Accessible Tourism for All: Standards and Recommendations Guiding the Recovery
Thursday, 9 December 2021 | 4PM - 5:30PM CET (Madrid Time) | WEBINAR ZOOM
Enabling access to tourism infrastructure, services and experiences for persons with specific access requirements has become increasingly important for companies and destinations. However, many tourism providers still don’t know how to improve their accessibility to be able to better cater to both travellers and locals with disabilities, reaching over 1 billion people worldwide.
Service providers, public administrations and destination authorities require common concepts and guidance on accessibility, so all key players can understand and speak the same language. Generally, there has been a lack of international standards on accessible tourism and major gaps within national legislative and normative frameworks. Accessibility specifications and indicators differ between different countries or regions. This causes confusion and stressful travel planning for customers who need good access, frequently leading to bad travel experiences.
UNWTO joined hands with the ONCE Foundation for Cooperation and Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities and the Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, in 2016, to lead the development of a comprehensive standard on accessibility, under the International Standards Organisation (ISO) framework. The recently published standard ISO 21902:2021, as well as other tools launched by UNWTO since 2020, can serve to support the tourism industry to better recover from the pandemic by reaching out to customers with specific access requirements, tapping into new sources of revenue and becoming truly inclusive.
This webinar will shed light on the new normative instruments and recommendations by gathering technical experts and featuring good practices in accessible and inclusive tourism. It is aimed at encouraging both public and private sector stakeholders to plan and implement their own accessibility agenda. This webinar is not about complying with requirements, but rather about grasping the wealth of opportunities that accessible tourism entails.
| 16:00 | Introductory Remarks Ms. Marina Diotallevi, Head of Ethics, Culture, and Social Responsibility Department, UNWTO |
| Moderator | Mr. Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director, European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) |
| 16:15 | ISO Standard 21902 Accessible Tourism for All: Requirements and Recommendations Mr. Jesús Hernández, Director, Universal Accessibility and Innovation, ONCE Foundation Ms. Natalia Ortiz de Zárate, Standardization Program Manager, UNE Spain |
| 16:30 | Accessibility in built environments Ms. Marnie Peters, President, Accessibility Simplified, Canada |
| 16:40 | Accessibility as a driver of quality hospitality services Mr. Apoorva Gandhi, Senior Vice President, Multicultural Affairs, Social Impact and Business Councils, Marriott International |
| 16:50 | Accessible Tourism case study from Asia-Pacific Ms. Clair Crowley, co-founder, Push Adventures, Australia |
| 17:00 | Accessibility in policymaking Ms. Teresa Ferreira, Director, Resources Development Department, Turismo de Portugal |
| Q&A and Conclusion | Mr. Igor Stefanovic, Technical Coordinator, Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility Department, UNWTO |
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