NEWSLETTER JULY - AUGUST '05 (editorial)

We are back after some small gap, mainly due to a lot of things running. e-ISOTIS is expanding considerably and eventually it has started producing fruits which we will address also in this newsletter through the presentation of our various activities.

Now, taking the advantage of the summer holidays for all of us, I would like to raise just some issues on travelling and disability. To travel, for a a person with mobility impairments, isn’t often an easy task. Bureaucracy, technical and organisational failures, high costs, last minute problems, misleading information on the accessibility of the resort, etc. may upset journeys, even those well organised in advance.
Travel and tourism is a social right which concerns all European citizens. However, for those with some form of disability, many of the existing tourism offers are not easily accessible. Nevertheless, demand for accessible tourism offers is growing, and the tourism industry is starting to recognise that tourists with disabilities form an important consumer group. e-ISOTIS has made some research and has provided you with some useful links for arranging your travel plans in most of the member states.
One way of improving access for tourists with disabilities is to provide information on the existing tourism facilities which can meet their demands and expectations satisfactorily. In 2002, the Commission carried out a study on how to improve information on the accessibility of tourism facilities for disabled people. The Commission also produced a practical handbook for the tourism industry, entitled

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