The 'Respecting Disabilities and Differences' online training session looks at some of the ways you could make your business more accessible to attract a wider range of visitors. It looks at how accessibility affects everyone today in general, then offers suggestions to help you make the best changes for your business.
The accessibility of services we offer is a condition for all people to take part in tourist activities. Providers of accessible services must take into account that we live in a plural and diverse society, as requirements are not equal for all people. Tourism activities should be organized in a way that ensures that people who wish to participate in them can do so freely and voluntarily, in terms of comfort and dignity. This Guidebook explains the methods for ensuring accessible tourism through applying design criteria, management approaches and information strategies.
The 2nd ENAT International Congress takes place in Vienna on 30th September to 1st October 2009. Book before 30th June, to secure your place, and save 20% on the normal fee. Reduced rates for ENAT Members.
The latest issue of Tourism-Review.com highlights the fact that seniors and disabled travellers represent a growing market. Australia mostly offers quality services but there is still space for improvement.
VisitEngland has recently refreshed the entry-level mobility standard of the National Accessible Scheme, which enables all accommodation providers to give a declaration of the accessibility of their business. The standard, called ‘One step ahead’, is not so exacting as the requirements for full wheelchair accessibility.
Torino. After three years of work, thanks to the interest of a tour operator operating in the incoming Italy, the first accessible travel package has been created: a range of proposals to visit and use the better Piedmont tourist offer with all services and the guarantee of welcome quality requested to satisfy the particular necessities of each tourist.
South African tourism authorities are knuckling down to the issue of accessible tourism during a month-long visit of leading US disability expert Scott Rains. Dr Rains, a wheelchair-user for 37 years and an advocate for the rights of disabled travellers, will be meeting South Africa's largest disability organisations and tourism bodies during his month-long visit to the country. The aim of his trip is to evaluate the quality of the South African tourism product for disabled and older travellers – and ultimately to build awareness of the importance of good access to the country's tourism industry as a whole.
This Flash Eurobarometer survey (Flash Eurobarometer 258 on the “Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism”) was conducted at the request of Directorate General Enterprise and Industry to collect citizens' ‟...views, details of holidays and travel in 2007 and 2008 and their plans regarding holidays in 2009." The report includes the average results for the EU and highlights variances in responses based on the interviewees' country of residence, their socio-demographic background and fundamental attitudes towards holidays and travel. It also examined how EU citizens chose a holiday destination. Tourism accessibility issues are not considered in the survey but some data on older people's responses are included.
There are more than 700 million people with some kind of disability worldwide. Although handicapped they love travelling as much as anyone of us. Accessible tourism is not only about wide doors and greater signs – it is also about people. Come and learn about the trends in accessible tourism and about the ways how to deal with seniors and travellers with disabilities.
On 12 July 2005, a Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre Research workshop was held at the New South Wales Department of State and Regional Development, titled Setting a Research Agenda for Disability and Tourism. This report outlines the background to disability and tourism in both the
Australian and overseas settings, and details the process used for the workshop, which has led, in turn, to the prioritised research agenda that forms an integral part of this report.
This document profiles key Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC) research into disability and accessible tourism perspectives and issues, an important and growing component of the Australian tourism landscape. The publication, available only in PDF format and free of charge, has been developed with the visitor, service provider, planning agency and industry operator in mind, bringing together summaries, statistics, key findings and recommendations in an easily accessible format.
This edition of the Design for All India Newsletter brings together, for the first time, a range of articles about inclusive, accessible tourism in India. The guest editor is Dr. Scott Rains, who travelled to India in 2008, meeting and working with tourism industry representatives, destination managers and disability groups. Authors of the invited articles include travel agents, travellers, product designers, teachers and planners.
