Final Report. EU Study: Mapping and Performance Check of the Supply of Accessible Tourism Services in Europe

Share on social media

This is the Final Report of a wide-ranging study of accessible tourism supply commissioned by the EC Tourism Unit. The study included: visitor and supplier surveys, national legislation review, expert reviews, Web-based research and analysis of accessibility information, transport, infrastructure/facilities and services. Fifteen case studies of accessible tourism destinations were carried out, identifying good practices in business and destination development.

European Commission logoThis is the Final Report of a wide-ranging study of accessible tourism supply, commissioned by the EC Tourism Unit and conducted in 2013-2014.

Data was collected by means of visitor and supplier surveys, national legislation and expert reviews in the 28 EU Member States, Web-based research and analysis of accessibility information, transport, infrastructure/facilities and tourism services.

A dedicated online register, the European Accessible Tourism Directory was set up at http://pantou.org in order to gather and codify the characteristics of suppliers across the accessible tourism value chain.

in addition, fifteen case studies of accessible tourism destinations were carried out, identifying good practices in business and destination development as well as certain weaknesses in some instances.  

The study addressed the following objectives:

  • To identify and count, as accurately as possible, those tourism services that can cater for the diverse needs of the accessible tourism market in EU Member States
  • To assess perfomance levels in the accessible tourism services related to different types of disabilities and access needs
  • To identify gaps and barriers in accessible tourism provisions and their possible causes
  • To identify successful policies, practices and tools for improving accessibility across the tourism and travel sectors
  • To make recommendations to the European Commission on possible policy initiatives and actions to improve and increase accessible tourism provision in Europe.

Download the Full Report in PDF format from the right-hand panel.

Annexes

ANNEX 1. Accessible Tourism Destination Case Studies - Follow link to the ENAT page with 15 Case Studies (downloadable PDF documents)
ANNEX 2. EU-28 Country Legislation Reports
ANNEX 3. Country Reports
ANNEX 4. Pantou.org Social Media, and User Statistics Report (Confidential - unpublished)
ANNEX 5. Pantou.org Technical Description (Confidential - unpublished)

ANNEX 6. Methodological Approach, Challenges and Mitigation Strategies
ANNEX 7. Accessibility Information Schemes List and Glossary
ANNEX 8. Analysis of Tourism Accessibilty Information Schemes

Further information: EU Stakeholder Conference on Accessible Tourism. "Mind the Accessibility Gap"

Watch the Video "Mind the Accessibility Gap" produced by ENAT for the European Commission in connection with this study:
http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.news.1705 (about 8 minutes).

Download the Official Report from the EU Bookshop

ISBN: 978-92-79-47469-9
DOI: 10.2873/584417
Catalogue number: ET-04-15-188-EN-N

European Commission: EC Contract 220/PP/ENT/PPA/12/6491

Legal Disclaimer: “This document has been prepared for the European Commission; however it reflects the views only of its authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”