European policies on behalf of disabled people, spurred on by the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003, have moved firmly behind efforts to combat discrimination and improve conditions for disabled people across a wide front, including their access to travel and tourism. As with many aspects of European disability policy, the political will outpaces the actual delivery of disability-friendly services on the ground.
There is great variation in the level of progress towards removing access barriers at tourist destinations across cities, regions and EU member states. This is due to several factors, including different access requirements in the prevailing legislation, varying levels of technical know-how and development, and even different cultural norms, geographical and climatic factors.
Basically, opening the door to accessible tourism for everyone requires two “keys”:
It is the second “key” – providing (accessible) information about accessible tourist destinations - that this eContent project addresses, primarily. ( Accessible transport may be regarded as a third ‘key issue', but this is not within the scope of the present project, as it concerns a quite different sector, with its own information systems and service providers, both public and private. However, the provision of information on accessible transport could be integrated in later versions of the envisaged e Service).
Having accurate information about accessibility features is critical for disabled people when choosing the venues, sites and accommodation they wish visit. For example, many wish to know in advance whether a tourist attraction has a wheelchair accessible toilet and restaurant or not. Having this relatively simple information in advance can make the difference between having a pleasant holiday or cancelling the entire trip.