Brussels initiative promotes accessible tourism

Brussels is looking to make tourism more accessible to people with reduced mobility through an initiative from visit.brussels.

The initiative has added 38 ‘Access-i’ labels to tourist infrastructure in the capital in the past year, a label guaranteeing access for people with reduced mobility.

“Anyone coming to Brussels should be able to visit a museum, go to a concert or book a hotel room without any worries,” Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort said.

"I am proud that much of the tourist infrastructure in our region is already adapted to the needs of everyone, but there is still room for improvement.

"With this certificate, we want to continue to promote inclusive tourism and encourage players in the tourism sector to adapt their infrastructure.”

Such a certificate and accompanying label provide more clarity to people with unique mobility needs, offering them more information on the accessibility of a tourist site, as well as information on facilities, difficulties and guidance possibilities.

Of the 38 sites in the Brussels region to receive an Access-i label, there are 18 museums, 15 tourist sites and five accommodations.

Among them, for example, are the Royal Library of Brussels, the Museum of Natural Sciences, Mini-Europa, BELvue, Concert Noble, the Halles de Schaerbeek, Novotel Brussels City Centre and Pulmann Brussels Centre Midi.

This year, three events were also certified for the first time: Belgian Pride, the Iris Festival and Bright Festival.

“Many more venues will be added,” said visit.brussels. “The cooperation with Access-i expires in four years and we expect to add and label dozens more venues.”