Unlocking the potential of Accessible Tourism Treviso, 06 November 2012 Antonella Correra EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Enterprise and Industry

Why Tourism? 12% EU labour force, 10% EU GDP Steady growth since 2010 In 2011, numbers of nights spent in hotels surpassed results of 2007, the year before the crisis In 2012, 1 billion people will have travelled in the world By 2030, they will rise to 1,8 billion Over 40% employed in tourism are less than 35 Up to 60% employed are women

Valorisation of off-the- beaten-track destinations Diversified tourism offer Off-setting seasonality Attracting more tourists Accessible Tourism Quality tourism offer

Accessible Tourism-Why does it matter? Untapped potential for SMEs=> 20% customer base lost Loyal, frequent travellers, travelling off season and for longer periods Accessibility matters also to ageing population => 60 is the new 40! Multiplication factor

Accessibility in Tourism is…

Preparatory Action Tourism for ALL 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 ) Understanding the beneficiaries (travel propensity, patterns, disabilitieS)

Mapping supply of accessible tourism €. Lack of information Inadequate 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 needs Impairments 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 destinations EDEN ( ) - To reward economic operators who make accessibility an element of their competitiveness An Access award for tourism operators ( )

Overview for 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!