Introduction

In Germany, accessibility is a civil right and its establishment is based on the currently applicable legal provisions and standards. The German act on the equality of persons with disabilities (Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz, or BGG) of 1st May 2002 provides a statutory framework (see section below). The currently applicable DIN standards are also relevant to the implementation of accessibility. While they determine the technical standards, they have no direct legal or factual force. The legal force of DIN standards is defined by the respective construction codes or other ordinances of each federal state. The topic accessibility also becomes more important with regard to the demographic change because through the rise of the average age, the percentage of older and disabled people increases as well. The number of people aged 60 or older will double over the course of the coming years. Thus the number of people with mobility or activity limitations that nonetheless enjoy travelling, will increase considerably as well.

For politics, economy and administration these development trends mean that necessary conditions need to be created to enable all citizens to remain active parts of the society and to be able to maintain their independence for as long as possible. This also includes all areas of the tourism industry. In this regard, the study 'Economic Impulses of Accessible Tourism for All', commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie, referred to as BMWi below), proved for the first time that the group of travellers with mobility or activity limitations is of great economic interest for the German travel industry. Currently, €2.5 billion are earned annually by holidays and short vacations of people with disabilities (BMWi, 2004).

However, huge parts of this economic potential still remain unutilised. The study disclosed that through more accessibility in the German tourism industry, €4.