April 28, 2010

Relaxing and lively holidays in a barrier-free environment in Tenerife.




Relaxing and lively holidays for disabled and able-bodied guests in a barrier-free environment.
Welcome to the Mar y Sol Hotel

A privately managed hotel, situated in Los Cristianos, in the south-western corner of the island of Tenerife
Spring temperatures all year round offer a perfect holiday climate
Wheelchair-accessible accommodation throughout; all rooms have bathrooms with wheel-in shower
Most bathrooms are also equipped with elevated toilet and with grips

-Two big pools with hoist, one heated all year round to approx. 32ºC
-Modern therapy centre with a variety of individually-tailored holistic and traditional treatments offering programmes designed to promote vitality and well-being
-Wheelchair accessible transfer
-Appliances for hire (electric beds, hoists, air-mattresses, electric wheelchairs, etc.)
-24 hours emergency service
-Excursions for the disabled and able-bodied
-Golf & Diving for everybody
-Free shuttle-service to the accessible beach, 5 days a week

http://www.marysol.org

April 26, 2010

Virtual visit to Lisbon belvederes (Portugal)




In this interesting website you can visit Lisbone virtually.
.
http://www.visitlisboa.com/Conteudos/Miradouros-Virtuais.aspx

.
.
.
http://www.accessibleportugal.com/

April 21, 2010

Marina Alta (Alicante) - Adapted Natural Areas


La Marina Alta (Alicante) will become the leader of the Mediterranean region in tourism of natural areas suitable for people with disabilities ....

La Marina Alta (Alicante) will become the leader of the Mediterranean region in tourism of natural areas suitable for people with disabilities. The Government is working on a project to harness the tourism potential of a region that, according to official data, receives more than six million visitors a year.

The idea is to create a network of themed routes suitable for people with disabilities can enjoy the countryside. Thus, in the Montgo Natural Park, one of the largest protected areas in the region, four itineraries are enabled.

One will be the tour Camí de Dénia between the Colony and the Cova del Camell, suitable for those wishing to explore the different species of Montgo. Another route, between Torre del Gerro and Molinos de la Plana de San Jeronimo, Xàbia combines botanical values and cultural elements. In third place was immersed in the architectural heritage of recreational area of windmills. The last of the routes between the port of Javea and the Cabo de San Antonio, noted for his landscapes and coastal ecosystems.

In all these routes will be implemented wooden platforms so that the paths are accessible, adapted viewpoints for visitors to enjoy the panoramic and tactile elements are enabled by the system 'braille' for people with visual impairments can distinguish natural elements.

Also expected to incorporate security features, mainly ropes and barriers, to make walking in the right conditions and infrastructure adapted to promote navigation.


The itineraries are designed based on three axes: they are tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, who have a low level of difficulty, especially in forest areas, which are characterized by their high ecological value visual. Another factor considered was the combination of terrestrial, coastal and submarines.

Also in another of the natural parks of the Marina Alta, the Marsh of Pego-Oliva, Consell strategy proposed routes and Racons Bullent rivers. The objective of this enclave is that by suitable boats, be possible to navigate these rivers that separate the marsh from the sea. This proposal is complemented with tourism linked to bird watching and educational itineraries for the marsh, which would explain to visitors the significance of the landscapes of rice.

Another project they are working from the Social Welfare Department is to ensure that the marinas of Marina Alta include sailing courses for people with disabilities.

April 19, 2010

“LAS VISTAS” Accessible beach all the year open (LOS CRISTIANOS-TENERIFE SUR)


“Las vistas” is one of the only two national beaches that offers the service of the bathroom adapted during all the years, for this reason it has been granted several awards for quality, including the Blue Flag and the Distinction Theme Accessibility.

La Playa de Las Vistas is located in southern Tenerife resort of Los Cristianos, in the municipality of Arona. It is considered a favorite by locals and European tourists and is connected by the promenade, with the nearby beaches of Los Cristianos and gown and the tourist resort of Playa de Las Americas.

The Vistas is one of only two national beaches that offers the service of the bathroom adapted throughout the years, why has been granted several awards for quality, including the Blue Flag and the Distinction Theme Accessibility.

This beach is one of the best in Spain thanks to its facilities (promenade without barriers, ramps, walkways, locker rooms, solarium with umbrellas, chairs and crutches water) and accompanying service to the sea. This service offered by a specialized rescue team in caring for disabled swimmers, is provided free of charge, daily (Monday-Sunday) in the schedule from 11 to 17 h. More than 10,000 elderly and disabled people have benefited from the services and facilities accessible from Playa de Las Vistas.

El resort of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas has a mild climate, an average temperature of 23 º C and about 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, it has become the ideal place to significantly improve health and quality of life for thousands of tourists who elected annually.

The water temperatures stay between 17 and 25 º C. The sea that bathes its coasts is an inexhaustible source of health thanks to its rich in microorganisms and iodine.

Playa de Los Cristianos, Playa de Las Americas is a tourist area provided with suitable accommodations, barrier-free pedestrian kilometer, facing the sea where many shops offer. Charming tourist spot, tailored to the needs of disabled tourists, who have positioned themselves as the second most visited destination in the world for tourists with mobility difficulties.




Accessible facilities of Playa de Las Vistas:

Parking near the beach with reserved spaces.
Signaling accessible route, accessible beach and services.
Accessible route.
Access ramps with less than 6% slope.
Fixed wooden walkways.
Gateways shutters.
Seating areas with umbrellas.
Showers.
Toilets.
Surveillance area.
Crutches and amphibious wheelchairs.
Hydraulic crane.

Affordable Playa Las Vistas meets the requirements for the bathroom of a large number of users, offering an innovative tourism product and a great social benefit with no environmental impact Arona becoming a municipality for all.


http://www.arona.travel/

April 14, 2010

RONDA (Malaga - Andalucia), a City for All



"Ronda, a City for All." Turismo de Ronda works for the City of Tajo river become an affordable destination for people with disabilities ....

Worldwide, 600 million people with disabilities, in Europe there are around 50 million and Spain has four million. In Ronda, 10% of the population falls in this group. "It is a tourist with a medium and high purchasing power and a lot of free time to travel." This has described the Councillor for Tourism, Maribel Morales. However, it is not just an economic issue but also social: "The disabled person looking for autonomy, the possibility of touring without relying on another person to the extent possible," said the mayor of Ronda, aware that the effort in accessibility gives more quality for tourism in the city.

This is an emerging sector of the first magnitude that brings together people with permanent disability (mental, sensory and physical), temporary disabilities and people over 60 years, which have increased in recent years their participation in the tourism market. Have much free time, substantial economic rents and great desire to travel, which also contributes to the seasonal break. With this background, it is not surprising that the tourism industry is striving to be accessible.

The International Tourism Fair (FITUR) showcased for the first visible efforts on accessibility. Thus, the delegation showed the foreground Ronda tourist city for blind people using Braille.
Similarly, the group of people with disabilities will soon have a guide that lets you know the level of accessibility of monuments, restaurants, hotels, streets, shops ... It is the result of diagnosis made by the Royal Board on Disability for the council. We analyzed 142 sections of streets in the historic district, 23 hotels, 52 restaurants and 24 monuments.

In this sense, it would be interesting to install a new tourist information point in the historic center, so that people with disabilities to have the plane in Braille or the Accessibility Guide, for example. A second tourist information office, to share the work with the one located at Blas Infante, may be a good idea. Between the Plaza Duquesa de Parcent and the District of San Francisco could be a strategic point. It is almost inconceivable that a tourist who has a disability have to move to Blas Infante to get this information after landing in the city through the bus station or the different car parks, mostly away from the historic center, and walk several streets to connect with the tourist circuit.


Mobile Application
When approaching a deaf person to a monument or area of interest can be downloaded on your mobile or portable device a video in which a sign language interpreter will provide information Spanish. It is another initiative by Turismo de Ronda, S. A. To be realized. The hearing impaired can download an interactive visual guide to your own mobile using wireless technology. The videos would have a duration of two to three minutes and would be subtitled. The new technologies thus play a key role to achieve real integration of the collective.
Ronda The delegation also plans to design a tourist route fully adapted for disabled people in the Old Town. This will include miniature reproductions in bronze of the main monuments with inscriptions in Braille that blind people can read.

Arab Baths and “Acinipo”
As for the monuments, Morales has referred to the work done to make available the Arab Baths, the best preserved thermal complex in Spain (fourteenth century). Historically, the back of the monument has been closed to the public and now can be visited. Space has been extended towards the visitor and recovered the wheel, in the old system used for the abstraction of water, and tanneries, where the skins were treated.

In the same way, Acinipo could become the primary site accessible for people with disabilities. The Minister for Tourism, with whom the mayor Ronda will meet in the coming weeks, and showed his interest in this project and now the rest of initiatives.

On the other hand, have already been awarded the work to build the first youth hostel in Ronda, a building that will join the tourism infrastructure and will be fully accessible to persons with disabilities. The project will be a pioneer, as the mayor of Tourism. The intention of the Town Council that the group is also occupy the jobs being generated. The hostel has 15 rooms and be built next to the IES Martin Rivero.
On the other hand, the Consistory has reserved 300,000 euros for the second regional measure against crisis (Protect plan) to the elimination of architectural barriers. This project joins municipal intention of creating a Centre for Disability and accessibility training momentum.

Finally, the Councillor for Tourism Cities Project has pointed out H and A, which aim to achieve a comprehensive and structured action of the City of Ronda, Cuenca, Castiglion Fiorentino (Italy) and Landerneau (France) and companies in these cities involved in the sector tourism and are interested in working accessibility. Morales has referred to upcoming meetings with officials from these cities. The latest edition of Fitur also served to recover the twinning with Cuenca.
In short, it seems that for some time, city leaders have echoed the harshest critics of the tourism industry has always pointed to the need to diversify supply. New segments such as wine, nature tourism, with the addition of the potential of the region, tourism conferences and meetings, and now the bid to become accessible destination, tourism fuel the preponderance of Ronda in the sector.


http://www.turismoderonda.es/

April 12, 2010

Garajonay National Park (La Gomera -Canary Islands)




"At only a short distance from the desert-like coasts of the Sahara, the rugged highlands of the island of La Gomera in the Canaries are the final refuge of one of the most unusual and emblematic woodlands in Spain. The almost permanent shroud of mists rising from the Ocean and hanging on the mountains impregnates them with moisture and freshness, and favours the miraculous survival of these splendid and mysterious forests, the last remaining vestige of the ancestral subtropical woodlands which covered the Mediterranean area millions of years ago."

Elderly people and Dependent visits Garajonay National Park
This was stated today in a statement the president of the insular institution, Casimiro Curbelo, who states that are already scheduled the activities of this exercise, since the corporation island coordinates the area of Social Affairs.
.

The initiative is launched in March, will last until September and includes hiking trails, a day of coexistence and a theatrical performance that will have the Garajonay central axis.
.
The goal is for all people, no age limits or physical disability, have equal opportunities to learn about the Park and, through knowledge, participate in conservation.
.
It also seeks to support and facilitate the means to ensure that all people with difficulties to reach the park, working with associations and centers for disabled people, promote social inclusion, removing barriers and develop an educational educational, entertaining and direct contact with the environment.
.
Action addressed are children and adults with physical or mental disabilities, which will offer all-terrain chairs, allowing them to navigate the trails, still with the help of his companions.
.
In addition, provide transportation to the meeting points and guides that will guide the tours.
.
The routes, all with an estimated duration of 3 to 4 hours, will begin March 26 with a tour that will stretch from Las grow up to the hermitage of the Beeches, and three other proposals continue to go from Pajarito to the Los Norway, from Dark Reventón to the Hermitage of El Cedro, and from Pajarito to Contadero.
.
"The story of the little fish Pedrito, who decides to lower the stream of El Cedro towards the sea and coexistence scheduled for June complete the program so far defined, and in which the council guarantees the participation of the users of the center disabled.
.
From the National Park and the insular institution stresses the importance of bringing the island's natural wealth to all people, without any differences.
.
The initiative has already taken place successfully last year and linked to the objectives of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism, which has won La Gomera and which also involved the council and National Park.
.
http://reddeparquesnacionales.mma.es/en/parques/garajonay/home_parque_garajonay.htm
.
http://barrera-cero.com/index.php?option=com_jreviews&Itemid=267&lang=en

April 9, 2010

VOLUNTARY CODE OF PRACTICE FOR THE PROVISION OF FACILITIES FOR THE DEAF AND HEARING IMPAIRED



The intention is to promote the adoption of this code as quickly as possible over a 12 month period subject to negotiating the commercial agreements for the purchase of the large quantities of equipment envisaged and widely distributing the information about alternative sources of supply. The intention is to review this Code at the end of a three-year period. A working party will be established to represent the interests of the hearing impaired and the hotel, motel and serviced apartment industry for the purposes of monitoring the progress of this voluntary code of practice and any evolution or refinement necessary that becomes apparent prior to the three-year time frame for a formal review. The working party is to meet bi-annually.


All PROPERTIES

That all hotels, motels, and serviced apartments who are members of the HMAA will provide hearing access facilities and special services to guests as follows:

* Ensure appropriate means in place to ensure that all Deaf and hearing impaired guests and staff will be alerted to any danger (e.g. fire, bomb threat), and to any drill or system test, within the premises at the same time as all other guests and staff. (Registration card to include “If you are likely to have any difficulty hearing alarms, or evacuating the building in the event of an alarm, please tick this box.”)
* Provide a telephone with built in or clip on amplifier, telecoil coupler and flashing light alert
* Will be provided with minimum specifications for the purchase of new telephones which will include a built in or clip on amplifier, telecoil coupler and flashing light alert and all properties replacing or purchasing telephones will, whenever possible and practical, adopt this new standard.
* Provide a television capable of accessing free to air captioning.
* Where pay TV access is provided, ensure that available captioning may be accessed.
* Will be provided with minimum specifications for the purchase of new televisions which will include the provision for captioning and all properties replacing or purchasing televisions will, whenever possible and practical, adopt this new minimum standard.
* Ensure that all TV signals carrying captioning are not stripped of captioning by pay movie or pay TV equipment




PROPERTIES IN EXCESS OF 50 ROOMS

For all properties with 50 or more guest rooms, one piece of each of the following items of equipment will be available without notice at the time of check in. For all properties with 100 rooms or more two such sets of equipment will be available without notice. All properties will undertake to make additional kits available with 48 hours notice. All properties will co-operate with each other in the loan of equipment to nearby properties when additional units are required.

* A portable non-audible door alarm.
* A television capable of accessing free to air captioning.
* A telephone with built in or clip on amplifier, telecoil coupler and flashing light alert.
* A text telephone or access to email.
* A vibrating alarm clock.




PROPERTIES WITH MEETING ROOMS

Those properties that provide meeting rooms in excess of 100 sqm will ensure that they can provide functioning assistive listening systems (ALS) to enable all participants in events in all function or meeting rooms to clearly hear all speakers without reverberation or background noise. These might be Induction Loop (IL), Frequency Modulated (FM), or Infrared (IR) systems.




INDUSTRY EDUCATION & CONSUMER AWARENESS

* The industry will list on association web sites those member properties who have acquired the necessary equipment to fully comply with the above voluntary code. The industry will promote the use of the International Symbol for Deafness (a registered trademark in Australia, held by the Deafness Forum Limited) for the provision of facilities for the hearing impaired in appropriate national directories, which already display symbols for special facilities of various types.
* Establishments which provide a guest services compendium or similar in-room directory will include a section which details the facilities available for the Deaf or hearing impaired at that particular property, including the willingness to rent additional equipment with 48 hours notice if the initial guaranteed on-site units are already in use.
* The industry will ensure that an education program is conducted to inform all members of the special needs of the Deaf and hearing impaired and to promote the understanding of the type of equipment needed, the use of the equipment and the special care to be taken in emergency situations.

http://www.deafnessforum.org.au/index.php?q=accessible-accomodation

April 7, 2010

New accessible beaches on the Costa Tropical (Granada)



Councilman Hall of Almuñecar Beaches, Daniel Barbero, informed the media that, for this summer, the municipality will have four beaches accessible for people with disabilities. To this end and have installed three new houses on the beaches adapted Velilla, Puerta del Mar and San Cristobal, Almuñécar, and it remains the one from La Herradura. Also be enabled for disabled parking in these areas.

You can view the accessible beaches in Spain on the following link:
http://www.discapnet.es/Castellano/areastematicas/Accesibilidad/OcioAccesible/Guiadeplayasaccesibles/Documents/2009/index.htm

Establishment recommended in the Costa Tropical:
http://www.turismotropical.com/
http://barrera-cero.com/index.php?option=com_jreviews&Itemid=164&lang=en