Globe4all

People with disabilities in Russia and many other countries do not have access to travel, due to the inaccessible facilities, the lack of adapted offers, skills, and knowledges among the industry staff. Globe4all is an ecosystem of inclusive digital products designed to develop accessible tourism. 1st part is a marketplace where guides with disabilities and service providers present their tours, excursions, transfers, and rentals; and tourists with special needs book adapted travel products. 2nd part is an educational platform where disabled people can get education and become tourism professionals, and travel companies learn about accessible tourism to develop new services. If scaled, it helps socialization of people with disabilities through inclusive digital access to new services - tourism, and education in the field of accessible tourism. And it also contributes to the development of new services through the introduction of tourism professionals into accessibility and inclusion.

Globe4all helps to solve 2 main problems. The 1st problem is the lack of reliable data about accessibility and adapted services and verified products for tourists with access needs. Accessibility is very important for 1 billion people in the world living with disability. Plus, according to the UNWTO, by 2050 there will be 2 billion people over 60. In Russia, more than 13 million people live with varying forms of disability. According to Lonely Planet, 50% of people with special needs avoid visiting new places if there is no information about their accessibility. Globe4all helps tourists with disabilities to find more about accessibility of our planet, plan their trips, book adapted tours, inspiring them to travel.

Another problem is that disabled people face difficulties with self-realization, getting a profession or a job, especially in small cities and regions remote from economic centers.  Globe4all provide them an opportunity to learn and work as guides and accessibility experts in their cities, to create accessible travel products through inclusive digital tools.

The inclusive ecosystem contains 2 main parts. First is a Globe4all marketplace - online info & booking platform for tourists with special needs on Russian and English. It has Editorial block – accessibility news, travel stories, accessibility descriptions – to inform and inspire; Excursion block - adapted tours, excursions, services – to book and rent. Our key users are:

- people with disabilities, booking adapted products. How it works for tourists: Inspire - Find info about accessibility - Book tours & excursions - Get new impressions

- guides, publishing excursions. Our guides are city residents with disabilities, NGOs of disabled people, etc. How it works for guides: Study - Suggest impression - Prepare and post an excursion - Get interesting job in tourism.

- objects of tourist infrastructure.

Second part is Globe4all Academy – an inclusive education platform. It provides online courses, training videos, expert workshops in the sphere of accessible tourism for the guides (people with disabilities) and for the travel industry. It is important for the guides to learn and become professional, get new job in tourism. It is important for the industry to understand what products are needed for people with access needs.

Globe4all is intended to serve:

- Tourists with special needs (visually impaired, hearing impaired, wheelchair users, low mobility people, the elderly), their families. They need information about accessibility and adapted travel products to plan their trips, live active life and enjoy travelling like everyone else.

- Guides (people with disabilities who offer their accessible excursions, provide reliable data about accessibility of their city, country). This helps tourists to get information about accessible places from reliable source, and the guides get additional income and self-realization.

- Tourist facilities (hotels, museums, attractions, restaurants, travel agencies, etc.). They provide services to the auditory and learn to develop new accessible products.

Globe4all:

- helps socialization of people with disabilities and their involvement in active life through tourism and travel;

- helps education and employment of people with disabilities in tourism;

- helps tourism industry players to become more inclusive and develop accessible travel.

Our mission is to develop access to information about barrier-free travel, in Russia and other countries, provide online education and jobs in tourism for people with disabilities. 

We create a new inclusive digital tool to support economic sustainability of people with disabilities and provide them equal access to travel services, promoting accessible tourism.

An important goal is to adapt the platform content for users with disabilities, to ensure equal access to digital tools and services for all.

Through the Globe4all ecosystem and digital access, people with disabilities living in small towns and regions remoted from economic centers - like the city of Pskov in the north of Russia, Kamchatka in the Far East, the Caucasus Mountains, receive opportunities for education, professional development in tourism, socialization, stable income. 

We chose Growth because our solution has existed for more than 1 year and during this time we have conducted several test trials of the service in communities of people with disabilities from different cities of Russia. We have an established business model. We have made over 100 sales and over 300 consultations for tourists with disabilities. We have the largest social media community of travelers with disabilities in Russia – 12 000 users. The accumulated experience and knowledge allowed us to start offering services in the field of online education both for people with disabilities and for professionals in the tourism industry who are interested in offering their services to clients with special needs - this is how we launched the educational platform Globe4all Academy. Currently, our work is localized in different regions of Russia, but we are interested in scaling our experience and knowledge to other countries.

Globe4all offers a solution along the entire value chain within the digital products ecosystem:

- we inform people with disabilities about accessible places and motivate them to travel through the Editorial block of the marketplace;

- we offer them adapted tours, excursions and services from the Product block, created by other people with disabilities (guides) who know about the features of accessible tourism from their own experience;

- in this way we help guides with disabilities find new clients, realize themselves in the profession and make money through digital tools;

- In case they do not have enough professional education to work in tourism or they do not have such experience, we offer them the opportunity to study at the Globe4all Academy inclusive platform. Within the framework of training, they can create their travel products. Thus, it gives people with disabilities in small towns access to work and professional development in a modern and dynamic accessible tourism industry.

- we communicate with the players in the tourism market, inform them about accessibility and inclusion and encourage development of services for the new market of tourists with disabilities.

By now we have:

The biggest Russian-language community of travelers with disabilities (more than 12 000 users)

Partners from Russia, Poland, Morocco, Nepal, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, San Marino, Turkey, Georgia, Czech Republic

483 adapted excursions, tours and services

200 registered guides (10% of them are people with disabilities).

Generally speaking, all 100% of people with disabilities in Russia can be called beneficiaries of the globe4all project in the short term of 5 years (and when scaling up in other countries). These are not only reduced mobility travelers or visually impaired. There is a so-called hidden disability. It may not be noticeable at first glance, but a person still needs help and an adapted tourist product.

But if we narrow down the request, then our main beneficiaries at the moment are:

• People using wheelchairs (320 thousand people in Russia);

• People with disabilities of groups 1 and 2 (6.26 million) in Russia.

• disabled children and their parents (710 thousand people) in Russia;

• elderly people with any group of disabilities, with whom relatives can travel (6.72 million people over 60 years old) in Russia.

By 2024, 11,000 tourists with disabilities will travel with Globe4all. About 1000 people with disabilities will become guides.

Measurable project results in achieving social goals:

1. Users of ecosystem digital products with disabilities - shows the coverage and involvement in the topic among the beneficiaries. Now about 11,000 a month.

2. The number of participants in communities on the topic of accessible tourism in social networks - now is  the largest on this topic in Russia, with more than 12,000 users.

3. Tourists with disabilities who used the services of the marketplace and booked tours and excursions - now there are about 89 tourists;

4. Guides and service providers registered on the platform - now 113 guides incl. 10% of them are people with disabilities or their family members; Including from small towns and remote regions.

5. Base of accessible tourist facilities and services for booking (tours, excursions, hotels, services) in the most popular tourist destinations in Russia.

6. Information block of the marketplace: the number of published articles on the topic of accessible tourism and inclusion in Russian and English (now more than 1300).

7. Number of trainers, experts, and authors of courses on the educational platform on the topic of accessible tourism.

8. The number of people with disabilities who were trained on the educational platform and developed their own adapted tourism product.

2 workers (CEO, Executive Director and Editor) work full-time.

5 workers (2 journalists, 1 SMM manager, 1 partnership manager, 1 accessibility tester) work part-time.

Accounting, RnD, and SEO – outsourced.

Globe4all is an inclusive team of like-minded people. They know everything about travel and accessibility. 5 of 7 team members have disability. They work as journalists, developers, editors, partnership managers, accessibility experts and share not only their professional skills, but also a user experience and vision of the product. Globe4all cooperate with travelers with disabilities, NGOs of disabled people, invites disabled people to become guides and learn how to work in tourism, as well as share their experience with travel companies and develop accessible tourism in Russia.

Team skills

Renat Anpilogov (co-founder, CEO) – has 10+ years in development of high-load Internet services (VOD, OTT), project manager (ivi.ru, Dom.ru). Volunteering, charity. The first job is deputy director for educational work at the Kursk musical boarding school for the blind.

Nadezhda Anpilogova (Executive Director, Editor) - has 10+ years - journalist (social topics), translator (English, German), development of CSR programs in an international tourism holding (VFS Global), volunteer projects (DaDobro).

Marina Kozikova is a journalist, writer, wheelchair traveler, an expert in the field of inclusion.

Eldar Vorontsov is a journalist, handicapped traveler.

Julia Bystrova - Partner Manager, speaking Czech and Polish languages, specialist in the field of inclusion.

Maria Tretyakevich - SMM specialist.

Maxim Spiridonov - developer, tester of websites and applications, blind traveler.

Globe4all is social enterprise. It is a solution to challenges for people with disabilities from Russia and abroad, who want to travel barrier-free and live active life. Another important social goal for us is to provide education and jobs in tourism for disabled guides who can work with us and get the chance for social and professional development.

In team building and project work, we adhere to the principle: nothing for us without us. It means that no decisions or initiatives concerning the lives of people with disabilities should be carried out without their direct participation. The meaning of Globe4all is to ensure barrier-free access and the active participation of specialists with disabilities in the work of the team, the development of an ecosystem of digital products, testing of infrastructure facilities, etc. 

Our project has passed the proof-of-concept stage. Our users have confirmed their interest in this format with their purchases. For further development, we need to develop a team, strengthening its competencies, and scale to discover new international markets. At the same time, we feel the need to attract experts and experienced industry players to develop in difficult times for tourism. Together, we can make accessible tourism an economically sustainable industry and foster a resurgence of tourism.

We have a solution for accessible tourism and the digital economy, and we want to tell the world about it and find like-minded people and partners.

It is also important that such programs as Solve state opportunities for people with disabilities and raise issues of inclusion. We would like to reach out to business players and partners from the high rostrum of the Solve to call for the joint development of accessible tourism.

Our tasks are:

find new commercial partners for the successful and sustainable development of the project;
find partners in the CSR format for the development of the educational platform;
get expert and informational support;
find new financial mechanism to support the sustainability of the project.

For further development of the project, the team must be strengthened with specialists in the field of sales, partnerships and development - so we need expert advice in HR (sourcing talent).

For further development and rapid scaling, the project does not have enough financial resources - we plan to attract new grant funds and investments, increase sales and offer new products (our own accessible tours and excursions) - so we need mentorship in business model.

Expertise is needed to bring the project to international markets (EU, USA, monarchies of the Persian Gulf) - thus a service distribution mentorship in deeded.

We need information support and PR to promote the project - so we need advice in creating s strong brand strategy.

To further develop the ecosystem of digital products and improve the user experience, we need technological advice.

1. International travel companies, transport companies, hotels, restaurants, tourist infrastructure - in order to create joint projects for the development of inclusive tourist services in Russia and abroad - Scandic Hotels, Qatar Airways, Emirates

2. International large companies, banks and corporations - partnerships in the field of CSR, the development of inclusive social programs in conjunction with corporate partners - Coca Cola

3. Tourism offices of different countries - information cooperation, coverage of the topic of accessible tourism, opportunities for barrier-free recreation in a particular region.

4. NGOs - joint projects for the training and employment of people with disabilities in the field of accessible tourism, exchange of experience - ENAT, Zero project

5. Travel international organizations - joint projects for the training and employment of people with disabilities in the field of accessible tourism, UNWTO

6. Ticket aggregators - joint projects to develop inclusive travel and technology services for passengers with disabilities - Skyscanner

7. State structures of the EU and other countries (when entering new markets) - information support of the project. 8. Technology companies, developers, manufacturers - joint projects to create rehabilitation facilities and devices for tourists with disabilities. For example, adapted rehabilitation aids, camping equipment, transportation, mobile apps, clothing, travel accessories - Google, Aira, Microsoft

Through our solution - an inclusive ecosystem of digital products for tourists with disabilities, we are trying to attract attention and consolidate the efforts of the public on two important issues:

The first is to provide equal barrier-free access for people with disabilities to accessible tourist products and services through the Globe4all marketplace. Here our goal is to inspire people with disabilities to travel and active life. And, to inspire travel industry players to be inclusive and accessible and create adapted products, support ethical tourism and equal opportunities of access.

The second is providing people with disabilities with educational opportunities, professional development, employment in the field of accessible tourism through the Globe4all Academy educational platform. This contributes to their socialization, economic sustainability. Thus, it turns people with disabilities from objects of charity and pity into subjects of the economy, respected and valuable professionals, who can make their own contribution to the development of the industry of accessible tourism.

Increasing accessibility, we improve the quality of life for all people. By supporting responsible tourism, we encourage mobility and provide equal opportunities for all.  We believe that tourism after COVID-19 should be ethical and ensure that all travelers are included.  

We will use the prize to further develop digital platforms, provide scholarships in Education, promoting and expanding the project to new countries.