Belgian, Bert van Driel became a wheelchair user in 2007. However, he wanted to remain active. Bert realised that active wheelchair users need to carefully plan any activity. During this process, he noticed that most on-line information is not accurate and outdated. Bert started the non-profit organisation "Access on Wheels" in 2009 as an independent forum by and for wheelchair users.
The council in Arona, in the south of Tenerife, have come up with a unique way to set out their wares at FITUR, Spain's major tourism trade fair which begins today in Madrid.
American lifestyle magazine, New Mobility, has named Dr. Scott Rains "Person of the Year, 2009". This special recognition goes to Dr. Rains "...for all he does to ensure that people with disabilities can boldly go where everyone else has gone before - and beyond..."! Congratulations, Scott, from the ENAT Members!
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.
ENAT is pleased to present this short video from the ENAT Congress, made by Dirk Janczewski. It features interviews with delegates and short clips from presentations, giving a flavour of the event.
Catharine McNally is founder and president of Keen Guides, a company that creates and sells downloadable tours for the smart phone filled with images, audio, video and text. A museum lover who has been deaf since she was an infant, McNally hopes her company will make cultural outings a more enjoyable and accessible for everyone, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
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 Flash Eurobarometer 281 “Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism, Autumn 2009” was conducted at the request of Directorate General Enterprise and Industry to collect EU citizens’ views on travel, details of their (planned) holidays and travel in 2009 and their expectations regarding holidays in 2010. Special emphasis was put on the financial aspect of taking a holiday, as this is becoming a prime concern for both travellers and the tourism industry in the midst of the serious economic downturn affecting all EU economies.
