ENAT and Spain's ONCE Foundation Renew Cooperation Agreement with UNWTO

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ONCE Foundation, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) have committed to the renewal of the collaboration agreement signed in 2011 by the three organizations, to conduct a series of joint actions. Its main objectives are the promotion and development of tourism for all, including people with disabilities.

Fundacion ONCE logoUNWTO LogoENAT logoONCE Foundation, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) have committed to the renewal of the collaboration agreement signed in 2011 by the three organisations, to conduct a series of joint actions. Its main objectives are the promotion and development of tourism for all, including people with disabilities.

Within these actions include, among others, awareness-raising of the tourism sector, the systematic integration of accessibility in national and local tourism policies and the training of professionals.

The signing ceremony of this new agreement was attended by José Luis Martínez Donoso, CEO of ONCE Foundation; Paula L. Márcio Favilla, Executive Director of Operational Programmes and Institutional Relations of the UNWTO, and Anna Laura Grazia, President of ENAT.

The partnership is embodied in drafting a summary of 'Handbook on accessible tourism: tools and best practices' in order to disseminate the work done in this area and strengthen the implementation of the recommendations by the parties involved in the tourism sector.

The UNWTO Handbook, co-produced by the ONCE Foundation and ENAT, consists of five modules in which specific recommendations are proposed to the tourism sector in order to create accessible tourist destinations. It presents suggested indicators formulated for tourist destinations to assess, monitor and manage the accessibility, and highlights the actions that must be carried out to make universal accessibility in tourism a reality.

Under the renewed agreement, the partners will produce an additional guidance document outlining the basic and transversal recommendations of the UNWTO on accessible tourism. These recommendations aim to ensure that people with disabilities will have access to the physical environment, transportation systems and information and communication channels, as well as a wide range of public facilities and services. 

The renewed collaboration agreement between the three organsiations serves as a concrete step towards realising the actions specified in the Declaration, "One World for Everyone", signed by delegates including ONCE and ENAT, and witnessed by UNWTO at the "Destinations for All World Summmit" in Montreal, October 2014,

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