The Vice Minister for Trade and Tourism, Pilar Zorrilla, presided over the first seal award event, held in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The Accessible Seal is the result of the Accessibility Programme developed by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Trade and Tourism of the Basque Government which prepares businesses to orient their services to all visitors.
There are million-dollar strategies to turn B.C. into an accessible tourism destination. Then there is Hugh Tollett, who does it for free. Before Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. won the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tollett believed the mountain resort town needed to find a way to be more accommodating of people with disabilities. But now he's concerned that without a bump from the Paralympics, the strong business case for putting resources into accessible tourism collapses and puts his work at risk.
Belgian, Bert van Driel became a wheelchair user in 2007. However, he wanted to remain active. Bert realised that active wheelchair users need to carefully plan any activity. During this process, he noticed that most on-line information is not accurate and outdated. Bert started the non-profit organisation "Access on Wheels" in 2009 as an independent forum by and for wheelchair users.
ENAT Members, Accessible Portugal in partnership with Lousã City Council, won the Portuguese National Stage of this year's European Enterprise Awards on the February 10th 2010.
American lifestyle magazine, New Mobility, has named Dr. Scott Rains "Person of the Year, 2009". This special recognition goes to Dr. Rains "...for all he does to ensure that people with disabilities can boldly go where everyone else has gone before - and beyond..."! Congratulations, Scott, from the ENAT Members!
For long Vuokatti is known worldwide for its superb sports and leisure facilities. It has been a regular host for all levels of athletes and individuals who enjoy practicing a physical activity in a purely natural and friendly setting. The Elma project is focussed on developing a sustainable, Universally Accessible destination for all.
The ETCAATS project has two main aims: 1). to develop an online training course in accessible tourism from existing innovative content selected from previous Swedish work and supplemented with other international training materials; and 2). to develop a ‘Road map’ for an EU certification system for the area of accessible tourism vocational training, in line with the European Qualifications Framework. The target groups for the course include employers and personnel in the tourism industry.
Presentation by Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director of ENAT, at the "Accessi Tourisme Simposium. Building Accessible Destinations", Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.