People with disabilities and older people are considered as an important and growing number of clients for all kind of events and meetings (about 20 % of the population today). Accommodating and supporting their needs and providing accessible services is becoming more and more a success criterion for conferences and events.
The Manual on Accessible Tourism for All: Principles, Tools and Good Practices, is UNWTO's second handbook on accessibility and has been co-produced with the Spanish ONCE Foundation and ENAT. It features recommendations and guidelines drawn from experience, recent academic studies and international standards, as well as from technological and scientific advances that have been made in this field. This publication is currently available in Spanish only, in a digital accessible version.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)and VisitEngland have produced this guide to help tourism businesses welcome people with access requirements. The EHRC has a statutory remit to promote and monitor human rights; and to protect, enforce and promote equality. We are committed to the vision of a modern Britain where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and we all have an equal chance to succeed. VisitEngland, England’s national tourist board, works in partnership with others to lead the development of a thriving tourist industry.
On 6 June 2014 the European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry, Tourism and Cultural Instruments Unit held a conference for tourism stakeholders where the results of three specially commissioned studies on Tourism Accessibility in Europe were presented and discussed by a distinguished panel of tourism practitioners and stakeholders. Speakers' presentations are available for download on this page in PDF format.
Scandic’s accessibility training has won first prize for best interactive training at the Swedish Learning Awards 2014 and also took home silver in the British E-learning Awards.
SWISS is pleased to have earned the quality seal of approval from the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) by considering the needs of passengers who suffer from allergies.
ENAT member, Cresaçor - Cooperativa Regional de Economia Solidária - has created a new website www.azoresforall.com to promote leisure activities for tourists with special needs. Soon we will also offer cultural tours, tours with a social component, as well as information on accessibility in the Azores.
At MITA International Meeting for Accessible Tourism OF GITANDO.ALL - The basis for the development of accessible tourism and leading European tourism.
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.
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.
AIPD, Italy, in partnership with the National Down Syndrome Ireland and the Associação Portuguesa de Portadores de Trissomia 21, developed three 'easy-reading' guidebooks for visitors to three European capitals: Rome, Dublin and Lisbon.
