“Accessibility? A financial opportunity”

Carlo Fidanza never imagined that one day he would defend the rights of disabled people. His political career was marked by a long militancy in the ranks of Youth Action, then became an adviser for institutional relations and international cooperation of Gianni Alemanno, the former Italian Ministry of Agriculture. In 2009 he was nominated President of the Council Commission “Expo 2015” in charge of the process leading to the great event which will take place in Milan in 2015. In the same year he was elected MEP for the Popolo della Libertà (PdL) and member of the European People’s Party (EPP). In Strasbourg and Brussels, Carlo Fidanza follows the issues in transportation, tourism and agriculture. “While I was working on tourism policies, the world of accessibility unfolded before me.” There are 80 million disabled people in Europe, “an important number which makes the cultural leap mandatory”.

What did you do concretely?

I was a speaker at the initiative of the European Parliament on the new strategies of European tourism, which, at the EU commission level,  is followed by Commissioner Tajani. In this report we highlighted the need to recognize the rights of disabled people in the tourism industry and invest on accessible tourism as an additional element of competitiveness for European tourism. In all these years there was a collective effort on the regulation of the rights of passengers through which we were able to obtain specific protections for passengers with reduced mobility (PRM). Following my report and a proposal I brought forward, MEPs approved a preparatory one million euros action on accessible tourism in the 2012 budget. Then we decided to have a hearing to discuss the projects that could be supported with those funds, in order to keep the issue of accessibility in the spotlight. Although this seems just a modest initiative, it is a first signal to foster a cultural change. So far in Europe, the tourism industry and the political class perceived the issue of accessibility as a social problem, but we should see people with disabilities also as consumers with special needs and characteristics which must be fulfilled.

During the hearing we held last February, it emerged that the concept of disability is likely to be limiting. Not just because a person with physical disability has different needs from a person with sensory disability, but also because there are emerging needs that limit accessibility to tourism facilities. Accessibility addresses different issues and some of them are not directly related to disability. Allergies, for example, prevent many potential customers from travelling, people in dialysis have the same problem and tourism facilities are not always family friendly, which obviously discourages families with children from travelling. Accessibility is not just about integration, it’s also about having a financial return.

Could you tell us more about it?

The widespread mindset considers actions in favor of people with disabilities as additional burdens on enterprises, without considering how a disabled person hardly ever travels alone. If the average wheelchair user finds an accessible resort, chances are that he will go back there and he will probably go with other people. If we change the perspective, people with disabilities are an economic value added to the tourism industry, instead of a problem.

 

Are there any initiatives in Europe where this value is already a reality?
I’ll mention two Italian cases. The first is Village for all, which was initially created as a non-profit organization, but given its great economic potential it was later transformed into a private enterprise, by the founder, Roberto Vitali,. Village for all certifies the accessibility of different tourist facilities ranging from hotels  to camp sites. The accessibility certification process is done on a voluntary basis through a mapping system that offers precise information about rooms sizes, access to swimming pools, and so on…

Vital now has a network of a dozen resorts in Italy and Croatia. His goal is to extend this model to other European countries. The other project is Confindustria Sicilia which is working on accessibility together with tourism businesses in Sicily. In Brussels we would like to promote best practices to raise awareness on the opportunities offered by accessible tourism in Europe.

In order to achieve this goal, you need to have a critical mass. Is this possible?
This issue is crucial. When about a year ago we voted on the revised Regulation of European tourism statistics, for the first time we included an obligation for all Member States to provide figures on the data related to travel accessibility to disabled people. This Regulation will enter into force from January 1, 2013. 

When will there be a European brand similar to Village for all?
We are working with Commissioner Tajani to create a European quality mark on everything regarding hospitality, which will include specific requirements on accessibility. The proposal from the European Commission should arrive by the end of 2012. This is a long and complex process because there is a great disparity among different countries in Europe. Some countries such as Spain, France and Italy have a common brand called Eurogite, while other countries have never created any quality marks. The accessibility standards are important because once you consider quality as a criterion, accessibility cannot be left out of the debate. Again, the development of this proposal is not an easy task because this is about creating a set of rules which can be applied to each Member State at different levels, ranging from the quality of the menus or swimming pools accessibility to hotel infrastructures, etc. The idea is already stirring up a hornet’s nest among the operators.

Are there virtuous countries in the EU as far as accessible tourism?

Spain is not virtuous in itself, but there are regions such as the Balearic Islands, which have a business segment accessibility. I think for example of Handisport, an association that deals with sports for disabled people and  invites people with disabilities to spend their holidays in the Balearics because they can have access to adequate sports facilities.  France offers an accessibility certificate of its tourist facilities, but they are issued by tourist businesses themselves, which increases the risk of fake declarations. This is a pattern opposite to Village for All, which instead verifies the conditions of tourism facilities accessibility.