EDF considers that the developments of terminology and classification standards are necessary in these areas as a pre-requisite for any future initiative on access to transport and tourism services. Clarifying the definition of disability on one hand, and of accessibility to transport and tourism services on the other, is crucial. EDF underlines the importance of basing all standardisation initiatives on the social model of disability and on a human rights approach.
ANEC considers that a European horizontal legislative framework should be established to cover the safety and quality of all tourism and transport services. Such a framework should apply also to more vulnerable consumers, such as children or older persons. This framework should be underpinned by formal standards. Moreover, ANEC stresses the need for CEN to put in place an effective strategy to ensure the balanced involvement of all relevant stakeholder groups in the development of any standards in this field, and in particular to ensure the involvement of organisations representing disabled or older persons.
More than half a billion persons in the world are disabled as a result of mental, physical or sensory impairment. The right of disabled persons to participate fully in the social life and development of their societies and to enjoy living conditions equal to those of other citizens, as well as to share equally in the improvements in living conditions resulting from social and economic development has been largely recognized by international and european union resolutions. This right is closely related to the accessibility of the disabled to transport and tourist destinations.
In this paper we focus on the initiatives undertaken by the European Union and the United Nations on accessible tourism. These initiatives are based on two elements: The first is to make real improvements at tourist destinations by implementing improved standards in tourist and travelling infrastructure and the second is to make information about the accessibility of tourist destinations widely available to the tourist industry and its customers. Both elements imply the involvement of tourist authorities, travel agencies, hotels, voluntary organizations and others involved in organizing recreational activities or travel opportunities, who should offer their services to all, taking into account the special needs of persons with disabilities.
Presentation by Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director of ENAT, at the "Accessi Tourisme Simposium. Building Accessible Destinations", Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Many Europeans with disabilities are unable to participate in important areas of society, simply because policies and the built environment are not designed to meet their requirements. Moreover, with the number of elderly people rapidly increasing, European societies will have to accommodate more and more disabled citizens in the future. This book invites member states to: promote full participation in community life by ensuring access to all areas of society, including the built environment, transport, products and goods, information, public service, education, employment and health care; implement Universal Design as a strategy to ensure equal and democratic rights in society for all individuals, regardless of age, abilities or cultural background, including persons with disabilities.
The Package Travel Directive (PTD), which came into effect in 1990, is aimed at protecting consumers in the area of package travel. Some of the most important rules concern the liability of package organisers and retailers, who must accept responsibility for the performance of the services offered. The Commission is now inviting comments from consumers and businesses as part of its review of the PTD.
With thousands of blogs appearing on the Web every minute, it takes something special to make any single one of them stand out from the crowd. For those interested in research on accessible tourism, Dr. Simon Darcy's new blog on Accessible Tourism Research holds significant promise of making research findings more accessible to everyone. Also, it can help to shape the international agenda of research and development in this growing and diverse field of study.
OpenBritain is set to become the UK's premier information service on accessible tourism as the two leading brands for disability information, OpenBritain and DisabledGo, come together, with over 50,000 inspected venues being supplied by DisabledGo to the www.openbritain.net website.
Within the framework of of the European Union's Operational Programme of Territorial Cooperation between Spain, France and Andorra 2007-2013 (Interreg IV A), the project Accessi Tourisme is a triennial project of cross-border cooperation on Accessible Tourism, between the Department of Turisme de Catalonia and its conterparts, the Departmental Committee of Eastern Pyrenees Tourism, and the Elsa Fundació NGO.
The ETCAATS project has two main aims: 1). to develop an online training course in accessible tourism from existing innovative content selected from previous Swedish work and supplemented with other international training materials; and 2). to develop a ‘Road map’ for an EU certification system for the area of accessible tourism vocational training, in line with the European Qualifications Framework. The target groups for the course include employers and personnel in the tourism industry.
The project aims to create new learning packages for on-line delivery, promote ’The Accessible City’ concept and improve the skills, knowledge and awareness of companies and employees associated with the tourism sector.
