Accessible tourism for people with disabilities

More than 80 million people in Africa - about 6.6 per cent of the continent’s population - are living with disabilities, according to the United Nations . By disabilities, we refer to any impairment that affects vision, motion, memory, hearing, thinking, learning, communicating and mental health.

According to the CDC, there are three dimensions to disability, impairment (loss of function), activity restriction (walking, hearing, seeing difficulties) and participation restriction (working, recreational activities).

This year, we are looking at how to achieve more accessible tourism in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry in Africa. One facet of this includes for persons living with disabilities.

Why should we make tourism more accessible for people with disabilities?

The tourism industry in Africa has a long way to go towards making tourism more accessible for tourists (and for tourism workers) with disabilities. It goes beyond tourism, to make more spaces accessible as this piece shares. No one size fits all, and planners, policymakers, architects and designers all have responsibility. However, for those who want to know where to start from, here are some pointers that can help.

• PWDs are an integral part of the society and their ability to participate in the tourism industry as tourists or workers must be an intrinsic part of any responsible and sustainable tourism policy and strategy.
• Improving accessibility to tourism expands the market for tourism, boosts tourism competitiveness, increase visitor numbers and improve the overall quality of life in local communities.

How to get started?

• In Africa, some countries have begun to understand the demand of travellers with (physical) disabilities and are renovating and building tourist facilities to accommodate special needs.
• For example, South Africa and Botswana have adopted a grading scheme to rate tourist establishments based on their accessibility to people with disabilities, children, older people and pregnant women.?It is important to look at other disabilities as well as making provisions for more people to work in the tourism industry.
• To start, evaluate the physical accessibility into your attraction, establishment, event space for people with physical disabilities (walking, hearing, seeing).
• Wheelchair access, ramps and barrier-free paths, and elevators to all floors.
• Special parking areas
• Improved communication, translators and screen readers for those who have speech or hearing impairments.
• Availability of assistive devices like wheelchairs, memory aids, and pill organizers.
• Trained staff that can sensitively and professionally help with accessibility issues.

As a society, we need to do more to be more inclusive. There remains a disconnect between the abled and the mentally/physically disabled, and a lot of people do not understand the struggles of those with disabilities.?

The responsibility should lie not with people with disabilities but for all to understand more about disabilities and how to enhance the experience of life for others.

What can you do?

• Enlighten the public on what your organization is doing to be more accepting of persons with disabilities.
• Engage people with mobility issues in focus group sessions prior to the design and development of products and accessible accommodations and tourist destinations.

We will continue our campaign for accessible tourism in the months ahead, looking at making tourism more accessible for the elderly, for those with children, solo travellers, budget and economy tourists and more.

Our mission to harness the transformative potential of tourism includes promoting a more inclusive and holistic approach to make tourism accessible for all.?

Resources to help

1. Accessible Tourism Standards by the UN Tourism
2. Accessible Tourism Guidelines by the World Travel & Tourism Council
3. Recommendations on Accessible Tourism by the UN Tourism