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.
Located in the central region of Portugal, Lousã is an area which epitomises the unspoilt beauty of the Serra da Lousã mountain landscape. Following an initiative to host the first National Accessible Tourism Conference in April 2007, Lousã civil society organised a Task Force to plan for the development of Lousã as the first Accessible Tourism Destination in Portugal. The project aims to serve as an example both nationally and internationally. The website which is currently in Portuguese, will be available in English, French and Spanish in due course.
For over 25 years, Kéroul has been developing an accreditation program designating hotels, restaurants, museums and historical sites as adapted, partially accessible, or inaccessible to persons with restricted physical ability.
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.
From more than 800 published case studies, the on-line accessibility information service for tourists at www.EuropeforAll.com has been chosen by the ePractice portal as this week's Editor's Choice.
A major milestone has been reached with the publication this week of the recommendations from the Second International Conference on Accessible Tourism held November 22 - 24, 2007 at the United Nations in Bangkok, Thailand. Sixteen recommendations directed towards governments, public agencies, tourism businesses and academia seek to promote the development of inclusive tourism in the region, targetting a wide range of measures for both specialised and mainstream services.
This Australian research paper presents a methodology for market testing four information formats for the mobility dimension of accessible accommodation. The information formats are based on current practice and proposed information formats. They are: AAA Tourism access icons; Spinal Cord Injury Australia’s representation of Australian Standard 1428; floorplan representation; and virtual tours/OSSATE.
VisitBritain National Accessible Scheme Self-Survey for Serviced, Self-Catering, Hostel and Campus Accommodation. This detailed accessibility checklist is used to assess the suitability of premises for participation in the UK National Accessible Scheme which is managed by VisitBritain.
This report presents an Inventory of accessibility schemes and data sets within the EU-tourism sector. The purpose of this report is to give an overview of 1). the different accessibility schemes within the EU and the influence of national policies on these schemes, and 2). the existing European tourism databases, including their basic characteristics and features.
Recommendations from the Second International Conference on Accessible Tourism held November 22 - 24, 2007 at the United Nations in Bangkok, Thailand.
Sixteen recommendations directed towards governments, public agencies, tourism businesses and academia seek to promote the development of inclusive tourism in the region, targetting a wide range of measures for both specialised and mainstream services.
In times of demographic change and under consideration of the fact that at present 70% of the 46 million handicapped people living in Europe would be able to travel, the importance of ‘Accessible Tourism for All’ comes clear. Therefore, it is the aim of this M.A. thesis to analyse this topic.
After a short introduction, the first part deals with the experiences already made with
accessible tourism in Europe by presenting certain organisations acting in this field and by
giving an overview of their projects.
In the second part the actual demand, the existing offer and the positive and negative effects of accessible tourism will be discussed.
In the third part the specific travel behaviour of blind and visually impaired people will finally be analysed. In order to gain information on this topic, a survey was carried out among people
concerned.
This M.A thesis was submitted to University of Paderborn, Germany in the Faculty of Cultural Science - Geography. The thesis is in German.
