Toerisme Vlaanderen (Tourism Flanders) is taking stock in 2026 of 25 years of accessible tourism with a year-long campaign "All Inclusief 2026" — accommodations, experiences, and routes are being explicitly highlighted. For drempelvrij.be, this is an ideal moment for an honest retrospective: what has really changed in 25 years for wheelchair users, where does the sector stand now, and which blind spots remain?
This pillar is opinion and analysis — not just praise. We name what works and what doesn't.
What has changed in 25 years
1. Standardisation via the A-label (Tourism for All)
The A-label — Toerisme Vlaanderen's quality certification for accessible accommodation — is one of the most structurally positive developments. From a handful of pioneering businesses in 2001 to a network of hundreds of A- and A+-addresses in 2026. For wheelchair users, that's a real win: verifiable quality instead of optimistic marketing claims.
What works: A+ means independently accessible (no assistance needed for the basic flow). That's a stricter standard than what you get in most European countries.
What doesn't yet: A-labels remain predominantly for accommodation — museums, monuments and hospitality are only partially included. A sector-wide deepening is needed.
2. UNESCO heritage that suddenly does become accessibly adapted
Beguinages, belfries, cathedrals — traditionally monumentally-unadapted, but in the past 15 years dozens of heritage attractions have been deliberately renovated with accessible routes. Examples:
- Belfry of Ghent — accessible main route and museum access
- MOU Museum Oudenaarde — UNESCO town hall with accessible route
- Great Beguinage Turnhout — UNESCO with paved inner streets
- Bokrijk — 550 ha open-air museum with adapted little train + paved main paths
What works: there's a cultural change — heritage managers now think about accessible access from the renovation stage onwards.
What doesn't yet: Belfry towers remain unreachable (stairs), medieval castle interiors (Beersel, ...) likewise. For these places, accessible access to the exterior + inner courtyard + ground floor is what we can reasonably expect, and that is happening.
3. Coastal infrastructure: Zon Zee Zorgeloos
8 Belgian Coast locations with free beach wheelchairs, Mobi-Mat, accessible toilets, and for 2026 electric beach wheelchairs for autonomous use. That's not a given across Europe — the Belgian Coast is one of the best-adapted coastlines on the continent.
See our Zon Zee Zorgeloos summer 2026 update.
What works: free, low-threshold, with trained staff.
What doesn't yet: outside the high season there is little on offer. Autumn beach visits with a wheelchair? Very limited.
4. Public transport: adapted stations, low-floor trams, free PWB fare
NMBS has significantly expanded adapted stations, De Lijn is switching to fully low-floor equipment (2023-2024 major rollout), MIVB/STIB has renewed the tram fleet. See our urban public transport series for detail.
What works: nearly 100% accessible buses (De Lijn, MIVB, TEC), major cities well-adapted.
What doesn't yet: small rural stops lag behind, rush-hour lift congestion remains a problem, NMBS assistance reservation 24h in advance is restrictive for spontaneous travel.
What still doesn't work (honestly said)
Off-road nature in the relief
Traditional hilly-landscape nature — Flemish Ardennes, Voer region, Hageland — largely remains inaccessible for wheelchairs. The accessible nature experience Flemish Ardennes project (July 2026) is the first concrete policy step in that direction.
What we'd like to see: expansion to Voeren, Hageland, Kalmthout Heath off-road.
Mid-sized and small cities
The big 5 (Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Leuven, Brussels) have substantial adapted infrastructure. Mid-sized cities (Aalst, Turnhout, Diksmuide, Diest, Poperinge, Sint-Niklaas) have a more fragmented offering — often a few top destinations adapted, but the rest of the street fabric not.
What we'd like to see: A-label expanded to hospitality in smaller cities. Cobblestone-neutralisation in historic centres.
Accessible hospitality — a structural problem
From our recent visitor feedback (July 2026, Mons): a visitor in an entire city couldn't find a single brasserie that was both barrier-free and had an accessible toilet — only McDonald's met both. That's not unique to Mons — it's a structural problem in the sector.
What we'd like to see: an A-label for hospitality with verifiable criteria. Toerisme Vlaanderen could show ambition here.
Wet nature and wetlands
Blankaart, IJzer valley, Uitkerkse Polder, Zwin — valuable nature traditionally only reachable via narrow boardwalks. The Walking Federation Flanders-Natuurpunt-Blankaart project is a first breakthrough. More is needed.
What we'd like to see: 5 to 10 boardwalk projects in 5 years, across different ecosystems.
Communication and expectation management
"Wheelchair accessible" as a term today covers too many meanings — from "ramp at the entrance" to "fully autonomously usable". For wheelchair users, that's frustrating and risky: you plan an outing based on a claim that doesn't hold up in practice.
What we'd like to see: standardised level labels (like energy labels) — so "accessible" no longer means "maybe". Toerisme Vlaanderen could force a sector breakthrough here.
The next 25 years — what we hope
If these 25 years have laid the basic infrastructure, the next cycle should be about:
- Standardising quality (uniform labels across sectors)
- Including smaller cities (not just the big 5)
- Opening off-road nature with a smart model mix (routes + support + infrastructure)
- Tackling hospitality structurally (expanding the A-label)
- Professionalising communication — honest, detailed claims
Our role at drempelvrij.be
At drempelvrij.be we try to do what the sector doesn't yet offer as standard:
- Verifiable information per location (accessibility field, tips block, first-hand experiences)
- Honest warnings — if something is "partially adapted", we say so, as with Bobbejaanland, Castle of Beersel, Piercing Pirate Antwerp (not adapted) vs. Piercing Pirate Turnhout (fully adapted)
- Processing community feedback — recent Mons corrections have been built into our content
We are not a government body — we are a community-driven site. But we can be the honest voice the sector doesn't often find.
Combine with other pillars
- Blankaart boardwalk news
- Boardwalks theme pillar
- Flemish Ardennes accessible nature experience project
- VAPH RTH reform 2026
- Zon Zee Zorgeloos summer 2026
In closing
25 years of accessible tourism in Flanders is a real achievement — Toerisme Vlaanderen is right to pause and reflect. For wheelchair users, the sector is no longer what it was in 2001. But there are still structural blind spots — off-road nature, hospitality, smaller cities, standardised communication.
Our wish for All Inclusief 2026: that the campaign not only celebrates what exists, but also clearly names what still needs to happen. With five years of concrete commitments for the next cycle, we could be a first-class European benchmark.
Do you have thoughts or experiences that could sharpen this retrospective? Let us know — this pillar is a living document.