Presentation of a benchmarking study carried out by ENAT. Between August and October 2012 41 websites were tested for compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - to see if they are accessible to people with disabilities. Secondly, the content of the websites was examined for information specific to the needs of visitors with disabilities and other people who need good access. Download the study report in PDF format and other resources from this page.
“Accessible tourism” was the theme of excellence for the 2013 EDEN competition. Destinations awarded under this theme have succesfully implemented a tourism offer based on an overall approach to accessibility for tourists regardless of their special needs, limitations, disabilities or age. View the list of 19 national winners.
On November 6th, Visit Flanders was awarded the ‘Amadeus & WTM Travel Experience Award’ for its provision in Accessible Tourism. The judges praised the efforts that Flanders has made to become an accessible holiday destination for everyone, particularly for Flanders Fields, prior to the Great War Commemoration.
Under the theme, "Tourism, Culture and Transportation. A Common Strategy at the International Level", the 1st World Summit on Destinations for All will be held in Montreal in October 2014. The Summit aims to establish an international strategy to develop inclusive tourism.
This is a friendly reminder that the deadline for long paper submissions for UD 2014 is approaching. The International Conference on Universal Design, UD 2014, will take place June 16–18 2014 in Lund, Sweden.
The UNWTO "Recommendations on Accessible Tourism for All” (2013) have been approved and endorsed by the General Assembly. Updated from the 2005 version, the recommendations outline a form of tourism that involves a collaborative process among stakeholders to enable people with access requirements to function independently through universally designed tourism products, services and environments. These recommendations were developed within the framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2007.
Under the Specific Programme: Preparatory Action "Tourism and accessibility for all", the European Commission has issued an Open Call for projects that will foster accessibility in local tourism development agendas, strategies and practices.
The Association of British Travel Agents, ABTA, takes action against "Flight Centre" following a Reduced Mobility Rights report on the travel agents’ websites missing mandatory information for disabled passengers.
