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Calpe Town Council plans to purchase adapted vehicles and equipment that will allow people with some kind of functional diversity to improve their experience when visiting the municipality. With this, it intends to make progress in its bid to become an inclusive tourist destination.

Specifically, four adapted vehicles are to be acquired: on the one hand, an all-terrain Joëlette chair that will allow its occupants to go hiking or for family outings in places inaccessible with conventional wheelchairs; on the other, an electric OPair bicycle, which is a bicycle with a built-in wheelchair, as well as two tandem bicycles that offer the possibility of enjoying cycling in pairs, allowing a person with reduced mobility to share the experience of pedalling with a companion.

In addition to these vehicles, two amphibious chairs and ten packs of amphibious crutches will also be purchased to improve accessibility on the beaches. The amphibious chairs allow users with reduced mobility to enjoy the experience of bathing in the sea (or in the pool) and at the same time facilitate their movement on the sand. And the crutches are characterised by a larger contact surface that prevents them from digging into the sand, as well as greater buoyancy and adequate support that facilitates entry and exit from the water.

With all this, Calpe aims to improve and expand the offer of inclusive and accessible tourism in the town. The project is part of the Tourism Sustainability Plan for Destinations (PSTD) with the support of the Valencian Regional Ministry of Tourism - Turisme Comunitat Valenciana - and the Secretary of State for Tourism in the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (in Spanish: PRTR) financed by the European Union - Next Generation.

The PSTD of Calpe establishes the need to make progress in the elimination of physical barriers in the town, which prevent or hinder people with disabilities from enjoying the tourist destination or any of the products and services. In fact, Calpe has a plan specifically aimed at accessibility: the Strategic Plan for Accessible Tourism. A line of work also contemplated in the Calpe Strategic Tourism Plan 2020 - 2030 as well as in the Calpe DTI Master Plan.

The purchase of these vehicles and equipment for people with functional diversity is currently under tender and has a base budget of 30,000 euros. Once this material has been supplied to the Town Hall, the tourist offices will make these adapted vehicles available to citizens who request them, while the amphibious chairs and crutches will be available at the adapted beach points.

This is the first action launched by the City Council as part of a wider project to consolidate inclusive tourism as part of the Tourism Sustainability Plan for Destinations. The project also includes carrying out annual awareness-raising and training campaigns aimed at all tourism stakeholders and citizens, as well as the installation of a lift in the Museu de la Senyoreta among other actions.

‘One of the strategic objectives of the Department of Tourism is to position itself as an inclusive destination, open to all visitors, so that anyone, regardless of their disability, can enjoy the places and tourist resources that Calpe has to offer,’ said the Councillor for Tourism Planning, Mireia Ripoll.

To improve the visitor's experience and facilitate their visit to non-accessible tourist resources. With this aim, Calpe Town Council will implement digital tools in its museums and tourist offices with which tourists will be able to enjoy virtual visits or immersive virtual realities to some of the tourist attractions of the municipality that cannot be visited because they are not open to the public or because they have a full quota of visitors or because they are not accessible to groups with mobility problems.

These are, on the one hand, the Penyal d'Ifac - which in summer is usually fully booked, the Red Wall and the archaeological sites of the medieval Pobla d'Ifac and Banys de la Reina. In addition to making these sites of tourist interest more accessible, the idea is also to offer tourists a more attractive and differentiating visit compared to the traditional visit. "The main aim is to improve the tourist's visit to Calpe through immersive experiences, since the idea is to connect the tourist with the heritage resource that he or she is going to enjoy and interact with it with all five senses, a more original and different alternative to what we are used to, with which to provoke all kinds of sensations", highlighted the councillor for International Promotion and Next Generation, Marco Bittner.

This project is part of the Tourism Sustainability Plan for Destinations with the support of the Valencian Regional Ministry of Tourism - Turisme Comunitat Valenciana - and the Secretary of State for Tourism within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) financed by the European Union - Next Generation.

The initiative is currently out to tender with a base amount of 250,000 euros and a three-year implementation period. According to the technical specifications, these virtual experiences can be offered through augmented reality glasses, virtual projections or sensory stimulation devices and other types of advances in interaction with the senses through ultrasound or vibrations, among others. The company awarded the contract will have to develop content for immersive and virtual experiences that tell stories and leave an impression on tourists. Likewise, audio-guides with explanatory narrations will be created to help tourists understand these tourist resources, as well as video guides in sign language.

This project reinforces the City Council's commitment to inclusive tourism as it will facilitate access for people with reduced mobility to these tourist resources and to sustainability as it reduces the weight of tourist influx on elements of the natural and cultural heritage that must be protected, all in line with what is advocated by tourism sustainability plans at the destination.

The Tourism Sustainability in Destination Plan (PSTD) of Calpe is starting to take its first steps. The first three projects that make up this plan have been put out to public tender. They are the implementation of the Local Plan for the Prevention of Forest Fires, the incorporation of Calpe into the ETIS system of tourism sustainability to measure and evaluate the actions carried out with the aim of converting the municipality into a Smart Tourism Destination and the technical assistance for the management of the plan.

The implementation of actions of the Local Plan for the Prevention of Forest Fires will involve creating perimeter strips in the Serra d'Oltà and Ermita Vella to protect urbanisations and recreational areas from forest fires and, on the other hand, it also includes the treatment of the vegetation of the Quisi ravine. The contract, which has a base tender budget of 170,000 euros, will be carried out over three years.

On the other hand, the Calpe Town Hall has put out to tender the consultancy services for the incorporation of the town to the ETIS system of tourism sustainability. These indicators will measure and evaluate the actions carried out to convert Calpe into a Smart Tourist Destination, as well as the improvement in tourism management and visitor satisfaction.

This initiative, which is already included in the Strategic Tourism Plan, aims to position Calpe as a sustainable tourist destination, connected to the territory, respectful of natural resources and quality, as well as its perception by tourists of these qualities. It has a budget of 41,322.32 euros and a completion period of two years.

Calpe Town Council has also put out to tender a technical assistance with the aim of contracting a company expert in tourism plan management and financial justification to support the municipal technical team in the implementation of the PSTD.

The PSTD is developed within the framework of the Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience (PRTR), funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU and will involve an investment in Calpe of 2.001.722 €, distributed in 11 actions.

The Next Generation are funds launched by the European Union to alleviate the economic crisis caused by the pandemic of COVID-19 while trying to promote the transformation of tourist destinations towards sustainability. They are managed through the Secretary of State for Tourism and the Autonomous Communities, and, in fact, the evaluation of these projects will be carried out by a bilateral commission between the two administrations.