ATHENA Project News | ENAT

ATHENA project workshop in Ostrava - Press Release

Ivor Ambrose — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:04:00 GMT

Tourist services keep losing 130 million of disabled customers. They are not accessible.

The twenty-year-old Jiří Mára is the only Czech who has travelled to almost all continents in his wheelchair. This year's journey across the African countries will complete the Mára family's tour round the world. They are a proof that physical disability is definitely not a handicap for travelling.

Last week, they shared their travel experiences as well as advice on travel for people with specific needs with the participants of an ATHENA project workshop in Ostrava focused on the promotion of accessible tourism. Jiří Mára and his son, Jiří, have already been to such countries as New Zeeland, Ecuador, Galapagos, Greenland and Japan.

"We travel especially to fulfil the dreams of our son, Jirka, and make his uneasy journey through life as pleasant as possible. With our example, we want to prove that disability does not mean the end of one's life, and to motivate the other wheelchair users in the fight for the fulfilment of their own dreams. We strongly believe everything can be managed", said Mára explaining why travelling to remote spots of the planet has become their life-long passion.

He shared his story with the participants of the Ostrava workshop whose aim was to share experience in accessible tourism and to discuss what type of barriers are encountered by people with specific needs when travelling, and what needs to be done to improve the accessibility of our region.

The example of the Mára family demonstrated to the workshop participants that people with disabilities have the same desire or need to travel as anyone else. They search for attractive destinations and tourist spots; they do not want to select the place of their holiday just with respect to accessibility.

However, tourist service providers have not responded sufficiently to this demand of people with disabilities so far. In fact, according to the ATHENA project manager, Ms. Jarmila Šagátová, people with specific needs are interesting customers even for entirely commercial facilities. “Just the size of the market is immense. Only in Europe, accessible tourism accounts for about 130 million of people. In addition, such people rarely travel on their own – they prefer groups or accompaniment. That multiplies the number of customers as well as sales for the provider", Ms. Šagátová pointed out.

Besides the huge quantity of potential customers, tourist facility operators might appreciate that the people requiring barrier-free access do not mind travelling in the low season. Therefore, they can use the facility capacity fully even outside the summer and winter seasons. If the visitors with disabilities are satisfied with the services, they tend to return to the same places loyally in following years.

One of the major barriers making travelling difficult is the inaccessibility of buildings. Practically, there are no thorough inspections checking whether new buildings are accessible as stipulated by law. At present, no authority specialises in accessibility audits. "An institution needs to be established to issue building permits with the same power as the public health authority or fire squad. Consequently, only such projects would obtain building permits that would meet the statutory requirements for barrier-free access”, said František Doležal from the National Institute for the Integration of People with Limited Mobility and Orientation of the Czech Republic. According to him, the institute has so far expressed its opinion on approximately two thirds of the buildings. The remaining third does not care about barrier-free access at all. "In spite of that we have no impact on whether the designers and investors are going to observe our recommendation or not," Doležal added.

Representatives of organizations associating people with disabilities in the Moravian-Silesian Region highlighted the absence of reliable and detailed information on the accessibility of tourist facilities. Frequently, facilities use the wheelchair user pictogram as a symbol of barrier-free access but, as a matter of fact, that very often means only that it is possible to approach the hotel or restaurant by car. "But if wheelchair users want to have a meal in the restaurant, they find out they cannot get over the high thresholds; and the restaurant does not even have suitably adjusted toilets," Ms. Monika Olšaníková from the Centre for Family and Social Care observed. As a result, disabled people often face situations when they cannot be sure whether they can cope with difficulties with the inaccessibility of certain services as soon as they have arrived at the tourist facility of their choice.

"When we organise a tour or trip for our clients, it means I have to visit the place at first to check by myself whether it is accessible or not. And this applies even to places where I have already phoned to ask about barrier-free access. The staff does not possess sufficient knowledge to be able to answer my queries," Ms. Jiřina Nevrlá from the Help Klub Havířov emphasized.

According to the participants, sufficient education of the staff in tourism would significantly enhance the situation in tourism as well as in all society. Mr. Mára pointed out, "our trips have been possible only because we have met willing people who knew how to help us.”

In the Czech Republic, the awareness regarding barrier-free access and travelling of people with specific needs is very low. "Sometimes, even an accessible environment becomes inaccessible as a result of the staff's and users' attitude. We have already recorded several cases when, for example, petrol stations have changed their accessible toilets into storage rooms. If a wheelchair user wants to use it, the attendants have to clear it first”, said Ms. Nevrlá.

Therefore, educating the general public is assumed to be one of the fundamental conditions that have to be satisfied in order to develop accessible tourism in the Czech Republic and to make it commonplace.

"Tourism for All" Czech Conference 2010 Proceedings Now Available

Ivor Ambrose — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:20:13 GMT

Please, see the proceedings from international conference "Tourism for All", held on 15th November, 2010 in Ostrava

Please, see the proceedings from international conference "Tourism for All", held on 15th November, 2010 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Download the document from the right-hand panel in PDF format.

For further details about the conference please visit the ENAT Events page.

Kazuist is an Associate Member of ENAT.

Call from participants of international conference "Tourism for All"

Ivor Ambrose — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:37:00 GMT

Participants of international conference "Tourism for All", held on 15th November, 2010 in Ostrava call upon the policy makers of the Czech Republic and the public authorities at national, regional and local level, within their ministries and policies, responsibilities and activities to promote and support accessible tourism.

Participants of international conference "Tourism for All", held on 15th November, 2010 in Ostrava call upon the policy makers of the Czech Republic, the public authorities and tourism enterprises to promote and support accessible tourism.

We call upon the policy makers of the Czech Republic and the public authorities at national, regional and local level, within their ministries and policies, responsibilities and activities to

promote the integration of accessible tourism to the legislation, policy and strategic documents,
emphasize the importance of accessibility as an integral part of the process of service quality improvement and sustainable development in tourism,
support activities that contribute to development of accessible tourism, particularly:
- creating understandable instructions and methodologies for evaluating accessibility of tourism infrastructure and tourism services,
- creating support programs for the operators of tourism aimed at removal of physical/architectural barriers,
- training of employees in tourism, civil servants, urban planners, architects in the issue of accessibility,
- inclusion of accessible tourism in the curricula of secondary schools and universities that prepare future workers and entrepreneurs in this area,
- promote the involvement of all tourism stakeholders, representatives of private and public bodies in searching for new solutions for improving accessibility in tourism through partnerships at national and international level.

We also call on all service providers in tourism - accommodation and food service facilities, tourist attractions and facilities for leisure, travel agencies and transport providers, within their activities to

contribute to removing of barriers (of building, communication, knowledge and information kind)
promote empathetic approach towards the clients as a part of the quality assurance and professional services
develop the knowledge of their employees about the special needs of clients with limited mobility, or with other types of health disability
provide truthful information about accessibility level of facilities and destinations, create information materials facilitating decision making and orientation, in accessible and understandable forms
develop partnership with other actors in tourism and related sectors and thus contribute to the creation of accessible destinations.

Ostrava, 15th November, 2010

Download the Call text in PDF format from the right-hand panel in Czech and English

Transnational conference "Tourism for All" Press Release

Ivor Ambrose — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:27:00 GMT

Participants of the international conference “Tourism for All – good examples from home as well as abroad” appeal to politicians and institutions to start viewing accessible tourism as an integral part of tourism. The conference, held on 15 November 2010, by the project “ATHENA” in cooperation with ENAT (European Network for Accessible Tourism) and financed by EU proved the necessity of improvements of provided services so that Czech destinations were fully accessible and available for all.

Participants in the international conference “Tourism for All – good examples from home as well as abroad” appeal to politicians and institutions to start viewing accessible tourism as an integral part of tourism as such. The conference, held on 15 November 2010, by the project “ATHENA” in cooperation with ENAT (European Network for Accessible Tourism) and financed by EU proved the necessity of improvements of provided services so that Czech destinations were fully accessible and available for all.

Despite having several initiatives in Bohemia, mostly in the Bohemian Mountains and in the Moravian-Silesian Region, which strive for accessible tourism, their efforts are in vain due to the non-existing background.

“Czech legislation has been so far totally ignoring accessible tourism. Nevertheless, we are determined to promote accessible tourism as an important part of the prepared new tourism act. We believe that it could result in an increase of competitiveness of the Czech Republic in the sphere of tourism,” points out the project manager of “ATHENA”, Mrs. Jarmila Šagátová.

There are nearly two hundred million tourists who could use those services. Among them are not only disabled persons but also families with children or seniors. Almost 40 % of them, however, refuse to travel due to the lack of accessible destinations and services.

The promotion of accessible tourism is not only an attempt to implement equal opportunities for all groups of people in the sphere of tourism, but also the chance to contribute to the development of Czech regions by increasing local tourism. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to make the political representatives of the regions realize the importance of accessibility as an integral part of the increase of service quality and sustainable development, and to start creating supporting programmes for tourist facilities operators that would lead to the removal of physical as well as structural barriers. Last but not the least, it is important to make them support education in this specific area.

Unfortunately, accessible tourism is being neglected not only by politicians and public administration employees but also by the tourist operators and service providers themselves. According to the conference participants it is important that they too – as professionals and providers of quality services - should remove all barriers and develop their empathic attitude to the clients.

“Yet, many good examples from abroad show that accessible tourism is a highly promising way of entrepreneurship. Its development however requires that the service providers create easily accessible and understandable information materials, and start cooperating with other actors in the tourism area in order to create a network of accessible destinations,” points out Mrs. Šagátová.

Therefore the handbook of accessible tourism, which is the first Czech information material about accessible tourism, was being introduced at the conference. Not only the tourist service providers but also various educational institutions, bodies of the state and public administration and non-profit organizations dealing with accessible tourism will find there useful information.

Download: This press release may be downloaded from the right-hand panel.

Invitation to the International Conference on Accessible Tourism in the Czech Republic

Ivor Ambrose — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:59:34 GMT

ATHENA project invites all accessible tourism stakeholders and fans to meet in November in the Moravian-Silesian Ostrava.

We are very pleased to announce that the International Conference on Accessible Tourism will be held on 15th November, 2010 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

The event will present the project outcomes and international experience in accessible tourism and related human resources development to all potential stakeholders representing NGOs, national and local authorities, ministries, educational and training institutions etc.

Participation is free. The conference program and more details will be available as from September, 2010.

ATHENA Project Website Now in English!

Ivor Ambrose — Mon, 10 May 2010 20:52:52 GMT

ATHENA project website providing information and actualities about the project and accessible tourism as well as inspiration for all stakeholders, not only in the Czech Republic, is now available in English.

In Library section project website offers well-arranged and continually enlarging collection of useful information resources to help people with access needs searching for and choosing a suitable place to stay.

You can find here selection of travel guides, links to useful internet databases and other interesting publications about accessible tourism from various European countries, regions and cities.

There are never enough good examples!

In a separate section of our website, you will find some good examples of effective solutions in the sector of accessible tourism. For instance, there is information about training programmes focusing on competences necessary in accessible tourism, a collection of inspiring products and services adapted for people with special needs, good examples of adapted transport services, architecture and design for all.

Last but not least the Good Examples section provides a summary of relevant European legislature and studies.

The website is accessible to all users. We try to develop an up-to-date and complex information portal about accessible tourism across Europe.

Visit: http://www.project-athena.cz/en

Every contribution which would enrich the website is very welcome at ostruszkova@kazuist.cz

You are welcome to visit our website for your benefit or inspiration!

ATHENA project shared experience on accessible tourism in Vienna

Ioannis Cherouvim — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:47:00 GMT

Two representatives from the ATHENA project participated and shared experience at the 2nd ENAT Congress.

Czech project on accessible tourism – ATHENA played a significant part in the 2nd ENAT Congress „Trends and Prospects for Accessible Tourism“ in Vienna.

With two participants representing different sectors and countries, the ATHENA project was presented as a good example advanced conception of accessible tourism support.

ATHENA representatives had been entrusted by the Congress organisers to lead the workshop focussing on conditions of accessible tourism in the Central and Eastern Europe region. "We can say that it was success for our project. Not only did it gain the respect of workshop participants but it was also emphasised by ENAT managing director, Mr. Ivor Ambrose in plenary session“, Ilona Ostruszková, project transnational cooperation manager said.

The need to adapt transport and tourism services in order to include all in tourism was the key topic. Also the concept of "tourism for all" marketing and promotion was seen by congress participants as the subject of change – it is not enough for diverse customers to know what can they see or where can they go at the destination but also they should be given information what can they taste or touch.

“It was a good opportunity to identify new trends for accessible tourism in Europe. It is very important for us and our project to learn from the experiences of other countries” said Jana Szczuková, another congress participant from ATHENA team.

You can find more information about project ATHENA on website: www.project-athena.cz (English version is coming soon).

Download the Powerpoint presentation: "Accessible Tourism in the Czech Republic" from the right-hand panel.

ATHENA Project Holds Successful Kick-off Meeting in Athens, Greece

Evi Kostakou — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:18:00 GMT

Representatives of ENAT, KAZUIST, TRIANON met in the ENAT office (the seat of EWORX S.A.) on 2nd July 2009. The meeting, which took place over two days consisted of project preparations, networking between Greek and Czech organisations and excursions to accessible tourism sites.

Representatives of ENAT, KAZUIST, TRIANON met in the ENAT office (the seat of EWORX S.A.) on 2nd July 2009.

The meeting, which took place over two days consisted of project preparations, networking between Greek and Czech organisations and excursions to accessible tourism sites.

Photo (by Ivor Ambrose).
Czech delegates outside the Acropolis Museum, Athens

The ATHENA project Transnational Management Board was established, comprised of Mr. Ambrose (ENAT), Mrs. Šagátová and Mrs. Ostruszková (KAZUIST).

The meeting participants discussed the working plan for the next 24 months. All participants have been handed over the working plan draft with foreseen timetable and responsible persons for each activity.

During the visit, the project team met with several Greek organisations and experts, including:

Greek Civil Aviation Authority, Architect Mrs. Vassiliki Stavropoulou
Disability Now (ENAT member) Manager, Mr. Nikos Voulgaropoulos
PIKPA (Rehabilitation Centre) Research Director Mrs. Giannopoulou Angeline (replacing managing Director, Mr. Nektarios Korres)
Architect, Mr. Gerasimos Polis
Ergotherapist Mr. Lagakos Sarados,
Mr. Zois Panagiotis
Mrs. Katerina Sarantidou
Architect, Head of Section, Workers' Housing Orgaisation Mrs. Katerina Papamichail

Participants from KAZUIST:

Project manager Mrs. Jarmila Šagátová
Project expert Mrs. Jana Szczuková
Project expert Mrs. Ilona Ostruszková

Participant from ENAT:

Managing Director Mr. Ivor Ambrose