This week the Marina d'Or beachside holiday resort in the Region of Valencia, Spain welcomes some 200 delegates at the ENAT International Congress on Tourism for All, organised by Fundación ONCE and supported by the European Commission. Guest speakers from North and South America, as well as Australia will complement European presenters from all sectors of the tourism industry, public authorities, NGOs and centres of research and education.
ENAT member, "Accessible Travel and Leisure", is a leading UK specialist in tailor-made holidays for customers with disabilities. Now the company is offering business franchises, providing opportunities for people with disabilities to run their own business from home, selling accessible holidays.
STIL, the Stockholm Cooperative for Independent Living, announced the winner of its fourth annual Ace of Hearts award. For the first time ever, the accolade was given to a company and to that company’s Disability Coordinator who, with initiative and creativity, has improved accessibility for disabled people.
UK-based company, Accessible Travel and Leisure specialises in creating holiday packages for customers with disabilities. In 2007 it launched a new franchising scheme which provides the opportunity for disabled people to run their own business from home, selling accessible holidays.
The HAPPY TOURIST project aims to offer equal opportunities to people with disabilities in the tourist sector, either as tourists or as staff, based upon the combination of innovative, modular and cost-effective ICT tools, e-learning concepts and on-the-job-training schemes.
The project aims to identify and define requirements of the demand and supply sides in the tourism sector (both disabled people and tourist industry workers); to prepare an information model for disabled tourists, (by including disabled people in the whole process), and to deliver suitable training programmes for the tourism sector.
EC Regulation 1107 of 5 July 2006 specifies the conditions which operators in EU countries must meet for ensuring access to air travel by people with reduced mobility.
Guidelines by the Canadian Transportation Agency to help air, rail and ferry terminal operators implement the provisions of the Canadian Code of Practice on Passenger Terminal Accessibility, to make their operations more accessible for persons with disabilities.
Workshop Report including summary presentations and speeches by plenary speakers, workshop conclusions and photos from the optional excursion to accessible attractions in Athens.