Montreal Declaration on Inclusive Tourism in Destinations

Having met in Montreal, Canada at the World Summit Destinations for All, from October 19
to 22, 2014, we, as women and men from various countries and regions around the world,
including professionals, representatives of NGOs and various sectors of civil society,
universities, international and multilateral agencies, and employees of government institutions,
we hereby agree to the following Declaration:
Recognizing the important contributions made to the development and promotion of Tourism
and Destinations for All, (including for persons with disabilities, seniors, families and other
visitors), and understanding that local citizens are the first to benefit from such efforts,
including the following key initiatives:
q The Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons (UN, 1975)1;
q The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State
University, The Center for Universal Design (1997)2
q The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (UNWTO, 1999)3;
q 2010: A Europe Accessible For All (European Commission, 2003)4;
q The Rio Charter on Universal Design for Sustainable and Inclusive Development (2004)5;
q The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2006)6;
q The Takayama Declaration on the Development of Communities-for-All in Asia and the
Pacific (UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP, 2009)7;
q The ISO Standard 21542:2011, Building construction - Accessibility and usability of the
built environment providing a global reference for the design of buildings including
tourism infrastructure (2011)8;
q The Italian Manifesto for the Promotion of Accessible Tourism (2011)9;
q The World Report on Disability concluding that more than 1 billion people worldwide live
with a disability (World Health Organization 2011)10;
q The 5th International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations addressing
Access to All (ICRT, Canada, 2011)11;
q The relevant Standards and Recommended Practices of Annex 9 - Facilitation to the
Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention, 1944) and the Manual
on Access to Air Transport by Persons with Disabilities (International Civil Aviation
Organization, 2013)12;
A World for Everyone, Declaration from the World Summit Destinations for All, Montreal, 2014
1
A World for Everyone
Declaration from the World Summit Destinations for All
Montreal, 2014

q The UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Tourism, developed with the support of
the ONCE Foundation and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT)
(UNWTO, 2013)13;
q The series of International Congresses on Tourism for All, organised and hosted in Spain
by ONCE Foundation in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 201314;
q The Catalunya 2020 Vision for Responsible Tourism: the Barcelona Declaration (2013)15;
q The series of International Congresses on Accessible Tourism held in South-East Asia in
2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and December 201416;
q The report and call for action Access to Culture 2012, by the European Blind Union17;
q The Vision and Action Plan 2011-2015, “Way Forward” of the World Federation of the
Deaf18;
q The Proposed Model Regulations for Accessible Taxicabs and For-Hire Vehicles
(International Association of Transportation Regulators, 2014)19;
q The Proposal of The Open Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals produced
at the 13th session of the UN General Assembly which contains the goal to « Make cities
and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable » (OWG, August
2014)20;
q The international cooperation effort undertaken by UNWTO, ENAT, ISTO, the ONCE
Foundation, the World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED), Kéroul, and the
numerous participants of the World Summit Destinations for All, being committed to
pooling their expertise for the benefit of the international community;
We, the participants of the Montreal Summit, hereby declare our intention to maintain our
cooperation at the international level and in our respective regions and countries to support
and monitor the implementation of the UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Tourism.
To this end, we recommend and support the following measures:
For tourism, travel and transportation operators and intermediaries:
1. Seize the business opportunity to widen the market base by developing products and
services that provide inclusive experiences for ALL visitors. In this context, ALL
visitors means people with disabilities and those with specific access
requirements, as well as, seniors with age-related impairments and access
requirements and families with small children.
2. Apply the principles of Universal Design and follow accessibility guidelines in the design
of visitor information and marketing (including Websites), transportation, facilities and
services.
3. Build the capacity of managers and staff by providing training opportunities in
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accessibility and disability awareness.
4. Observe the voluntary ENAT Code of Good Conduct1 as a business development and
visitor relationship management tool for ensuring high quality accessible tourism
services and appropriate care and responsibility towards ALL visitors.
1 See: http://www.accessibletourism.org/?i=enat.en.enat-code-of-good-conduct

5. Engage with consumer organisations including disabled persons organizations, senior
citizens, youth and families with small children, to identify gaps in tourism service
provisions and to improve the quality of tourism products and services.
6. Participate in local and national business and multi-stakeholder networks to share
know-how and improve performance in accessible, inclusive tourism, while making a
positive contribution to the sustainability of the host community.
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For the local authorities:
7. Ensure that in any new construction or renovation of a building or public space, or in
introducing a public service developments are designed, according to the principles of
Universal Design and sustainable development.
8. Provide pedestrian pathways without obstacle to facilitate crossings of streets and in all
public spaces, retail areas and parks.
9. Ensure supply of public transport suitable for citizens and visitors with disabilities.
10. Require that taxi and limousine dispatch companies to provide transportation services
for persons with disabilities equivalent to those enjoyed by the general public.
11. Develop a policy including enforcement provisions regarding the parking spaces for
persons with reduced mobility.
12. Adopt a support policy for individuals accompanying persons with disabilities in their
recreational and cultural activities, and in transport services.
13. Support efforts to raise awareness and educate business owners, managers and staff
on the advantages of providing accessible facilities and services and encourage the
introduction of staff training programmes on catering to ALL visitors with different
types of disabilities and access requirements.
14. Provide resources to the business community for the development and dissemination of
knowledge about accessible, inclusive tourism and tools for the design and
improvement of tourism products and services for ALL.
15. Establish destination-level monitoring of visitor satisfaction, including accessibility
parameters, as a learning and development tool for the tourism and retail sectors.
16. Create "Destinations for ALL" enabling ALL visitors to enjoy travel, whether for
business, educational, medical treatment, volunteering or leisure purposes, without
hindrance.
17. Establish a Destination Management function within the structure of the local municipal
/ regional authority with a budget allocation and a mandate to coordinate and support
efforts to develop and promote sustainable, accessible and inclusive tourism in the
corresponding territories, working in cooperation with businesses and public sector
stakeholders.
For the governments and national authorities:
18. Make accessible, inclusive tourism policy a priority of national tourist boards.
19. Encourage educational institutions to incorporate training on the welcome and service
to ALL visitors, and on the accessibility of the built environment and facilities.

20. Promote the training of frontline staff in the travel and tourism sectors on the reception
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and delivery of services to ALL visitors.
21. Urge institutions providing public goods or services, including transportation providers,
to conduct a review of their accessibility and their service delivery to visitors with
disabilities and others with specific access requirements, in order to eliminate barriers
and facilitate the provision of services to this clientele.
22. Adopt fiscal measures to encourage the owners of existing institutions and private
transport companies to do the work required to make their facilities and services
accessible.
23. Adopt the ISO Standard 21542 Building construction - Accessibility and usability of the
built environment as the minimum requirement for new buildings (where no stricter
national standard exists) – and go beyond this standard whenever possible.
24. Adopt the minimum requirements established by the international community for
certification of the accessibility of tourist or cultural institutions and buildings.
25. Promote guidelines for the universal design of information for tourism services.
26. Adopt the international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG – ideally version
2.0) for all public websites and encourage their use by all tourism operators and
intermediaries, so as to ensure access to online information for ALL visitors, including
those with physical and sensory disabilities.
27. Promote the introduction of accessibility requirements in public procurement of goods,
services, transport and infrastructure works.
28. Establish effective monitoring and compliance mechanisms to ensure the effective
implementation of accessibility requirements by tourism service providers to the local,
national and international levels.
29. Promote employment opportunities and entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities in
the tourism sector.
For international stakeholders:
30. Urge the competent regional and international organizations with standardization
mandates to mainstream accessibility standards in all tourism products and services,
working with the tourism industry and stakeholders, including the organizations of
persons with disabilities and others with specific access requirements.
31. Encourage the implementation of ISO Standard 21542 in the tourism sector ensuring
the minimum accessibility of tourism facilities.
32. Pursue an international certification mechanism overseen by a competent international
body with a clear certification mandate, in consultation with the tourism industry, DPOs
and other related bodies, to certify the accessibility of tourism facilities.
33. Accredit national or local organizations to assess and certify the accessibility of tourism
related establishments on the basis of the criteria of the international certification
mechanism.
34. Encourage the International Standards Organization to make the ISO Standard 21542
freely available on the Web to facilitate its wider dissemination and use, given the
importance of these standards for the social inclusion of persons with disabilities and

other with specific access requirements in all aspects of life, including travel and
tourism.
35. Encourage Member States of the Facilitation Panel from the Convention on
International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention) to adopt the ICAO recommendations
on access for persons with disabilities in air transport, especially with regard to the
design of aircraft cabins and the availability of accessible on-board toilets.
36. Make information on good practices and relevant documents concerning accessible
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tourism available on the Web.
37. Invite UNWTO to receive the present recommendations and to transmit them to the
World Committee on Tourism Ethics, the independent body in charge of monitoring the
implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, for consideration and
potential submission to the UNWTO General Assembly.
Lastly, for the participants of the Montreal Summit :
38. Urge enterprises, local authorities, national bodies and international associations to
publish their policies and strategies regarding their provision of services to persons with
disabilities and other with specific access requirements to create an environment within
which change can happen.
39. Urge ENAT to coordinate and prepare a proposal for a Global Network or a World
Association for Accessible Tourism, in which all interested parties could join and take
part in order to pursue the objectives outlines in the Declaration.
The global association should:
- Seek to foster innovation in tourism services and environments for all with the
aim of achieving high quality standards to ensure accessibility, safety and
comfort of visitors;
- Reflect the scope of its members’ interests;
- Pursue the goal of a positive business and regulatory environment and
- Act as a global focal point for the promotion of Accessible, Inclusive Tourism
and Destinations for All.
40. Recognize that a lot of progress has been made in accessibility but that more needs to
be done, and to be done together, to create a World for everyone.
The draft text of the Declaration was distributed to participants at the World Summit
Destination for All, discussed in workshops, debated and adopted in a plenary session.
Signatures:
The names of all registered participants and organisations who accepted to sign the Montreal Declaration
will be inserted.
Note: The English version is the official text adopted in the conclusion session of the Summit.

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References
1 Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons (UN, 1975).
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/RightsOfDisabledPersons.aspx
2 The Center for Universal Design (1997). http://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/design/cud/about_ud/udprinciples.htm
3 The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (UNWTO, 1999). http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/global-code-ethics-tourism
4 2010 A Europe Accessible For All (European Commission, 2003). http://www.etcaats.eu/resources/2010-a-europe-
accessible-for-all-3.pdf
5 Rio Charter on Universal Design for Sustainable and Inclusive Development (2004).
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DISABILITY/Resources/280658-1172672474385/RioCharterUnivEng.doc
6 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2006).
http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml
7 The Takayama Declaration on the Development of Communities-for-All in Asia and the Pacific (UN Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, 2009).
http://www.accessibletourism.org/resources/takayama_declaration_top-e-fin_171209.pdf
8 ISO Standard 21542:2011, Building construction - Accessibility and usability of the built environment (2011).
http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=50498
9 The Italian Manifesto for the Promotion of Accessible Tourism (2011).
http://www.accessibletourism.org/resources/il-manifesto-en-2.pdf
10 http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/
11 http://www.keroul.qc.ca/DATA/PRATIQUEDOCUMENT/43_fr.pdf
12 The Manual on Access to Air Transport by Persons with Disabilities (International Civil Aviation Organization,
2013).
http://store1.icao.int/index.php/manual-on-access-to-air-transport-by-persons-with-disabilities-doc-9984-english-printed.
html
13 The UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Tourism (UNWTO, 2013).
http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/a20_res_final_en.pdf
14 International Congresses on Tourism for All (Foundation ONCE).
http://www.fundaciononce.es/es/pagina/eventos
15 The Catalunya 2020 Vision for Responsible Tourism: the Barcelona Declaration (2013).
http://rtd7.org/home/declaration
16 ICAT Conferences. http://icat2014.beautifulgate.org.my/
17 Access to Culture 2012 Report. http://www.euroblind.org/working-areas/access-to-culture/nr/1315
18 Way Forward, World Federation of the Deaf: Vision & Action Plan 2011-2015: http://www.wfdeaf.org/wp-content/
uploads/2011/09/WFD-Action-Plan-2011-2015.pdf
19 The Proposed Model Regulations for Accessible Taxicabs and For-Hire Vehicles (International Association of
Transportation Regulators, 2014). http://www.iatr.org/
20 Proposal of The Open Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals (2014).
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html

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