European Tourism representatives gathered at the 57th Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe identified enhanced international cooperation, innovation, private-public partnerships and accessibility as main priorities to ensure the sector's future competiveness. The Seminar on Developing Effective Tourism Clusters, held in on the sidelines of the Meeting, laid the ground for innovative collaborative approaches for sustainable tourism development in Europe (3-4 April, Baku, Azerbaijan).
At MITA International Meeting for Accessible Tourism OF GITANDO.ALL - The basis for the development of accessible tourism and leading European tourism.
(Madrid, Spain, 26 February 2014). The protection of children from all forms of exploitation, the fight against trafficking, anti-poaching and accessible tourism for all are among the work priorities defined by the newly formed World Committee on Tourism Ethics (WCTE). The Committee met at UNWTO headquarters to identify the major challenges facing responsible tourism and define its Action Plan for the coming four years.
“Accessible tourism” was the theme of excellence for the 2013 EDEN competition. Destinations awarded under this theme have succesfully implemented a tourism offer based on an overall approach to accessibility for tourists regardless of their special needs, limitations, disabilities or age. View the list of 19 national winners.
On November 6th, Visit Flanders was awarded the ‘Amadeus & WTM Travel Experience Award’ for its provision in Accessible Tourism. The judges praised the efforts that Flanders has made to become an accessible holiday destination for everyone, particularly for Flanders Fields, prior to the Great War Commemoration.
Under the theme, "Tourism, Culture and Transportation. A Common Strategy at the International Level", the 1st World Summit on Destinations for All will be held in Montreal in October 2014. The Summit aims to establish an international strategy to develop inclusive tourism.
This is a friendly reminder that the deadline for long paper submissions for UD 2014 is approaching. The International Conference on Universal Design, UD 2014, will take place June 16–18 2014 in Lund, Sweden.
The UNWTO "Recommendations on Accessible Tourism for All” (2013) have been approved and endorsed by the General Assembly. Updated from the 2005 version, the recommendations outline a form of tourism that involves a collaborative process among stakeholders to enable people with access requirements to function independently through universally designed tourism products, services and environments. These recommendations were developed within the framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2007.
Presentation of a benchmarking study carried out by ENAT. Between August and October 2012 41 websites were tested for compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - to see if they are accessible to people with disabilities. Secondly, the content of the websites was examined for information specific to the needs of visitors with disabilities and other people who need good access. Download the study report in PDF format and other resources from this page.
