GAME CHANGER: UNWTO touts accessible tourism for all

The UNWTO, which has released a new set of Inclusive Recovery Guides to help the travel and tourism industry become more open and inclusive to all travellers, forecasts that by 2050 one in six people worldwide will be aged 65 or over, rising to one in four in Europe and North America.

To that end, the “Inclusive Recovery Guide – Socio-Cultural Impacts of COVID-19: Issue – Persons with Disabilities,” makes clear the importance of placing inclusivity at the centre of recovery plans and provides key recommendations for governments, destinations and companies to achieve accessibility standards that will help them become more competitive.

While much progress has been made, according to the UNWTO, the publication emphasizes that persons with disabilities and seniors still encounter barriers preventing them from fully enjoying tourism experiences, and even more so during the pandemic.

“Tourism environments and services are often designed without considering the different access requirements that visitors and locals may have,” says UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. “The tourism sector must prioritize accessibility. This can be a real game changer for destinations and businesses, helping them recover from the crisis and grow back in a more inclusive and resilient way.”

Highlighting the potential benefits for more accessible destinations, the publication notes that data shows that the average spend of tourists with disabilities in Spain, for example, is in excess of €800, compared with just over €600 for tourists without disabilities.

The recommendations advocating for accessibility during the recovery of tourism emphasize six main action areas:

• Assistance in a crisis: Including accessibility during every stage of repatriation, which requires the backing of destinations and disabled peoples’ organizations (DPOs)

• Adaptation of protocols: Follow UNWTO guidance on adapting general health and safety protocols, considering that customers may have different abilities and requirements

• Inclusivity in post-pandemic tourism: Including the effective use of data to guide decisions on accessible tourism planning and adjusting accessibility policies and strategies to reflect post-COVID realities

• Accessibility in business planning: Treating accessibility as a competitive advantage, improving customer service, and the application of harmonized international standards to enhance quality of life for all

• Staff training and inclusion: Extending professional training to better cater for tourists with different abilities, and ensuring equal opportunities in the tourism workforce

• Innovation and digital transformation: Embracing innovation to make travel and tourism safer, smarter and easier for all

The guidelines reflect UNWTO’s ongoing commitment to inclusive tourism, enshrined within The UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics, calling on signatories to facilitate tourism for persons with disabilities. The publication is also the first one in a planned series of thematic briefs from UNWTO’s Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility Department, in its intent to provide guidance to our sector.