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 city of Stockholm has set a goal, to be achieved at the latest by 2010, to be the most easily accessible capital of the world. The project, "Easy Access", coordinated by Stockholm City Council, plays an important part in reaching this goal. The gains in adapting Stockholm to meet the needs of disabled persons, thereby making it possible for them to participate fully in the social life of the city, are numerous. A society that extends a welcome to everybody to participate in the city´s life, becomes a community that inspires all and sundry to care for her/his fellow-beings. Increased accessibility for disabled persons to points and places in the city also means ease-of-access for everybody.
The Euro Access project aims to raise awareness about the transport needs of disabled people and best practices in the EU countries and two EFTA countries, allowing all countries to learn from the best practices. A transferability analysis is used to identify how best to disseminate and apply the results, both at political level and operational level.
PTaccess analyses the state of accessibility of public transport systems for people with disabilities in Europe. Furthermore PTaccess analyses the costs and benefits of good practice examples in making public transport accessible and will deepen the understanding of the transport related contexts of social exclusion of people with disabilities. This project is supported through the Research for policy support heading of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme, PRIORITY 8.1 Policy-oriented research, Scientific support to policies -- SSP
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.
Under s.71B of the UK Railways Act 1993 the Secretary of State maintains a Code of Practice to protect the interests of disabled people travelling by rail. All passenger train and station operators are encouraged to use the document, and those who are licensed must follow its standards. Accessible Train and Station Design for Disabled people: A Code of Practice, published in July 2008, replaced the previous version published by the Strategic Rail Authority, and incorporates a clearer structure, more-up-to-date guidance, and standards mirroring new European rules. This new edition code of practice replaces all previous versions. It provides standards and guidance for accessibility at railway stations, and should be used by all train and station operators whenever they carry out works on their facilities.
Accessibility in tourism in a social right that concerns all citizens in Europe. In Europe it is estimated that 10% of the population have some type of disability, this means around 50 million people. And this number will continue to grow due to the inevitable process of demographic change as half of them are over 65. It can be deduced that accessibility is essential for 10% of the population, necessary for 40% and convenient for 100% of the population. In recent years the rights of disabled people to travel and to participate in tourism, leisure, sport and other activities away from home have been strengthened in a number of areas by legislation and regulations at international, European and national levels. This report presents an overview of the key legislation and the way in which the rights of people with disabilities are being extended and safeguarded. The report shows many examples of how the front-runners in sections of the tourism industry are beginning to respond to the increasing demand for accessible tourism products and services.
As part of the two year ENAT work programme 2006 – 2007, a study of services and facilities for accessible tourism in Europe was conducted by Toegankelijkheidsbureau (Belgium). This report presents definitions of accessible tourism, the target public and their specific needs, leading to an overview of services and facilities that tourism providers can adopt to improve accessibility.
The INTERREG IVc programme on innovation and environment targets the transnational exchange of experience and good practice between public sector organisations working at municipal, provincial and regional levels in the EU Member States. With the 2nd Call for proposals now open, ENAT is keen to support public authorities in their bids to design and implement transnational projects where accessible tourism is in focus.
ENAT is putting forward plans to develop a 'Consensus Document' of specifications for accessible transport and tourism services for disabled people. The proposal aims to bring together industry, public authorities, disability NGOs and consumer organisations under the auspices of a CEN Workshop Agreement to identify good practices and agree on a set of basic guidelines. A draft document describing the planned 14-month workshop and how to participate is now available for downloading. Interested organisations are invited to provide their comments on this draft by 30th November 2008.
Two new studies produced by ENAT research staff are now available for download from the ENAT website. The first report, " Rights of Tourists with Disabilities in the European Union Framework" examines the key legislation and the way in which the rights of people with disabilities are being extended and safeguarded. The second report, "Services and Facilities for Accessible Tourism in Europe" presents definitions of accessible tourism, the target public and their specific needs, and an overview of services and facilities that tourism providers can adopt to improve accessibility. Both reports include many examples of good practice drawn from several European countries, illustrating a range of accessible tourism and travel services.
It is a well known fact that most people travelling for holidays or on business do not enjoy the travelling part of the trips they make. If people were able to snap their fingers in order to be automatically transferred to their destination then most would. Some recent research from the UK suggests that travelling by coach is the least stressful mode of transport, allowing passengers to arrive at their destinations having experienced the least amount of worry.
