Doha, 22 April 2009. At the Qatar Summit on Tourism Development organised by the UN World Tourism Organisation, ENAT Member, Ibrahim Abu-Helil (Jordan), presented the case for boosting human resources development in Accessible Tourism throughout the Arab region.
Large sections of the tourism industry are hit by the downturn in consumer spending as the recession spreads through the global economy. Employees in the hotel and restaurant sector of the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism unions (EFFAT) call on EU Member States to protect jobs and improve training and infrastructure to renew the sector in the current crisis.
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.
The publication, "International Best Practices in Universal Design: A Global Review" has been named as one of the world's 100 "Best Practices" for 2008 by United Nations - Habitat - Dubai International Award for Best Practices. The Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environments (GAATES) has distributed the publication to over 5000 people worldwide. It compares accessibility codes and standards from around the world and is available in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Serbian and the alternate DAISY format.
OAKLAND, California - Under a settlement announced on 26th January, Hotels.com and Expedia.com, two of the world's leading online travel companies, have agreed to add features to their online travel reservation systems so that millions of travelers with disabilities can use their online services to search for and reserve hotel rooms that have the accommodations they need.
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.
Profit through Access is a brand new online training course. Designed for tourism businesses, it will help you to attract a wider range of visitors and improve your profits.
The 18-month CETA Project has been established by ENAT and its partners in the framework of the European Union's programme "...to support initiatives of public and private bodies, or their existing networks, to contribute to enhancing the sustainability and competitiveness of European Tourism especially for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, while allowing for wider economic, social and environmental benefits to be gained.” (European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry, Tourism Unit, 2008).
To better serve the over 1.2 million Americans of short stature - defined as people 4' 10" and under with the medical condition of dwarfism, Microtel Inns & Suites now provides accessibility products preferred by Little People at all of our over 300 hotels currently open worldwide.
A study prepared for presentation at ITB Asia, 24 October 2008, Singapore. With the search for new, long-term oriented, equitable and sustainable social and economic systems now robustly under way, the travel & tourism industry is
extremely well placed to prove that it can be a part of the solution. This study is meant to draw attention to the importance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia Pacific travel & tourism industry. If travel
& tourism is just as important an economic sector as telecommunications, agriculture and manufacturing, it important to recognise the immense contribution of its SMEs to job creation, foreign exchange earnings and poverty
alleviation, as well as their contribution to creativity and innovation.
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.
