The Mediate Project aims to establish a common European methodology for measuring accessibility. This will lead to the development of a self-assessment tool that can be used by policy makers to identify areas where upgrading will improve the accessibility of public transport in their city. In this way, Mediate will contribute to the provision of better and easier access for all.
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.
The Municipality of Arona, Tenerife Sur, has taken up the challenge to make its tourist offers available to everyone, including people with disabilities, through the Arona Integral Accessibility Plan. An access guide to Tenerif Sur, produced in 2007, covers information bureaux, facilities, transport and accommodations in three languages, Spanish, English, German. The Guide has 170 pages and is richly illustrated.
Over 30 of the presentations and speeches given at the 2nd ENAT International Congress in Vienna are now available for downloading. They include keynote addresses, workshop reports and case studies from many countries on a variety of subjects.
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.
ENAT is putting forward plans to develop a 'Consensus Document' of specifications for accessible transport and tourism services for disabled people. The proposal aims to bring together industry, public authorities, disability NGOs and consumer organisations under the auspices of a CEN Workshop Agreement to identify good practices and agree on a set of basic guidelines. A draft document describing the planned 14-month workshop and how to participate is now available for downloading. Interested organisations are invited to provide their comments on this draft by 30th November 2008.
A network of independent travel agents to drive cruise holiday sales and specialist service to disabled travellers could soon be a reality. 'Leading Cruise Agents' is to discuss the possibility following a debate by cruise lines on how to tap into a market of 2.5 million registered disabled travellers in the UK.
'Sydney for All' is a prototype accessible tourism Web “portal” which highlights destination experiences around Sydney for those with access needs. The portal reflects the findings of a research project and seeks to provide accessibility information about key tourism experiences that people can enjoy when they are in Sydney.
This document profiles key Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC) research into disability and accessible tourism perspectives and issues, an important and growing component of the Australian tourism landscape. The publication, available only in PDF format and free of charge, has been developed with the visitor, service provider, planning agency and industry operator in mind, bringing together summaries, statistics, key findings and recommendations in an easily accessible format.
Accessibility in tourism in a social right that concerns all citizens in Europe. In Europe it is estimated that 10% of the population have some type of disability, this means around 50 million people. And this number will continue to grow due to the inevitable process of demographic change as half of them are over 65. It can be deduced that accessibility is essential for 10% of the population, necessary for 40% and convenient for 100% of the population. In recent years the rights of disabled people to travel and to participate in tourism, leisure, sport and other activities away from home have been strengthened in a number of areas by legislation and regulations at international, European and national levels. This report presents an overview of the key legislation and the way in which the rights of people with disabilities are being extended and safeguarded. The report shows many examples of how the front-runners in sections of the tourism industry are beginning to respond to the increasing demand for accessible tourism products and services.
As part of the two year ENAT work programme 2006 – 2007, a study of services and facilities for accessible tourism in Europe was conducted by Toegankelijkheidsbureau (Belgium). This report presents definitions of accessible tourism, the target public and their specific needs, leading to an overview of services and facilities that tourism providers can adopt to improve accessibility.
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.
