| e-Bulletin No. 12 12 September 2009
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Dear <<First Name>> <<Last Name>>,
I am pleased to send you the 12th Edition of the ENAT e-Bulletin.
The e-Bulletin is circulated to ENAT Members, Newsletter subscribers and others who have expressed an interest in accessible tourism. You are welcome to forward this information to your contacts.
Crisis Management!
ENAT is responding to the global economic crisis by lowering membership fees and increasing our services to members - at no extra cost. The ENAT Board feels a strong obligation to give the best possible value to our members and to the community, especially in these difficult times. We want to enable everyone working in accessible tourism to pull together, and by bringing down our fees this will give more people the possibility to join our network and start collaborating with fellow members in new partnerships and projects.
From 1st October 2009 you can join ENAT (or renew your membership) at lower rates. New members who pay in October will get up to 15 months membership (until 31/12/2010) for the price of 12 months. If you wish to join, register now online (with full, immediate access to the Members' Area of the website) and pay after 1st October, when the new rates come into force.
We are improving Members' services by launching the ENAT Code of Good Conduct, also on 1st October 2009. The ENAT Code is the first and only international certification scheme for businesses and organisations that follow ENAT's Code, with its "8 principles of accessible tourism". This commitment scheme is only open to ENAT members and comes at no extra cost. It is optional to sign the Code but those who do so must apply its principles in their daily activities. We believe that the ENAT Code will be a major step forward, meeting the needs of both customers and business partners when seeking trustworthy and reliable operators in accessible tourism, in Europe and across the globe.
Read more about the ENAT Code of Good Conduct.
ENAT International Congress
This month many of us will be meeting at the ENAT International Congress in Vienna. I hope you can be there too. Registration is still possible, right up to the days of the event. You can even pay at the door if you suddenly get the chance to be there! But to be sure of a seat near the front, please register early!
For those who cannot come to Vienna, you are welcome to send your publicity material (flyers, leaflets, brochures) to the organisers. 200 pieces of each item will be about right. English and German languages preferred! Your material will be placed in the exhibition area where participants can take a copy.
Send your publicity material to arrive no later than Friday 25 September, to:
ENAT International Congress
Angelika Laburda
IBFT/co ÖHTB
Humboldtplatz 6
A 1100 Wien, Austria
Congress Enquiries: info@enatcongress2009.info Got News?
If you have any 'accessible tourism' news or other messages you would like ENAT to disseminate for you, please contact ENAT.
With kind regards, Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director ENAT.
e-Bulletin
News
1. Scandic Launches First Hotel Information Service For Guests with Special Needs
1/09/2009. Scandic has become the first hotel chain to gather all its information for guests with special needs in one place. Every hotel’s homepage now provides answers to the 80 most common questions. For example, how far it is from the car park to the entrance, whether there is a hearing loop and how wide the door to the room is,” explains the hotel chain’s Disability Ambassador Magnus Berglund.
read more http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.news.669
2. ENAT Congratulates Obama on Signing UN Disability Convention
24/07/2009. On Friday 24 July, US President Barack Obama made good on his election promise to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, bringing the USA into the group of countries that support this landmark document. On behalf of ENAT, Mr. Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director, sent a letter of congratulation to President Obama, noting the example of the US in advancing disability rights, and expressing the importance of working internationally towards fulfilment of the Convention's Article 30, which addresses equal access to leisure and tourism. Read ENAT's letter to the US President.
read more http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.news.665
3. ENAT and GAATES Sign Memorandum of Understanding
10/09/2009. ENAT and GAATES are pleased to announce the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement will pave the way to closer cooperation in the promotion of policies and implementing projects to enhance the social, economic and cultural participation of people with disabilities and older persons around the globe.
read more http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.news.676
Events
4. European Tourism Day and European Tourism Forum, Brussels, 8 - 9 October 2009
31/07/2009. The European Commission announces that the European Tourism Day and the European Tourism Forum will be held, respectively, on 8 and 9 October in Brussels (Square Brussels Meeting Centre). During the events, 400 people, including local and regional authorities, policy officers and project leaders will meet to discuss the actual situation of tourism and to reveal their recipes for the improvement of European Tourism. On 8th October, ENAT's Managing Director, Mr. Ivor Ambrose, has been invited to present the work of the CETA project, 'Competitiveness for a European Tourism for All', focussing on accessibility and sustainability issues for SME's, in the second panel.
read more http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.events.666
5. Fifth European Forum of Social Tourism, Malaga 15-17 October 2009
11/09/2009. The International Bureau of Social Tourism (BITS, Bureau International du Tourisme Social) is organizing the Fifth European Forum of Social Tourism. On this occasion, the European Commission will be taking part. The event is organised by BITS and supported by the Spanish State Agency for Management of Tourism Innovation and Technologies (SEGITTUR), the Government of Spain and the autonomous Government of Andalusia. ENAT President, Lilian Müller, is an invited speaker at the Forum.
read more http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.events.678
ENAT Library - Stuff you need to read!
6. Tourism Review Magazine, Ethical Review. Get Out of the Way, Seniors Are Coming!
7/07/2009. The Senior Travel Market is quickly expanding. This issue of the Tourism Review Magazine brings four articles which illustrate the increasing importance of the senior segment in tourism, both in Europe and around the world.
read more http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.reports.657
7. Accessibility; Understanding, Progress and Opportunities
7/07/2009. By Jenifer Littman, Tourism for All UK. The UK's Disability Discrimination Act has been in force since 1995, with enforcement measures fully implemented since 2004. This article looks at where we are now as a country offering accessible tourism, what more needs to be done and the opportunities that exist, especially in view of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012. It also outlines the role of a new project, Open Britain, being launched in July 2009 by Tourism for All UK and disability charity
RADAR.
read more http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.reports.658
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