Located in the central region of Portugal, Lousã is an area which epitomises the unspoilt beauty of the Serra da Lousã mountain landscape. Following an initiative to host the first National Accessible Tourism Conference in April 2007, Lousã civil society organised a Task Force to plan for the development of Lousã as the first Accessible Tourism Destination in Portugal. The project aims to serve as an example both nationally and internationally. The website which is currently in Portuguese, will be available in English, French and Spanish in due course.
The Euro Access project aims to raise awareness about the transport needs of disabled people and best practices in the EU countries and two EFTA countries, allowing all countries to learn from the best practices. A transferability analysis is used to identify how best to disseminate and apply the results, both at political level and operational level.
PTaccess analyses the state of accessibility of public transport systems for people with disabilities in Europe. Furthermore PTaccess analyses the costs and benefits of good practice examples in making public transport accessible and will deepen the understanding of the transport related contexts of social exclusion of people with disabilities. This project is supported through the Research for policy support heading of the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme, PRIORITY 8.1 Policy-oriented research, Scientific support to policies -- SSP
The toolkit describes the background to the EC Regulation on the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air. Published in February 2007, it is written principally for members of EDF, providing an overview of the regulation and its transition into full effect in July 2008.
Under s.71B of the UK Railways Act 1993 the Secretary of State maintains a Code of Practice to protect the interests of disabled people travelling by rail. All passenger train and station operators are encouraged to use the document, and those who are licensed must follow its standards. Accessible Train and Station Design for Disabled people: A Code of Practice, published in July 2008, replaced the previous version published by the Strategic Rail Authority, and incorporates a clearer structure, more-up-to-date guidance, and standards mirroring new European rules. This new edition code of practice replaces all previous versions. It provides standards and guidance for accessibility at railway stations, and should be used by all train and station operators whenever they carry out works on their facilities.
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.
Physically challenged and elderly persons might soon find it easier to access tourist destinations in India as the Government intends to make them barrier-free for the benefit of this section of tourists. The Indian Tourism Ministry has made it mandatory that all tourist facilities, which are being created with Central Government financial assistance, should be barrier-free, the tourism secretary, Mr Shilabhadra Banerjee, said on 24 October at a Training Workshop for Government managers and engineers.
The British Standards Institute has published "BS EN 15565:2008 Tourism services. Requirements for the provision of professional tourist guide training and qualification programmes".
On 26 July, new rules came into force to offer persons with disabilities and those with mobility impairments access to air transport, comparable to that of any other passengers flying from airports in the European Union.
The latest newsletter published today by the Standards Unit of Ireland's National Disability Authority (NDA) shows a lively state of activity in new and forthcoming standards which target accessibility for everyone in tourism and at heritage sites.
ENAT is among the first 20 Non-Governmental Organisations in Europe to register with the newly opened "EU Register of Interest Representatives", or Lobbyists' Register. The register was launched on 25 June by the European Commission to bring greater transparency to the EU lobbying arena.
The European Commission proposes EU-wide legislation to protect citizens from discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief in the areas of social protection, education and access to and supply of goods and services.
