- The King and Queen of Spain congratulated Envera at the opening of Fitur 2022
- Iberia, Madrid Foro Empresarial and Esencial Tours have participated in the program.
Madrid | January 21, 2022
Envera has carried out its program Tour Disfriendly live from the Radio Viajera stand (10B01) at Fitur, in which she vindicates the importance of promoting tourism that is friendly to all travelers, especially those with disabilities, and points out the importance of catering to these tourists who "always travel accompanied" and "usually do so throughout the year", as a competitive element for the sector.
During the official opening of the 42nd edition of Fitur, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia greeted the people with disabilities from Envera and congratulated the non-profit organization for the social work it has been carrying out since its birth in 1977, within the Iberia company, with the aim of helping people with intellectual disabilities to take their place in the world with dignity.
Along with the monarchs, the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto; the President of the Congress of Deputies, Meritxel Batet; the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso; and the Mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, also took an interest in Envera's "Disfriendly" project.
Presented by its beneficiaries and professionals in Radio Viajera, with its Tour Disfriendly Envera has led to people with intellectual disabilities to the heart of the International Tourism Fair this year is held under the slogan 'Embrace the world'. And is that, as noted by its presenters, "that is the kind of tourism that we claim from this program, a tourism that welcomes with open arms to all tourists regardless of their needs, their age or their disability".
Envera recognizes companies in the tourism sector with the Difriendly Stamp
Precisely in order to recognize companies that are "friendly" to travelers and tourists with disabilities, especially intellectual disabilities, Envera has the Disfriendly Seal. As Virginia Ródenas, Envera's Director of Communications, explains, in order to be distinguished with this differentiating seal of business competitiveness, "interested companies must go through a process of analysis and consultancy carried out by Envera, which is backed by more than four decades of work in the development of CSR programs with companies. At the same time, its experts provide training to teach the company's employees how to provide the best care for elderly tourists or those with intellectual disabilities".
Sara Navarrete, founder of Link4Tour and CEO of Esencial Tours, the first tour operator to incorporate packages specifically aimed at tourists with disabilities into its offer for travel agencies, also stressed the importance of taking into account the special needs of all tourists.
For Navarrete it is also relevant to "have an integrated team that helps to understand accessibility" in the tourism sector because "it is not only about putting ramps or elevators", but also about cognitive accessibility and customer experience because "we can all see ourselves in that situation at any time".
Accessible tourism is a profitable business that is growing by 22% per year and could reach US$170 billion by 2025.
For his part, the president of Madrid Foro Empresarial, Hilario Alfaro, highlighted the virtues of the capital as a tourist destination: "It is a friendly, safe and well-prepared city, although much remains to be done in terms of accessibility".
According to Alfaro, CSR is a differential value in the business world and he points to the efforts of institutions such as the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) to improve the experience of tourists with special needs and achieve "excellence in the tourism sector".
Regarding the figures for the sector, the president of Madrid Foro Empresarial indicates that "accessible tourism is a business with an annual growth of 22%", taking into account that, at present, 50% of people with disabilities do not travel, it is estimated that in 2025 the potential business would reach 170 billion dollars.
Jael Feito, Iberia's Usability, Design and Content Manager, also participates in the program to explain that the airline is "committed to offering a quality experience for all our passengers from start to finish", from the moment they access the website to enjoying a comfortable trip on their planes, as well as facilitating access at airport boarding and training crews so that they can meet all travelers' needs.
An example of this is the transfer of the Spanish Paralympic team to Tokyo, which involved a complex logistical organization in the midst of the pandemic, but which has provided Iberia with a valuable learning experience from which all its travelers now benefit.
