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.
In Thailand, the Disabled Peoples' International - Asia Pacific (DPI-AP) and the Asia Pacific Disability Forum (APDF) and partners organised the Second International Forum on Accessible Tourism (ICAT 2007) from 22-24 November 2007.
At a congress held last week by the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT), over 200 representatives from international disability organisations, tourist boards and private enterprise came to the overwhelming conclusion that accessible tourism is the fastest-growing business opportunity in the tourism industry.
This week the Marina d'Or beachside holiday resort in the Region of Valencia, Spain welcomes some 200 delegates at the ENAT International Congress on Tourism for All, organised by Fundación ONCE and supported by the European Commission. Guest speakers from North and South America, as well as Australia will complement European presenters from all sectors of the tourism industry, public authorities, NGOs and centres of research and education.
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.
The C.A.R.E. project (Città Accessibili delle Regioni Europee – Accessible Cities in the Regions of Europe) was based on the cross-national sharing of city development policies in which accessibility to everyone is key to quality, in order to make the geographical resources better suited to the requirements of all those users who have special needs. "Cities that will be able to fulfil the most exacting requirements will be more functional and friendlier to everyone".
The Access to Travel (ATT) Website contains information on accessible bus, train, plane and ferry transportation, on government policies and programs and on public and private local transportation, as well as links to other accessible transportation sites. This project is an initiative of the Canadian Federal Government, managed by Transport Canada, the Federal Transport Ministry.
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 project of the province of Parma aimed at providing useful data about people with particular food, allergic, physical or age needs, or who have problems with mobility (temporary and permanent).
Creation in Australia of an information kit on tourists with disabilities, covering topics such as accommodation, legislation and marketing from a tourism perspective.
