The 'Respecting Disabilities and Differences' online training session looks at some of the ways you could make your business more accessible to attract a wider range of visitors. It looks at how accessibility affects everyone today in general, then offers suggestions to help you make the best changes for your business.
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 2nd ENAT International Congress takes place in Vienna on 30th September to 1st October 2009. Book before 30th June, to secure your place, and save 20% on the normal fee. Reduced rates for ENAT Members.
The latest issue of Tourism-Review.com highlights the fact that seniors and disabled travellers represent a growing market. Australia mostly offers quality services but there is still space for improvement.
If you cannot manage the train journey standing up from Gatwick Airport to Central London, the recently introduced Priority Seating Card is for you. Southern Railways hopes that by issuing a pass card to older persons, pregnant women, those with a disability and with less visible difficulties, fellow passengers will more readily give up priority seats to those who need them.
VisitEngland has recently refreshed the entry-level mobility standard of the National Accessible Scheme, which enables all accommodation providers to give a declaration of the accessibility of their business. The standard, called ‘One step ahead’, is not so exacting as the requirements for full wheelchair accessibility.
Barcelona, Spain. The Spanish consultancy group, ProA Solutions has launched a user survey about access in rail travel. The survey, which is being conducted for RENFE, the Spanish National Railway, aims to shed light on the accessibility of different countries’ railway systems and the users’ perceptions.
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.
This is the Report of the European Day of People with Disabilities 2008. It includes summaries of the speeches and discussions at the two-day conferece held in Brussels on 1st and 2nd in December 2008. In this wide-ranging conference, Mr. Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director ENAT, gave a presentation about Accessible Tourism in the third session (Day 2).
This Flash Eurobarometer survey (Flash Eurobarometer 258 on the “Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism”) was conducted at the request of Directorate General Enterprise and Industry to collect citizens' ‟...views, details of holidays and travel in 2007 and 2008 and their plans regarding holidays in 2009." The report includes the average results for the EU and highlights variances in responses based on the interviewees' country of residence, their socio-demographic background and fundamental attitudes towards holidays and travel. It also examined how EU citizens chose a holiday destination. Tourism accessibility issues are not considered in the survey but some data on older people's responses are included.
This guide, drafted in cooperation with the European Disability Forum(EDF), is one of several initiatives undertaken by the Disability Working Group of the European Standing Conference of Co-operatives Mutual Societies, Associations and Foundations (CEP-CMAF) aimed at raising
awareness and promoting the integration of people with disabilities and disability issues in society as a whole and in Social Economy enterprises and organisations in particular.
