Unlocking the potential of Accessible Tourism

1. Unlocking the potential of Accessible Tourism Treviso, 06 November 2012 Antonella Correra EUROPEAN COMMISSIONDG Enterprise and Industry

2. 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

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

4. 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

5. Accessibility in Tourism is…

6. 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

7. 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) 1) Assess Economic impulse on tourism 2) Forecast the demand of accessible tourism services until 2020 3) Understanding the beneficiaries (travel propensity, patterns, disabilitieS) Fragmented data for EU-27

8. Mapping supply of accessible tourism • € 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 €. 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 Lack of information Inadequate services "Broken" supply chain = loss of potential travellers

9. Improving skills • Understanding people’s needsImpairments affect areas other than physical mobility • Safety is paramount €. Unskilled, untrained staff can spoil the holiday experience • Need to identify gaps in the current level of skillsand training to cater for people with special access needs • Need to disseminate best practices in disability training in tourism.

10. 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 (2012-2013) • -To reward economic operators who make accessibility an element of their competitiveness • An Access award for tourism operators (2012-2013)

11. 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

12. Accessible tourism: paving the way… - More/better data - Better awareness - Tools, best practices EP Preparatory Action Dialogue • - National authorities • Stakeholders, industry To elaborate considerations and proposals for future action

13. Thank you for your attention!