SubscribePress Release:
(Montréal, June 4th, 2012) - The number of international tourist arrivals is expected to climb to one billion in 2012.[1] Persons with physical limitations account for roughly 15% of the population[2] and this number should continue to rise given the aging demographic. Like everyone else, people with disabilities travel for business and pleasure, to visit friends and relatives, and to discover other ways of life, just with slightly greater difficulty.
How do we
accommodate tourists with disabilities? Are our infrastructures, buildings and
establishments adapted to be easily accessible to all? Can we safely aspire to
reach international accessibility standards and benchmarks? Do
"accessible" rooms in Montréal and elsewhere around the globe live up
to the world traveller's expectations? How can a disabled person be sure his or
her chosen destination is truly accessible? Is our front-line staff properly
trained to host these guests and provide appropriate services? Which best
practices from the tourism, culture and transportation industries should be
considered model practices? What measures should these industries take to
substantially facilitate the participation of individuals with disabilities in
cultural and tourist activities?
Those are just some of the questions that will be discussed at the DESTINATIONS FOR ALL World Summit that is set to take place in Montréal from October 19 to 22, 2014.
The Summit's
sub-heading expresses the actual scope of the topic at hand:
Tourism, culture and transportation:
A common strategy at the international level
In fact, the major sector-based organizations from the tourism, culture and transportation industries will be invited to unveil at least two changes they undertake to make to significantly improve travel and tourism conditions for persons with disabilities. This World Summit should also prompt partners to join in an effort to make accessibility benchmarks and standards uniform across tourist establishments, attractions and transportation services.
The Summit will
be organized by a steering committee from:
- The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (unwto.org)
- The World Centre of Excellence for Destinations
(CED) (ced.travel/en)
- The European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) (accessibletourism.org)
- Tourisme et Handicaps - France (tourisme-handicaps.org)
- Fundación ONCE - Spain (fundaciononce.es/EN)
- Access Tourism New Zealand (accesstourismnz.org.nz)
·
The Society for Accessible Travel
and Hospitality (SATH) - USA (sath.org)
- Transport Canada's Transportation
Development Centre
(http://www.tc.gc.ca/fra/innovation/cdt-menu.htm)
- The Ministère du Tourisme du
Québec (MTO) (bonjourquebec.com)
- Kéroul, Tourism and culture for
people with restricted physical ability (keroul.qc.ca/en)
(A detailed description of these organizations
is included in the appendix.)
The International Center for Education and
Research in Tourism (CIFORT) will hold,
simultaneously, a scientific seminar regarding the Summit's thematic.
André Vallerand, Chairman of the CED and
Special Advisor to the UNWTO Secretary General, will chair the Summit's
Steering Committee. Here, he highlights the event's primary focus:
"At a time when the population of the Western
world is aging and international tourism continues to grow, it is crucial for
domestic and global partners to consolidate their expertise and join forces to
make travel and tourism easier for disabled persons."
For Taleb
Rifai, Secretary General of the UNWTO, this event will facilitate the
fulfillment of the objectives of the UNWTO's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism:
"Promoting
accessible tourism is at the heart of UNWTO's mandate and we are delighted to
be an active part of the DESTINATIONS FOR ALL World Summit in Montréal. Through
the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, UNWTO is committed to upholding the
rights of the most vulnerable communities, particularly the elderly and the
disabled. I firmly believe the Summit will be an opportunity to come up with
solutions to considerably improve travel, accommodation and accessibility
conditions across tourist attractions and services for persons with
disabilities."
Minister of Tourism
Nicole Ménard believes that the World Summit reflects the importance of
launching initiatives to promote accessible tourism:
"The World Summit is assembling leading
organizations to foster cooperation among stakeholders through the
accessibility of destinations. I would like to pay tribute to the efforts made
by Kéroul, an official partner of the Ministère du Tourisme for the past 25
years, which is working intensely to make Québec a destination accessible to
everyone."
Without question, the DESTINATIONS FOR ALL World Summit in Montréal is an event ALL are invited to attend!
For event details, please check the site www.keroul.qc.ca/en regularly and sign up to our newsletter.
Contacts:
André Leclerc, CEO
Michel Trudel, Advisor
Kéroul (514 252-3104, infos@keroul.qc.ca)
4545,
[1] World Tourism Organization.
"International tourism to reach one billion in 2012." Press Release of January 16, 2012.
Madrid.
[2] It is
obviously difficult to determine the exact number of persons with limited
physical ability by country and worldwide, because the definitions and
calculation methods vary. We came up with this figure based on the findings of
several studies.