FEELIT-A Pioneer Curriculum for Designing Tourism Experiences for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

The objectives of the project are the following:

• Offer a better understanding of the requirements of tourists with hearing impairments as a valuable share of the tourism market (referring to physical access, accommodation, food, activities, attractions and transport).
• Create employment opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing people to work as tourist agents creating accessible vacations for their peers.
• Train travel agents on how to serve deaf customers and customers with hearing impairments. Staff who are well-trained with a ‘can-do’ attitude are important in improving travel enjoyment for these groups of customers.
• Create a European community of deaf and hard of hearing people that will be advising peers to organise their trips in the visiting country.

• Experimenting the FEELIT methodology with users
• Increasing the understanding of the tourism experiences of Deaf or hard of hearing people through interactive activities
• Developing an inclusive and interactive handbook
• Creating a network of certified activities offering inclusive experiences for Deaf and hard of hearing people
• Disseminating the FEELIT methodology

The project will produce the following three results:

• R1 A curriculum on entry-level travel agent basics adequate for people with hearing impairments. b) A curriculum on design accessible vacation for deaf and hard of hearing people (both for existing travels agents and also for people with hearing impairments followed R1)
• R2: An online e-learning platform with the course materials in all consortium languages and all countries sign languages.
• R3: A certification scheme for both target groups to acquire the FEELIT certification.
• R4: A VR and PC 3D game and a handbook with infographics for tourist providers to understand how it feels to be a visitor with hearing impairments in a foreign country.
• R5: An online community of FeelIt operators ready to support visitors with hearing impairments that want to visit their countries
• R6: To raise awareness of the project results, offering the game (for free) to the tourist industry.
• R7: To enhance sustainability by (a) illustrating the added value of the services offered by the FeeliT Operators, (b) providing a convincing argument to decision-makers through dissemination and communication of the results of the project activities, and (c) supporting the online community of FeelIt operators in expanding the services offered.