved in the organisation. They will also be the target group of the current walk.

EYCB in the Czech Republic wants to include the Advent period in a new Hidden City walk. In early December, a special walk for primary school children aged 10-14 will be organised at the Advent Fair. The Hidden City will therefore be more playful this time, with quizzes and sensory education.

We are excited to announce the next Hidden City Walks, so if you can, join us! We also welcome photo/video reports.

Marketing is a very important part of the monitoring phase.
The Polish partner intends to promote the project through training sessions in the near future. They will talk about the project, its importance, and encourage everyone to join our interactive Platform. In addition, a special meeting will be organised in Poland for those who were unable to attend the recent final conference in English. They will be given a summary of the project and the conference in Polish language.

The Czech partner will inform a Turkish partner team about the project and the interactive opportunities offered by the Platform.

We encourage everyone to follow our news and PARTICIPATE IN OUR JOINT WORK ON INCLUSIVE TOURISM!
Sign up to the Platform, invite other stakeholders and write to us.

Final conference SUMMARY

Dear participants, 

thank you very much for attending more than 40 people from many countries at the final conference of our “Walk in our shoes inclusive city adventure” project on 27. September 2024. We hope it was useful and interesting for you. And we hope even more that you will join the project here on this Platform and together we will further develop accessible tourism.
Most of the Platform menus are accessible without logging in. However, to interact you must register to access the Forum and the Training Material sections. If you have any questions about registration, please contact us here: info@peoplefist.hu

Please read a brief summary of the final conference.
We uploaded it in several ways to make it available to everyone (jpg, pdf, docx)

PPTs presented at the conference can be found in the Training Material menu.

 

PDF: Conference summary

Doc: Conference summary

Hidden City Tor-Tour for university students

The Hungarian People First Association has an ongoing good relationship with the local university. We have already held several Hidden City sensitisation walks for students, or for delegations visiting the university, which are always a great success with them.

Students are always enthusiastic, ask questions, try out the wheelchair, tap the white cane, fooling, having fun…..while they don’t even realise how much they are learning. That’s why the Hidden City Tor-Tour is in Pécs!

This time we held a tour for students of the Marketing and Tourism Institute of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Pécs on 26. September 2024. The day before, we gave a presentation about our  Barrier-free Pécs database  at the course on Accessible Tourism. The next day, we were taken on a Hidden City Tor-Tour through the city centre.

We are always happy to welcome students, we love to work with them! 🙂

Final online conference 27. September 2024.

We will hold an exciting online conference on 27. September from 10.00-12.00 on the results so far. 

You can find out what is accessible tourism, why is it so important for the near future.
Of course, we will talk about our unique social-sensitizing city walk, which is a novelty in tourism and a business opportunity.
You can hear from disabled travelers about their own experiences.
And you will also hear about how you can get involved in this segment of tourism with us.
Of course you can ask questions, comment, we will answer everything. 

Our conference is free, but registration is required. Please register using this simple form: https://forms.gle/HqiaqwkNgEij9rza9

Invite your acquaintances too, because we are presenting a really unique topic and project. We are looking forward to the participation of tourism professionals, local government workers, representatives of disabled people’s organizations and anyone else who is interested in the topic. 

Let us show you the Conference Program, we are sure you will like it:

CONFERENCE PROGRAM.docx

All three Hidden City versions were presented

The Hidden City Tor Tour project, supported by the International Visegrad Fund, has reached an important stage.

Let’s see what’s happened so far.
The city sensitisation walk developed by the Hungarian People First Association will be shared in this project as a best practice with the Polish and Czech partners. First of all, the Hungarian partner developed online training material and prepared the partners to develop their own Hidden City walk methodology. On this basis, the Czech EYCB and the Polish Fundacija Sowelo have organised study tours to show how they imagine their own Hidden City sensitisation project in their city.

After the presentation in Pécs in mid-May 2024, we visited Poznan in Poland on 15-17 July and Vrchlabi in the Czech Republic on 19-21 August to see together how the partners have developed their variations.

The most interesting thing to note about this project is that the Hidden City is taking place in three three completely different cities. The different opportunities, the different approaches result in slightly different Hidden City projects. And that’s fine, that was the goal. To pass on something that already works well and is popular in Hungary, so that we can learn from each other and take each other further along this path.
Our main goal is to develop accessible tourism in a specific way in all three countries. Not just talk about the importance of accessible tourism, but show it, try it!

Pécs is a very old city, a typical Mediterranean tourist town in the south of Hungary. Built on a hillside with narrow streets, so it is difficult to make it barrier-free, but we still find a way. The Hidden City Tour is therefore called the Tor-Tour here, and it’s important for us to show a positive, fun attitude.

Poznań is a much bigger city than Pécs, it would be difficult to do a circle walk of the city centre with a Hidden City Tor Tour, you have to choose your route carefully. However, that is why it is worth offering several route options here. There are accessibility challenges in this beautiful and touristically very popular city, so it is worth involving the city administration and working together on these in the near future.

Vrchlabi is a small mountain town in a unique geological setting, which is definitely worth incorporating into a Hidden City project. You could even organise a special variation of accessible tours, as the local national park management seems to be interested. The small town offers a new experience with new features, and there is plenty more to bring to the attention of decision-makers and the public.

The next important step in our joint V4 project “Walk in our shoes” will be a final conference in the near future, where we will talk about the importance of accessible tourism, present the results of the project and broaden the partnership, which we welcome all those who wish to join through our interactive Platform.
If you would like to participate in the online small conference to close the project and you speak English, you can already let us know, we look forward to welcoming you! Find the three partners in Hungary, Poland or the Czech Republic. You can also apply here: info@peoplefirst.hu

Follow us and join us in developing accessible tourism!

Project “Walk in Our Shoes – Inclusive City Adventure” – Next Partner Meeting

Photo montage of the meeting participants. All recorded through individual web cameras. Last Tuesday, August 13th, another online meeting took place as part of the “Walk in Our Shoes – Inclusive City Adventure” project, funded by the International Visegrad Fund.

During the meeting with our partners: People First – HU from Hungary and the European Youth Centre Břeclav from the Czech Republic, we discussed the details of the upcoming study visit to the Czech Republic. We also talked about organizing the final project conference, which will be held online in September.

At this conference, we will present, among other things, a methodology for planning trips accessible to people with disabilities, enabling them, with the support of personal assistants, to plan and carry out their own journeys.

If you are interested in participating in the September conference, please contact us via the contact form: https://sowelo.net.pl/kontakt/

More information about the project can be found on the website: https://sowelo.net.pl/projekty/ in the section: Walk in Our Shoes.

The project is co-financed by the authorities of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia under the Visegrad Grants Program of the International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the program is to support ideas that promote sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.

Study Tour in Poznań as Part of the “Walk in Our Shoes – Inclusive City Adventure”

A photo montage of the participant s of the tour in Poznan. There is a small group a people on all photos, two of them are in a wheelchair.Project Funded by the International Visegrad Fund

This week, from July 15th to 17th, we hosted our international partners in Poznań: representatives from People First – HU from Hungary and the European Youth Centre Břeclav from the Czech Republic.

Together with our guests, we took a tour of Poznań, which was part of the project program we developed. We also discussed further project tasks, including the upcoming visit to the Czech Republic and the final project conference.

In September, during the aforementioned online conference, we will present, among other things, a methodology for planning trips accessible to people with disabilities. Based on this, our participants, with the support of personal assistants, will be able to plan and carry out both short and long trips.

If you would like to participate in the September conference, please contact us via the contact form: https://sowelo.net.pl/kontakt/

More information about the project can be found on the website: https://sowelo.net.pl/projekty/ in the section: Walk in Our Shoes.

The project is co-financed by the authorities of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia under the Visegrad Grants Program of the International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the program is to support ideas that promote sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.