Tillgänglig naturturism i vinterfjäll, är det möjligt? : En fall- och intervjustudie.

• Main Author: Olofsson, Gunilla
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap 2019
• Subjects: Accessable naturtourism; Disability; Nordic sit-ski; Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap; Abiskojaure; Kiruna; North Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-160747

Purposes of this report was to evaluate accessibility of a mountain hut in north Sweden and how a packaged nature tourism trip with Nordic sit-ski works for a wheelchair riding person. Furthermore, to investigate the opinions of outdoor active disabled persons on accessibility in nature tourism and Nordic sit-ski, how nature tourism businesses and handicap organisations look upon accessible nature tourism and sit-ski. Methods were case study in the mountain hut at Abiskojaure in Kiruna region and e-mail interviews. Results showed that accessibility of Abiskojaure mountain hut mostly met the standards from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. It basically met the needs of the wheelchair riding person but what didn’t made her dependent of help. A packaged nature tourism trip with sit-ski was seen positively. Results showed that sit-ski sledges and poles should be customised. The material should be developed to meet the needs of the disabled, the sport and to perform better in the landscape. Furthermore, there were demands from disabled to make nature tourism more accessible and a national database with accessible nature could meet the lack of information. The costs could be covered by project funding but there is a risk that the maintenance would be lacking when the project is over. There was literature saying that accessibility is a matter of equality and that nature tourism businesses could benefit economically if they met accessibility need. Future developments are needed for outdoor equipment and accessibility for disabled.