Scandic Hotels, the largest hotel operator in the Nordic region, has been shortlisted for a European Diversity Award in the category “Diversity Team of the Year.” The award ceremony will be held in London on September 30, 2015.
ONCE Foundation, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) have committed to the renewal of the collaboration agreement signed in 2011 by the three organizations, to conduct a series of joint actions. Its main objectives are the promotion and development of tourism for all, including people with disabilities.
Following a successful pilot project in 2013 and 2014 with four destinations – Visit Bath, goLeicestershire, NewcastleGateshead and VisitBrighton, the national tourist authority, VisitEngland accessed funding from the European Commission to expand its Access for All initiative.
14 September 2015: VisitEngland, the national tourist board, is today launching a new Access for All campaign, aimed to raise awareness of accessible destinations and businesses in England; informing disabled people of accommodation and visitor attractions when planning a day trip or holiday.
The Norwegian Government has dedicated 2015 as the Year of Outdoor Recreation in Norway.
To promote outdoor recreation in the county, Rogaland County Council has taken the initiative to make a film presenting some of the recreation areas in the county. Special attention is given to sites made accessible for all.
You can download the film: “Universal design in recreational areas in Rogaland” on this website:
http://www.rogfk.no/Vaare-tjenester/Regionalplan/Friluftsliv/Friluftslivets-aar-2015
The web-site www.tilgjengelighet.no mentioned in the film is for the moment only in Norwegian. An English version is being prepared these days and will be available fairly soon.
EU cities are invited to participate in the sixth edition of the Access City Award - The European Prize for making cities more accessible to people with disabilities and older people.
French Masters student in Disability Research, Eloïse Auffret-Novice, has taken up a 4-month ERASMUS+ traineeship at the ENAT Secretariat in Athens. She will make a study of accessibility and access information for visitors at five of the most notable museums in Greece. Here she introduces the theme of her chosen subject.
Těšín Silesia for All was a small Czech-Polish cross-border project focused on accessible tourism. It was co-financed under the Cross-border Cooperation Operational Programme between Czech Republic and Poland – Microprojects Fund of Euroregion Těšín Silesia - Cieszyn Silesia. The project was successfully completed in June 2015.
Although historical heritage buildings undoubtedly are an important part of many touristic routes, provision of accessibility to them often is a technically complex process. This is a real challenge - the desire to preserve the visual appearance of historic buildings and hence their value, but at the same time making them accessible to everyone. This European Lifelong Learning "Grundtvig" adult learning project addressed these issues.
This project is a continuation of the project "Accommodation and Catering Accessibility for Disability”(ACAD), finished at the end of 2011, which met with a great interest of disabled people, institutions dealing with equality issues and the hotel and catering sector. In the TEAD project the results of its predecessor will be transferred to other services in tourism sector including tourist information centres, travel agencies, tourist guide organisations, tourist transport, regional promotion offices etc. The results are enriched with examples of good practices and experience of a new partner in the project – Access Sweden.
This is the Final Report of a wide-ranging study of accessible tourism supply commissioned by the EC Tourism Unit. The study included: visitor and supplier surveys, national legislation review, expert reviews, Web-based research and analysis of accessibility information, transport, infrastructure/facilities and services. Fifteen case studies of accessible tourism destinations were carried out, identifying good practices in business and destination development.
These 15 Case Studies of Accessible Tourism Destinations were commissioned in 2013 by the European Commission as part of the research tender awarded to EWORX S.A., ENAT and VVA, examining the supply side of accessible tourism in Europe.
