THE Asia Pacific Network on Accessible Tourism (APNAT) will soon see the establishment of country chapters, which would help champion barrier-free travel for all people with disabilities in the region.
Agreed upon at the recently concluded 5th International Conference on Accessible Tourism, APNAT itself was initiated in response to recommendations from participants who attended the first South-east Asia Conference on Accessible Tourism in 2012.
It is in the process of being registered as an association and will be headquartered in Malaysia.
Sia Siew Chin, protem committee chairman of APNAT, said: “Through APNAT, we would like to be able to reach out to governments, people in the tourism industry and service providers to provide for the access needs of everyone in society, in particular people with disabilities.”
Saowalak Thongkuay, regional coordinator for Abilis Foundation Mekong, said: “APNAT gives us a strong and collective voice to negotiate with governments to include accessible tourism into their development agenda.
“For example, under the ASEAN Economic Community, accessible tourism is not included in the agenda.”
Speakers at the conference also urged governments and private sectors to woo seniors and tourists with disabilities through an unbroken chain of accessibility from arrival to departure.
Annagrazia Laura, president of European Network for Accessible Tourism, stressed that providing barrier-free environment means that from arrival to departure, the visitor must be guaranteed an unbroken and seamless chain of accessibility.
She said: “If just one link in the chain is broken, such as inaccessible monuments and tourist attractions, the holiday experience will be spoilt.”
The four essentials in the tourism value chain include information to make bookings, transportation, infrastructure at tourism attractions and services such as tech-aids and special assistance.
According to the World Health Organisation report in 2011, 15 per cent of the world’s population have a disability, more than one million have special needs and about 80 per cent of such people live in developing countries.
Joseph Kwan, chair, International Commission on Technology & Accessibility, Rehabilitation International, said: “Once governments realise that people with disabilities and the senior market are a sizable population with disposable incomes to spend and can contribute significantly to foreign exchange earnings, employment generation and social inclusion, they will be more willing to act, to create barrier-free travel for all.”
Kwan stressed the importance of governments to do audits on the current status of tourism accessibility in order to develop policies and plans regarding accessibility and human rights.
Source: TTG Asia
