This new, European on-line training course addresses ways of improving tourism businesses and serving customers who have specific access requirements. The course is an "appetizer" for business owners and employees, giving a general introduction to the subject of accessible tourism.
Order these two new textbooks on Accessible Tourism from Channel View Publications and make great savings, thanks to this deal arranged with ENAT. The offer closes on 31 January 2012.
Eight cities have been shortlisted for the prestigious European Access City Award 2012. With 114 entries from 23 EU countries, the jurors had a challenging task identifying the finalists.
Co-hosted by the Rick Hansen Foundation and the Rick Hansen Institute, Interdependence 2012 is an international four-day conference and exposition with a focus on creating accessible communities and furthering spinal cord injury (SCI) research for a cure. Abstracts are now invited for presentations in the theme session on "Making Communities Accessible for All". The two sub-themes are "Accessible and Inclusive Tourism" and "UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities".
VisitEngland, the national tourist board, has launched a new version of the Access Statement Online Tool, aimed at helping businesses cater for visitors with access needs. This new version is specifically tailored for pubs and has been created in partnership with the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).
MONTRÉAL, QUEBEC. The Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec announces that the organization Kéroul has been granted $50,000 in non-repayable funding for the implementation of its commercialization plan for The Accessible Road for 2011-2012.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) is convinced that the facilitation of tourist travel by persons with disabilities is a vital element of any responsible and sustainable tourism development policy. Announcing a new tri-lateral agreement with external partners, Fundación ONCE and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT), the UNWTO aims to provide guidance in this area to policy makers, destinations and tourist enterprises.
A visit to a museum, whether of art, local history or technology, is just as worthwhile for the blind and partially sighted as it is for visitors without visual impairments. In order to make it easier for the blind and partially sighted to visit museums and exhibitions autonomously, the Coordination Unit on Tourism of the German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (Reg. Ass.) took the public discussion on this topic into consideration and then proceeded to make the following recommendations at its annual conference in Essen in 2010.
"All-In: Accessible holiday accommodations in Flanders and Brussels" presents more than 100 holiday centres, hotels, youth accommodations and campgrounds that have received the accessibility label A (basic accessibility) or A+ (comfortable accessibility) following an objective investigation.
The first international certification programme for accessible tourism destinations has been developed and carried out in Lousã, Portugal by the Belgian Accessibility Office, Toegangelijkheidsbureau (TGB). The Certification Programme is a completely new destination management tool which provides an accurate measure of the excellence of an accessible tourism destination, based on strictly defined criteria.
The general objective of the project "TOURISM INCLUSIVE - Competencies for Care of People with Disabilities" was to conduct a study that may contribute to the achievement of national policy of inclusion of persons with disabilities, particularly in regard to their access to tourism services by: The identification of specific needs of people with disabilities, on the reception - service - service; The identification of skills, in terms of care and service necessary to meet those needs; The construction of a "package" of training aimed at developing these specific skills.
