A new free European on-line training course which addresses ways of improving tourism businesses and serving customers who have specific access requirements was recently announced by the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT).  The course is an “appetizer” for business owners and employees, providing a general introduction to the subject of accessible tourism. It includes short texts, ‘best practice’ videos with  case studies of actual businesses, reference documents and links.

By taking the course, professionals in the tourism industry will learn about the advantages of engaging with this fast-growing market and how to attract and serve new customers.  Students of tourism management and hospitality can also benefit from following the course and studying the additional references.  One of the advantages of the e-learning course is that participants can work at their own pace, fitting in their training when they have time. The on-line system keeps a record of their work and their test results.

Developed by a team of ENAT Members under the European Union’s programme for Lifelong Learning, the course integrates training materials from various European countries. The course language is English. It is available at:  http://www.accesstraining.eu.  It is currently being tested and will be amended as necessary on the basis of feedback from participants, who are invited to answer the User Survey after creating a user account and taking one or more modules of the course.  On completing the first four “basic” modules of the course, participants can receive the Accessible Tourism Training First-level Certificate (ETCAATS) issued by
ENAT.

The European Commission (Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, Directorate F: Tourism, CSR, Consumer Goods and International Regulatory Agreements) is seeking tenders for a market research and public opinion poll on the economic impact and travel patterns of accessible tourism in Europe.

Travelling for pleasure (or for business) in Europe is equally relevant for persons with physical disabilities, but the barriers they have to face are far greater.  Tourism accessibility across Europe is still to some extent unchartered territory, with widespread misconceptions and lack of knowledge about the market of tourists with special access needs.  Visitors’ requirements are largely unknown, investment costs are often misunderstood or exaggerated and accessibility is generally perceived by business as a “burden”.  Travelling and having full access to tourist activities, services and facilities is a right enshrined in Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, signed by the European Union and its 27 Member States.  Furthermore, making tourism facilities more accessible to people with disabilities, is also a golden opportunity for businesses.

Very few studies have been carried out on the economic impact or patterns of demand and travel of visitors with disabilities.  The most recent has been a research project that in 2011 looked at the tourism, travel, and hospitlaity patterns and needs of people with hearing loss conducted for the new Zealand National Foundation for the Deaf, by the NZ Tourism Research Institute at AUT University, and Access Toruism NZ.   The overall purpose of this EU contract is to collect comprehensive and EU-wide data on the economic impact — both actual and potential — of travellers with special access needs on the EU tourism sector, and to study the demand, travel behaviour, and patterns of travellers with special access needs in Europe.  The final date for tender submissions is 28/06/2012.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration (SM), and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) are holding a conference on the autonomy and inclusion of people with disabilities 7-8 June in Copenhagen.  This international conference will bring together disability experts from civil society including disabled people’s organisations, representatives from national human rights institutions, researchers, and policy makers at the EU, national and local level. The conference will allow participants to discuss the disability work of the FRA, DIHR and the Danish Ministry. The FRA’s latest disability reports, which will be presented during the event, will give an overview of the EU situation. There will also be concrete examples from Denmark and other Member States to illustrate the state of affairs nationally. Participants will be able to discuss practical suggestions and network with others working on disability rights.

Access For All reports that for a second year, the Vodafone Foundation in collaboration with AGE and the European Disability Forum (EDF) will launch the Smart Accessibility Awards. This contest aims to increase understanding of the needs and expectations of ageing and disabled users of smartphones by inviting developers to create innovative applications that are designed for all. Like in 2011 four applications that fill in the criteria of effectiveness, availability and affordability, user-friendliness, usability, accesssibility and design for all, will win a prize of 50.000 Euros each. The competition will be officially launched in Brussels on 30th May.

Date: Wednesday, 30 May
Venue: Hotel Sofitel Brussels Europe, Place Jourdan 1 – 1040 Brussels, Belgium
Time: 14.00hrs-16.00hrs
If you would like to join the launch please mail Cindy De Koninck

The Indian Ministry of Tourism has included in its policy plans to make tourism destinations barrier –free.  Both the 2009-2010 Ministry annual report and the 2010-2011 report cover accessible tourism. The Ministry is keen to develop accessible tourism because – as they state – people with different abilities and older persons are now becoming a growing group of consumers of travel, sports and, other leisure-oriented products and services, and wish to tap the potential of this group.   Guidelines have been issued for making  tourist-facilities that are created with
central financial assistance, barrier-free.  Officers deputed for inspections of tourism projects, funded by the Ministry include their observations regarding the accessibility of these projects for disabled persons in their report.

Making the hotels accessible for people with different abilities has been included in the guidelines for approval and classification of 4 and 5 star category hotels.  As part of  Corporate Social Responsibility Activity, the Indian Tourism Development Corporation  will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with M/s Svayam (an initiative of SJ Charitable Trust which is working for the differently abled persons) for launching “Ashok Access” to provide guidance on making Hotels, Museums, Tourist sites user friendly for differently abled persons.

The Ministry has also instituted a new category of Award of Excellence for Most Barrier-Free Monument/Tourist Attraction in the country to encourage other agencies responsible for maintaining monuments/tourist attractions to create barrier-free environment for the promotion of accessible tourism.

The Ministry commissioned a study on the Problems and Prospects of Accessible Tourism in India, which is available on the website.  Amongst the findings is that the size of the access market is 18.11% of India’s population, or 186 million people.  This includes family members of people with disabilities.

Madrid has been working hard to make itself more accessible to visitors with disabilities.  Jesus Hernandez Galen writes that the hotel sector has made huge efforts to make improvements to their facilities (Accessible Tourism in Spain: Arona and Madrid. Chapter 21 in Best Practices in Accessible Tourism, 2012).  In the mid-1990′s the city’s General Plan to refurbish historic buildings emphasized accessibility, and access was also a priority in transport. The city includes development of accessible tourism in its Four-Year plan and in annual action plans. In response to increasing demand for information on accessible tourism by visitors and travel agents (especially form abroad), Madrid’s Tourism Board set up Madrid Accessible.  The political commitment to accessibility is shared by all department heads at the organizational level and is thus high-level.  There has been steady funding for new accessible tourism projects.  the Madrid Accessible project provides accessible tourism information, ensures accessible tourism infrastructure, designs accessible products and services, trains staff, and raises awareness in the tourism sector.

Open Doors Org (ODO) in the USA is a non-profit organization founded in 2000 for the purpose of creating a society in which people with disabilities have the same consumer opportunities as everyone else.   ODO has trained Amtrak employees, carried out disabilities market research, and created Easy Access Guides and training videos.   It trains people in the hotel industry, and in the Motor coach Industry.  It is also a leader in airport employee training in the US.    Executive Director Eric Lipp has previously worked been with American, United, and US Air.   This May, several ODO employees and consultants will spend a week training Heathrow Airport employees on handling customers with disabilities and their mobility devices.   In October, it will hold the Fourth Universal Access in Airports Conference.   Twitter: @OpenDoorsOrg

The European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) reports that at a recent meeting,  the Spanish “Business Innovation Groups in Tourism” (AEITs) convened by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, focused on accessibility, mobility, and sustainability for transforming the Spanish tourism sector.  Organised by the Spanish Tourism Technology and Innovation platform (SEGITTUR) and the Tourism Cluster in Madrid, the conference focused on the presentation of the results of projects that had received grants to support the tourism sector AEITs for 2011.  These included the Accessible Tourism Destination Project and DIGICARDEX technology for tracking of children with  disabilities at theme parks, camps etc.

VisitBritain is the national tourism agency responsible for promoting Britain around the world in partnership with VisitEngland, VisitScotland, VisitWales, VisitLondon,  and English regional partners. Andrew Daines (formerly of VisitBritain) and Chris  Veitch (an independent tourism consultant) write in “VisitBritain: Leading the  world to Britain” (Chapter 22, Best Practices in Accessible Tourism, 2012), that VisitBritain is working with its partners and Britain’s tourism industry to address accessibility by

• Increasing provision of accurate and reliable information about tourism products
• Requiring that accommodation businesses of all types that participate in the VisitBritain quality assurance schemes have an access statement.  In Wales, all types of tourism businesses are expected to have such a statement. Examples of an access statements are available here.
• Provision of the National Accessibility Scheme, a quality assessment scheme of mobility, vision, and hearing access, allowing businesses in England to be independently assessed and rated according to their accessibility.

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reports that travel and tourism is one of the world’s largest industries, accounting for 9% of global GDP. This is more than the automotive industry which accounts for 8.5%, and only slightly less than the banking sector which accounts for 11%.  The findings have been released in a research report “Travel and Tourism 2011”. The research was sponsored by American Express and undertaken by Oxford Economics.  It shows that the sector’s direct contribution to world GDP of US$2 trillion (2.8 percent) is more than double the GDP of automotive manufacturing and one-third larger than the global chemicals industry. Travel and tourism generates roughly the same GDP as the global education and communications sectors, and about half that of the global banking and financial services industry.  The sector’s total contribution to world GDP (taking direct, indirect, and induced impacts into account) of US$6.3trillion (9.1 percent) in 2011, compares with 8 percent contribution of automotive manufacturing and mining.

In terms of employment, the importance of the sector is even more pronounced. After education, travel and tourism is the top job creator with an average of 50 jobs generated by US$1 million in spend, this is twice as many jobs as created by financial services, communications, and auto manufacturing.  In 2011, 98 million people were directly employed by travel and tourism. Taking the indirect and induced employment into account, travel and tourism sustained 255 million jobs in 2011, 1 in 12 of all jobs in the world.

David Scowsill, President and CEO, WTTC said: “These figures prove beyond any doubt that it is time that the world’s governments really sit up and take notice of the travel and tourism industry. As a driver of economic recovery and growth in a very turbulent time, the industry stands apart for the sheer scale of its ability to create jobs and growth in every part of the globe.”