Top Picks: Closing Remarks

Short review, impressions, conclusions

Over 400 participants from 42 different countries (new window) gathered under one roof to get to know each other, share experience and best practices at #dfa2018. The Summit in its second edition exceeded all possible expectations of accessible tourism’s field. We are happy to share our co-president conclusions.

Concluding remarks at the Summit’s closing, by Vincent Snoeck 

“From these two days of presentations, debates and discussions, I would retain five central elements”

1. “Making accessible tourism infrastructures is economically viable: several experiments presented have shown us that they are economically profitable.”
2. “We must move away from the concept of destination and globalise by talking about travel: rather than islands, let’s talk about archipelagos that encompass all the links of accessibility.”
3. “Influencers make a strong contribution to making decisions about where to go, and how to do it. People recognise themselves in their peers, and obviously take their opinions into account.”
4. “Accessible tourism is first and foremost tourism for all. We must be able to live the experience to the end – to live an emotion.”
5. “The Summit has made it possible to confront parallel initiatives. Let us wager that if these initiatives were to be coordinated, they would produce an even more positive effect on the development of tourism for all. Partnerships have really become indispensable in this regard.”

The World Summit on Accessible Tourism has come to an end! The two days behind us were full of exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas. We would like to thank all the participants, speakers, moderators, volunteers, partners and teams for making this Summit a success.