OK:GO Initiative
Tourism businesses communicate information about accessibility as naturally as they do their opening hours. As part of the OK:GO initiative, they collect this information themselves and share it with Ginto.
Swiss tourism sets a good example
The OK:GO initiative was launched in 2019 by the Förderverein Barrierefreie Schweiz (FVBS). Its goal is to ensure that all tourism businesses in Switzerland provide travellers with objective information about the accessibility of their services – just as a matter of course as opening hours. This is intended to make travel and leisure planning easier for people with disabilities, senior citizens and families with small children.
In recent years, over 2,600 businesses – including hotels, restaurants, mountain railways, museums and event venues – have independently recorded their accessibility information with Ginto. In doing so, they are setting an important example for inclusive and sustainable tourism. Swiss tourism is thus leading by example.
"Communicating accessibility for people with limited mobility is essential for our shipping services on Untersee and the Rhine, as we want to offer a carefree shipping experience for everyone. Compiling information with Ginto has two advantages: communication with passengers is easier and more systematic, and we also have a central location with all the information for our employees."
More impact for everyone
Travellers with disabilities are an important target group for the tourism industry and make up a significant proportion of the population. By participating in OK:GO, tourism businesses can directly address and welcome these target groups.
Thanks to the prominent publication of accessibility information on the tourism business's website, interested guests can find out early on whether and how accessible a tourist offer is for them. Any obstacles can be identified during the leisure and travel planning stage, allowing for better preparation for the visit.
By participating in OK:GO, tourism businesses not only offer their guests a valuable service. They also reduce the workload for their staff. This is because the question of whether a hotel room or a guided tour of a museum is accessible or not cannot usually be answered with a simple yes or no. Thanks to the publication of objective information on accessibility, visitors can make this assessment themselves.
Participation in OK:GO has a lasting effect: once a tourism business has entered its accessibility information with Ginto, it is available free of charge on various search and booking platforms for the long term. Participation in the OK:GO initiative is also recognised as Level II – engaged (in combination) as part of the ‘Swisstainable’ sustainability programme.
