This report provides a description of underlying macroeconomic assumptions and projection methodologies of the age-related expenditure projections for all Member States over the period 2009-2060. On the basis of these underlying assumptions and methodologies, age-related expenditures covering pensions, health care, long-term care, education and unemployment transfers are envisaged to be presented to the ECOFIN Council in May 2009.
The Study on the Competitiveness of the EU tourism industry - with specific focus on the accommodation and tour operator & travel agent industries - was commissioned by the Commission and run by Ecorys. Disclaimer : The views and propositions expressed in the study are those of the experts and do not necessarily represent any official view of the European Commission or any other organisations mentioned in the Report.
The Senior Travel Market is quickly expanding. This issue of the Tourism Review Magazine brings four articles which illustrate the increasing importance of the senior segment in tourism, both in Europe and around the world. Seniors will be the demographic discovery of this decade: they are abundant in number and their life styles are remarkably different from those of previous generations.
New figures released by VisitEngland from the UK Tourism Survey show that overnight trips made by, or accompanied by, someone with a health condition or impairment contributed almost £1bn to the English domestic visitor economy in the first 6 months of the year, accounting for 5.7 million trips in total.
At the 5th European Forum of Social Tourism, which took place in Malaga Spain, from 15 to 17 October, BITS – the International Bureau of Social Tourism and ENAT – the European Network for Accessible Tourism, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with a view to establishing closer cooperation between the two associations.
The EU funded MEDIATE project aims to establish a common European methodology for measuring accessibility to public transport. In order to create a good practice guide, towns and cities are asked to fill in a questionnaire if they believe that they have examples of good practice. The data they provide will form the basis of the Guide.
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.
In June 2009, another seminar of the series “Brandenburg for All – barrier free tourism” took place in Potsdam, the capital of Germany’s Federal State of Brandenburg. Starting in 1998, tourism organisations in Brandenburg have been increasing their accessible offers for all guests, step by step.
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.
The main goal of the ATHENA project is the creation of conditions and tools for human resources development and employment in the accessible tourism sector in the Czech Republic. This will be achieved by transnational cooperation with ENAT and exchange of experience and good practice with European countries.
