About the Study

Introduction

This is a Study for Fundacion ONCE, commissioned by Via Libre, Spain.

Aim: To identify the existing Standards, Quality Norms, Laws and Minimum Requirements concerning accessibility in tourism in selected European countries; to evaluate the requirements and consequences of these instruments in terms of their effectiveness towards tourism providers; and in relation to the accessibility of destinations as experienced by visitors with disabilities and others who require good access conditions.

Approach: The study will examine experiences from a sample of European countries / regions that have developed systematic approaches towards defining and implementing tourism standards or labelling, using a comparative case-study method. Data will be collected by three means:

1. desk research based on Internet and print publications
2. surveys using questionnaires and structured interviews with key stakeholders, and
3. an online questionnaire for obtaining general consumer feedback.

Research questions / issues:

1. Description of main points covered in each norm/standard of each country/region

• Internet research and documents on paper (if available)

2. From the above, develop a typology of norms and issues related to tourism accessibility, elaborating:

• their main purpose, target or user group(s),
• means of implementation
• what is or is not included…

3. Opportunities for the Tourism Sector in each country, thanks to the Norms

• Interviews with people responsible for the Norms
• Interviews with people of most relevant companies of Tourist Sector of each country
• Interviews with people of other companies of Tourist Sector of each country using already labels or announcing being certified

4. Difficulties for the Tourism Sector in each country, related to the Norms.

• Interviews with people in charge of Norms
• Interviews with people of most relevant companies of Tourist Sector of each country
• Interviews with people of other companies of Tourist Sector of each country using already labels or announcing being certified
• Interviews with people of other companies of Tourist Sector of each country that do not have yet a label or certification

5. Ways of informing about Access Achievements of Tourism Sector in each country

• Interviews
• Internet research

6. Report:

• Main findings
• Recommendations
• Future studies or follow-up
• References

Study period: March to August 2009

This Website has been set up to provide general information about the Study and to enable anyone who is interested in the subject of tourism standards to give their comments or add references.

The pages shown in the right-hand column list the countries that are the main focus of the Study.

Anyone who has been a tourist in Europe in the last 3 years is invited to fill in the Visitor Accessibility Survey form. The visitor survey closes on 15 August 2009.

Venue owners or managers and other tourism providers are invited to post comments about tourism access standards in their own page on this website: Venue Managers