Accessible Tourism

Accessible Tourism
Anna Breda
Veneto Region Brussels Office
The Veneto Region
-
The Veneto Region is located in the
North East of Italy
-
It is the first region for tourism in
Italy (62.351.657 mln tourist in 2012
15% of the Italian Global Arrivals)
-
It is the sixth region for tourism
within the European Union
L’economia turistica veneta
L’economia turistica genera in Veneto 11 miliardi di Euro di fatturato
Fonte: elaborazioni dati CISET‐IRPET.
Tourism Legal Framework:
competitiveness
•
Article 6 (Lisbon Treaty): the EU can intervene to "support, coordinate
or supplement the actions of Member States":
•
Article 195: 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
Political Framework
Communication 2010 - "Europe, world´s nº 1 tourism
destination, a new political framwork for European
Tourism " - COM (2010) 352
- Stimulate competitiveness in the European tourism sector.
- Promote the development of sustainable, responsible and
quality tourism;
- Consolidate the image and profile of Europe as a whole,
quality sustainable destinations.
- Maximizing the potential of policies and financial
instruments of the EU aimed at the tourism development.
Major challenges of tourism
Accesibility/ Senior
Æ 80 million people with disability in EU
Æ ¾ of disable citizens are over 65 years old
Æ Potential market: 100 to 110 million tourists (elderly and
disabled) with accesibility requirements.
Æ Indirectly: 130-140 million more tourists per year, with an
additional turnover of approximately 90-160 billion € per year
What means Tourism for All in
Europe?
EC ensures universal access to holiday Æ competitive, sustainable and
responsible tourism
EC undertakes trans-national actions to cope with the following
challenges:
Æ EXTENSION OF THE LOW SEASON = GROWTH AND JOBS
Æ MAJOR CHANGES AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES OF THE
EUROPEAN SOCIETY (new family structures, single-person
households, the increase of life expectancy, additional free time,
population ageing, social exclusion…)
Economic Impact EU Tourim
Accesibility
Æ Clear Impact on Seniors Accesible services elderly people will increase
incomes between 240-247-270 Mill €. in the 3 scenarios.
Æ In 2012, 47.5% elderly travelled overnight
Æ Among the elderly population that travelled over the last 12 months, about
20.5%, 29.5% and 38.0% would like visit some EU
Æ 457.9 mill. people (2011) with access needs in 11 key
international markets (36.5% were people with disabilities aged
15-64, and 63.5% were the elderly population aged 65 or above)
Accessible Tourism: the Legal Basis
Art. 43 of the Regional Law on Tourism states the following: “ As a
result of the implementation of Art 9 of the UN Convention on the right
of people with disabilities, the policy of the Region in this context is to
ensure that people with disabilities can freely have access to the tourism
offer in an independent way. The Region allocates funds to better
improve the physical accessibility through the involvement of experts in
this field.”
The Veneto Region
and the Project of Excellence
Projects of excellence
Italian law n. 296 of 27 december 2006, art. 1, paragraph 1228
amended by the law n. 69 of 18 june 2009, art. 18
Provides:
“The Italian Government supports financially a certain number of selected
projects and initiatives aimed at developing the tourism sector at national
and international level”
One of the projects selected by the Italian Presidency of the
Council of Ministers was
The Project of excellence
“Development of Social and Accessible Tourism”
Adopted by Veneto Region in November 2011
The objective of the project
Creating the conditions for the development
of accessible tourism in the Veneto Region
by implementing accessibility in the
hospitality
Main actions of the project :
•
Training tour operators on accessibility in hospitality, especially for
people with disabilities
•
Fostering new investements for more accessible accomodations
•
Creating new synergies between pubblic administrations and private
sector to build up a more accessible tourism offer
•
Defining tourism activities and extending the seasonality
Features of the Project
Three years Regional Project
2 mln Euros
DEVELOPMENT
OF SOCIAL TOURISM
4 PROMOTION
AND
COMMUNICATION
1 ANALYSIS
AND
MONITORING
Sensitizing tour
operators through
DATA collection
2 INFRASTRUCTURE
AND MOBILITY
3 INNOVATION
AND SERVICES
Structural ADJUSTMENT
Screening
Mobility
Training for tour
operators
ACCESSIBILITY OF
MOUNTAIN AREAS
Territorial Projects
Innovation and
services
First step: involvement of local stakeholders
•
Selection of the most visited municipalities of the Veneto Region;
•
Evaluation of Accessible tourism products, facilities, accomodations and
restaurants among the municipalities selected
•
Monitoring of accessible servicies
•
Data collection and statistics to have an overview on the objective reality;
•
Improvement of the information given within www.veneto.to tourism website about
Accessible destinations of the Veneto Region to allow tourists to decide where to spend
their holidays
Partecipating Municipalities
Cortina d'Ampezzo Bassano del Grappa
Cavallino
Lazise
Venezia
Verona Rosolina Mare
Montegrotto Terme Progetto Eccellenza Abano Terme 18
Municipalities
1. Abano Terme
2. Bassano del
Grappa
3. Cavallino
4. Cortina
d’Ampezzo
5. Lazise
6. Montegrotto
Terme
7. Rosolina Mare
8. Venezia
9. Verona
Progetto Eccellenza 19
Tourist Facilities Involved
Municipalities
Tourist
Accommoda
tion
Restaurants
Point of
Interest
Bathing
Establishments
TOTAL
Abano Terme
4
2
6
12
Bassano del Grappa
3
3
3
9
Cavallino
3
3
3
9
Cortina d'Ampezzo
3
3
4
10
Lazise
3
3
3
9
Montegrotto Terme
3
3
3
9
Rosolina Mare
4
0
2
Venezia
3
3
4
10
Verona
3
3
4
10
TOTAL
29
23
32
Progetto Eccellenza 4
4
10
88
20
Examples of Accessible Tourism Museums:
Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana
Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana: the exhibition spaces of the François
Pinault Foundation in Venice, selected by the Municipality of Venice as
Accessible Museums for the project of excellence
The education department
•
•
The Education department
transfers the contents of the
exhibitions to the public through
programs for schools and
families, university students, adult
groups, elderly visitors and
hospitalized children, with a
constant attention to accessibility
in a broader sense
Accessibility is not considered a
service to be offered to visitors,
but one of the pillars of the
educational mission. The notion
of inclusion is the basis of the
Education department’s approach
Wheelchairs Ramps on the Bridges
- Palazzo Grassi and Punta
della Dogana are fully
accessible to people with
motor disabilities
- Punta della Dogana
participates in the project
“Venice Art for All”, which
aims to make accessible the
entire “Dorsoduro” area thanks
to the installation of wheelchair
ramps on the bridges
Services
•
The visitors with hearing
impairments have access to all
the activities of the museum
thanks to the presence of a LIS
(Italian Sign Language)
interpreter without additional
costs
•
Guided tour of Palazzo Grassi
and Punta della Dogana
•
Guided tour and workshop for
schools
•
Workshops
families
for
children
and
Accessible Tools
The visitors with visual impairments
have access to all the activities of the
museum thanks to a series of specific
tools (currently under construction, to
be launched by the end of 2013):
1.
tactile maps of the museum
2.
tactile book describing the story of the
building, its renovation and its
architecture—QR codes on each page
allow the visitor to listen to the texts
corresponding to the tactile illustrations
3.
tactile guided tour given by a jr curator
of the museum
4.
narrative guided tour given by the
educational staff
5.
workshops on the subject of seeing in
an art exhibition
Training Program
Training on accessibility is
provided every year to the
museum staff by external
associations and companies
specialized in programs for
hearing and visually impaired
persons
Union Lido Park&Resort- Cavallino, Venice
•
Union Lido Park&Resort is a
camping-village member of EFCO
(European Federation of Campings)
and Village For all (Italian accessible
tourism label)
•
Since 2008 it works with Mr. Vitali
(President of Village 4 all) both on
PEBA (project for elimination of
architectural barriers) and on staff
training
•
Hospitality means a comfortable
holiday for all Guests
•
Satisfaction of every particular need
of each tourist
•
Use of large spaces to freely move
everywhere
Union Lido Park&Resort
•
•
•
•
•
•
96.626 international arrivals in
2013
937.929 presences
Union Lido welcomes every
year a larger n°of disabled
people
Weelchairs users have the
possibility to stay in different
kind of accomodations both in
the Resort and in the Hotel
Comfort is at the same time
universal design
Rooms can be sold to everyone
notwithstanding the special
needs
Another example of accessible tourism Gitando.all: the
international fair on Tourism for all
•
A Fair that takes place in Vicenza
(near Venice)
•
Fiera di Vicenza boasts over 40
years of experience in the world
of tourism and outdoor holidays
•
Gitando.all is the meeting place
and national point for the
promotion of the tourism sector
•
Gitando.all is the first Exhibition
in Italy and in Europe dedicated to
all people with special needs and
their families
Gitando.all: more than 30,000 visitors in 2013,
an increase of 22.6% compared to 2012
Who Visits Gitando.all
-
-
The public in search of its
vacation
People with disabilities looking
for accessible places where to
spend their holidays
Public administrators
Companies
Educational institutions
Buyers and Sellers (100 buyers
from 12 countries invited by Fiera
di Vicenza in cooperation with
ENIT and Veneto Region)
Ermitage Bel Air Hotel
Accessible Tourism Datas
•
The Hotel is located in Abano Terme
(nearby Padua)
•
It is fully accessible to persons with
disabilities
•
Investments
2012/2013
in
Accessibility
of
- Accessible Room no additional costs
compared to a traditional room (one
room);
- Refurbished rooms made accessible: 8
(Additional costs 2.000,00 Euro);
- Accessible pools with mobile lift
(additional costs Euro 5.000,00);
-Refurbished accessibleThermal cabin:
(additional costs Euro 5.000,00)
Total Investment: Euro 26.000,00
Payback Time: 18 Month
Ermitage Bel Air Hotel Datas
N° of guests per
Room
Average lenght
of stays in
nights
Highly
71%
accessible rooms
1.8
9.2
Suites
53%
1.7
8.1
Overall
Average of total
rooms
52%
1.5
8.2
2013
% Bed occupacy N°of guests per
Room
rate
2012
% Bed
occupancy rate
Average lenght
of stays in
nights
Highly
74%
accessible rooms
1.8
9.8
Suites
55%
1.6
8.0
Overall average
of total rooms
55%
1.5
8.1
The European role of the Veneto Region
in the Field of Accessible Tourism
•
•
The Veneto Region is member both of Necstour Network (European
Network for Sustainable and Competitive Tourism)and ENAT
(European Network for Accessible Tourism)
In the Framework of Necstour theVeneto Region, together with Ile De
France, is the Coordinator of the Accessible tourism Task Force which
objectives are:
– To Develop an action Plan for Accessible Destinations
– To cooperate with all stakeholders at European and
International level
– To contribute to the European Tourism Accessibility Policy
Thank you for your attention !
[email protected]
www.veneto.to
Veneto Region