Mainstreaming Accessibility in Tourism

Ile-de-France Europe Days28 November 2012

Antonella Correra EUROPEAN COMMISSIONDG Enterprise and IndustryE2 – Tourism and Cultural Instruments

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Tourism and the Lisbon Treaty• Article 6 of TFEU: the Union shall have competence to

carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States, in various areas, one of which is Tourism

• Article 195 of TFEU: in Tourism the EU can complement Member States’ actions to promote competitiveness by

encouraging the creation of favourable environment promoting cooperation between Member states,

particularly in exchanging good practices

Why Tourism?

- A driver for growth• 12% EU labour force, 10% EU GDP

- An "anchor" in times of recession…that keeps growing• Jan-Aug 2012 : +4%• In 2012, 1 billion people will have travelled in the world• By 2030, they will rise to 1,8 billion

- An "employer" for women and young people• Over 40% employed in tourism are less than 35• Up to 60% employed are women

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EC Communication 2010: Europe, the world’s N°1 tourist destination –

– a new political framework for tourism in Europe

Implementation through three axes

Increase tourism demand

• Senior Tourism• 50.000 tourists• European promotion

with ETC• VISA

Improve tourism supply

• Cultural routes, EDEN

• European quality label

• ICT • Tourism skills

Cross-cutting tourism measures

• VTO• European Charter

for Responsible Tourism

• etc…

Redescovering destinations

Improving the tourism

offer

Off-setting seasonality

Attracting more tourists

Accessible Tourism

Offering Quality Tourism

Accessibility in Tourism is…

Preparatory Action Tourism for ALL2012-2014

Budget from EP in 2012: € 1 million

Objectives:• - To raise awareness• - To disseminate and reward best practices• - To improve skills• - To foster innovative solutions • - To promote more accessible services and

facilities• - To incentivise and reward accessibility efforts

Mapping the demand of accessible tourism

48% of disabled tourists in Germany would travel more often if services were more accessible

£2 billion is the contribution of disabled travellers to the domestic visitor economy in UK (2009)

Fragmented data for EU-27

1) Assess Economic impulse on tourism

2) Forecast the demand of accessible tourism services until 2020

3) Understanding the beneficiaries (travel propensity, patterns, disabilitieS)

Mapping supply of accessible tourism

€.

Lack of informationInadequate services

"Broken" supply chain

= loss of potential travellers

1) EU-wide quantitative assessment of the accessibility of the tourism supply chain 2) Performance check” (satisfaction, effectiveness, usability, customisation) 3) Finding the bottlenecks for travellers and for businesses

€ 4 billion : the cost of "non-accessibility" of tourism 60% would be willing to pay more for accessible tourism services 17% holidays outside Europe because of more accessible services

Improving skills

€.

Unskilled, untrained staff can spoil the

holiday experience

1) Need to identify gaps in the current level of skills and training to cater for people with special access needs

2) Need to disseminate best practices in disability training in tourism.

Understanding people’s needsImpairments affect areas other than physical mobility

Safety is paramount

Fostering awareness

€.

Access is good for business

Catering for people with “special access needs” as a standard tourism business practice

-To raise public awareness and sensitise relevant stakeholders and operators

Treviso Seminar (2012)

-To reward accessible European destinationsEDEN (2012-2013)

-To reward economic operators who make accessibility an element of their competitiveness

An Access award for tourism operators (2012-2013)

Overview for 2013 • - Data gathering, statistics

• Socio-economic• Behavioural

• - Focussing on information and communication• Developing compelling messages• Finding effective multipliers • Communicating proactively• Closing the communication gap

• - Practical tools• Guidance, checklists• Practical tips

•

Accessible tourism: paving the way…

EP Preparatory Action

Dialogue

- More/better data- Better awareness - Tools, best practices

- National authorities-Stakeholders, industry

To elaborate considerations and proposals for future action

Thank you for your attention!