With the promotion of tools for accessible tourism, intended for people with disabilities, and within the framework of our project "Alternative tourist experience - alternative trip" (Alter trip), Mobility Bitola started the series of events and activities with which it marks 35 years of its establishment. On the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on December 2 at the Officers' Home in Bitola, Mobility Bitola and the Foundation for New Technologies, Innovations and Knowledge Transfer GAUS Institute - Bitola, made Bitola the first city in the region (and beyond ) that has a tourist offer accessible to people with disabilities. Namely, the promotion included touristic signage for the 10 most significant cultural-historical monuments in Bitola intended for persons with disabilities, which were handed over to the Municipality of Bitola to be placed in accessible locations in front of the relevant landmarks; application for mobile devices – a tourist guide for Bitola for people with disabilities and a printed tourist guide in Macedonian, English and Greek, with Braille, intended for the visually impaired. "Tactile signage consisting of boards allows blind people to read and see what the cultural-historical monument looks like through touch. At the same time, there is the tourist guide for Bitola written in Braille, with tactile images through which the visually impaired can read about the cultural-historical monuments, and thirdly, a state-of-the-art mobile application for smart devices through which all persons with disabilities, when they are near these cultural-Istopris monuments will receive, depending on their disability, information about how accessible the building is, how many floors it has, where they can climb, etc.”, said the Rector of the University "St. Kliment Ohridski" - Bitola, prof. Dr. Igor Nedelkovski, who is also the creator and designer of tools for accessible tourism. The Mayor of the Municipality of Bitola, prim. Dr. Toni Konjanovski indicated that the city of Bitola is getting new opportunities to present the most important cultural and historical monuments to people with disabilities, which is also a support for the cultural and touristic promotion of the city. "Guided by its programmatic commitment to transparency and accessibility, as well as the social protection program, the municipality of Bitola welcomes the realization of the project and will enable the installation of the new tourist signage, in accordance with the additions that will be made to the program for urban equipment and the specific 10 microlocations. In this way, we enable functional cooperation of the local self-government and the non-governmental sector, with the aim of realizing new projects that will bring better conditions for all our fellow citizens", he added. Prim. Dr. Niko Jankov, one of the founders and president of Mobility Bitola, expressed his satisfaction that the results of the project are realized during the 35th anniversary year of the foundation of the Association. "Over the past three and a half decades, we have walked a bumpy road and taken several steps together to improve accessibility. But we still have a long way to go, and we will reach the goal faster and easier, only if we act together. We hope that with this project, we will raise even more awareness of the need for greater accessibility, in every sense of the word, especially after during the pandemic, we all felt first-hand what it's like to be confined at home, with limited access to places and activities, which most of us take for granted", added Dr. Jankov, emphasizing that disability, temporary or permanent, can be experienced by anyone. "I am also an example of that. In my 43-year career as an orthopedic surgeon, I operated on hundreds of knees and hips, prescribed aids and therapies, so that one day I too would 'go under the knife' and get an artificial knee," concluded the president of Mobility Bitola. The expert and creator of tools for accessible tourism, Jove Pargovski, M.Sc., explained in detail the use of these tools, and added that they will be useful to all of us, and especially to tourists who usually arrive at the parking lot opposite the NI Institute and Museum - Bitola , where the tour usually starts from. "The first point in this tour is the Museum, then it continues along the entire Shirok Sokak, including the Officer's House, the Manaki Cinema, the Catholic Church, the Clock Tower, the Church of "St. Demetrius", the Bezisten, Yeni Mosque and Isaac Mosque. In addition to these cultural-historical monuments, the ancient site of Heraclea is also covered," explained Mr. Pargovski. Vesna Sofronijevska, physiotherapist and visually impaired person, member of the Association of Blind Persons - Bitola, who demonstrated the use of these tools to the audience, expressed particular satisfaction with the flawless workmanship. "Each person, regardless of whether they can see or not, has different experiences for the same thing. I am delighted by the fact that the tools are made in a way that is pleasant to the touch and easy to read and experience the presented cultural-historical monuments", said Sofronijevska. In order for the event to be accessible to everyone, CIC Bitola, which manages the Officers' Home, used the opportunity to promote the elevator car, and thanks to NI Institute and Museum - Bitola, their mobile ramp was placed at the entrance, which they lent us for this occasion, once again proving itself as a socially responsible institution. Among those present at the promotion was Dr. Irena Ružin, who for many years actively contributes to the improvement of accessibility to cultural heritage for people with disabilities, and is an expert in our project, as well as several members of Mobility Bitola, members of the Association of blind people – Bitola, representatives of other civil associations, such as our friends from the "Amos" Human Rights Center, representatives of the Ministry of Local Self-Government from the Antenna office in Bitola, representatives of the media and other well-intentioned fellow citizens. The promotion of tools for accessible tourism is part of the project "Alternative tourist experience - Alternative travel" ALTER TRIP, which Mobility Bitola implements within the IPA Interreg Program for cross-border cooperation "Greece - Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020", and is co- financed by the European Union and the National Funds of the participating countries. The goal of the project is to motivate the transformation of a territory into an inclusive and accessible tourist destination, as well as to support the sustainable development of tourism for the natural and cultural heritage in the cross-border region.

Photos: Sasho Ristevski