The overall quality of life increases by participation in leisure activities. The accessibility of
destinations is crucial in order for everyone to have equal opportunity to experience them.
Approximately 560 thousand people in Sweden have some form of physical disability. As a
result they may require different types of assistance or aid to manage everyday life, which
includes recreational activities. Everyone has the right to enjoy the nature and Sweden has a
large number of national parks and national reserves. In many cases, the accessibility to these
destinations is limited for people with physical impairments or disabilities. Stockholm
archipelago is the largest one in Sweden with a great variety of natural- and cultural values.
This area attracts a high number of tourists, especially during the summer season. Therefore,
have the authors aimed this thesis to study how Swedish organizations operating within
tourism for disabled are working to improve the accessibility for people with physical
disabilities in Stockholm archipelago. To collect the data seven in-depth interviews were
conducted with organizations who are working with accessibility and tourism for people with
physical disabilities and have adequate knowledge regarding the topic. The results of the study
indicate that the progress towards an accessible archipelago had a promising start. However,
the development is slow and there is still much need for improvement. A lot of consideration
needs to be taken when planning for improved accessibility and four main areas of importance
were discovered.
2016.
Accessible tourism, physical impairments, disability and travel pattern, nature tourism, destination management