Accessible Travel Netherlands has been developed to raise awareness about the increasing need of information about access for tourists and to provide reliable information for visitors. This need comes especially from the rising numbers of tourist that might face a disability.
For people with physical disabilities one of the aspects that can turn a traveling experience into a more or less pleasant activity is the accessibility of the places, whether they are beaches or cultural destinations all over the world. ENAT member, Associação Salvadorhas created the online guide, www.portugalacessivel.com to facilitate the search for these accessible venues in Portugal.
5 January 2011, Brussels. Following formal ratification on 23 December 2010, the EU has - for the first time - become a party to an international human rights treaty: the United Nation's (UN) Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The Convention aims to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy their rights on an equal basis with all other citizens.
VisitEngland, the national tourist board of England, has launched a new online tool aimed to help businesses cater better for visitors with access needs. VisitEngland requires any business that is part of the quality assessment schemes for accommodation and attractions to have an Access Statement.
Brussels, 2 December 2010. Avila, whose motto is "A City for Everyone" is a Spanish city known widely for its medieval walls. Today it won the first-ever European award for improving access for people with disabilities, the Access●City Award 2011. The annual honour aims to award efforts to improve accessibility in the urban environment and to foster equal participation of people with disabilities.
1 December 2010, Brussels. The European Commission welcomes today's agreement reached by the European Parliament and Council on the rights of passengers travelling by bus and coach. A set of basic rights including non-discrimination, adequate information to passengers, in particular those with reduced mobility will apply to all passengers.
In a first for New Zealand, The New Zealand Tourism Research Institute at Auckland University of Technology has created a Research Programme Area in Access Tourism, headed by Sandra Rhodda.
15 November 2010, Brussels. EU Commissioner Viviane Reding announced the adoption of a 10 year strategy which promotes equal opportunities for people with disabilities at the 4th Equality Summit organised by the Belgian Presidency of the European Union today.
This book of readings by Italian and international authors was prepared in 2010 by the Italian Institute of Tourism for All in order to provide an overview of historical developments, current trends and perspectives on the future of accessible tourism. The text is in Italian and English.
BS 8878 Web accessibility. Code of Practice is the first British Standard to address the growing challenge of digital inclusion. It applies to all web products, including websites, web-services and web-based workplace applications (e.g. web-based email interface) that are delivered to users via Internet Protocol, through a web browser.
A slide presentation with the main results of a Study on EU accessible tourism standards, by Ivor Ambrose, Pilar Soret and Carolina Vicens given at the Fundación ONCE International Congress on Tourism for All, Valladolid, Spain, 26 November 2010.
The European network of cities, EUROCITIES, has established a Working Group on Barrier-Free Cities for All. The Group is chaired by Ms. Barbara Berninger, City of Berlin.
