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The UNWTO, the ONCE Foundation and UNE will promote this standard aimed at tourism operators, administrations and destinations to facilitate the enjoyment of tourism under equal conditions.

Ensuring that all people, and especially the disabled, can enjoy tourism under equal conditions is the objective of ISO 21902 Tourism and related services – Accessible tourism for all – Requirements and recommendations, a standard created a year ago thanks to the joint work of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the ONCE Foundation and the Spanish Association for Standardisation UNE, and which is now going to receive a new boost.

To achieve this, the three entities have just signed an agreement that will enable the dissemination and promotion of ISO 21902 both among public administrations and among the different agents in the tourism sector’s value chain: from destination managers to travel agencies, as well as transport, accommodation, catering and other resource companies.

The signatories explain that, according to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), 15% of the world’s population suffers from some kind of disability. They add that in the European Union alone, accessible tourism represents a potential market of 80 million people, so adopting measures to facilitate accessibility and inclusion “is not only a matter of human rights and equal opportunities, but also an important competitive advantage for destinations and the private sector”.

Furthermore, they point out that although the sector has made significant progress, “tourists with disabilities still have difficulties in organising their trips, accessing certain destinations such as beaches or natural and urban environments, or understanding clearly and easily the indications of tourist establishments”.

The agreement reached between the UNWTO, the ONCE Foundation and the Spanish Standardisation Association UNE provides for awareness-raising work among institutions, governments and service providers on the importance of accessibility and inclusion, especially at a time when tourism is recovering from the pandemic.