The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 billion people, constituting 16% of the global population, face significant disabilities, highlighting accessibility challenges in travel and tourism. Despite untapped growth potential, a lack of facilities and mechanisms is noted, particularly in the Middle East, with Dubai standing out as a leader in accessibility initiatives.
About the Conference
Journeying to make destinations accessible
An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability, representing 16 per cent of the world’s population or one in six of us. This updated figure by the World Health Organization (WHO) brings under the spotlight accessibility challenges they face when travelling and exploring tourism hotspots and the untapped growth opportunities in the travel and tourism market projected to surpass the US$8.9 trillion mark by 2026. Home to over 50 million People with Disabilities, the Middle East is one of the regions where accessible travel and tourism hold immense growth potential but is vastly untapped and undebated.
The WHO, in a first-ever global study, identified barriers to People with Disabilities in tourist destinations which include inaccessible facilities at airports, airlines, hotels, parks, beaches, and tourist landmarks and historical sites. Tourists with disabilities make up one of the fastest-growing tourism markets, but several countries, according to this report, lack adequate mechanisms and satisfactory facilities to ensure the world ensure they see it the way disabled people want. Tapping the accessible tourism market has remained a key agenda for destinations in the 21st century.
About 54 per cent of people with access requirements avoid going to new places if not accessible to them. The biggest challenge is finding accessible destinations that meet their Special Needs and heighten their travel experience. Over three million tourism businesses in Europe are not prepared to cater adequately to the accessibility market. A study indicated that the accessible tourism market is a distinct sector, possessing the capacity for extensive future growth, and presents major travel providers with a potentially substantial and lucrative market, generating potential revenues of €88.6 billion by 2025. A 2020 market study by the US-based Open Doors Organization (ODO) about Adult Travelers with Disabilities, showed that the disability travel market has a greater economic impact on the travel industry than ever before. In 2018-19, more than 27 million people with disabilities took a total of 81 million trips, spending US$58.7 billion on their travel alone, up from US$34.6 billion in 2015. Worldwide, Adventure Travel News found that individuals with disabilities spend US$95 billion annually on travel.
For most people with disabilities, travelling and exploring destinations looks quite inaccessible. It is a world of challenges to explore cities and experience their sights and sounds. The most common issues that differently-abled tourists encounter include the non-availability of adapted hotel rooms, insufficient airport transfers in wheelchairs and adapted toilets in public restrooms, and accessibility at restaurants, and most landmarks.
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group and Conference Patron says insights, experiences and best practices shared at the Summit have been helping destinations become more accessible and friendly to People with Disabilities. Dubai’s Universal Design Code defines how buildings and transportation systems have to be designed, constructed and managed keeping them in mind. This came ahead of it hosting the first-ever World Expo in the MENASA region. After Dubai rolled out its US$8.7 trillion economic plans until 2033 to be one of the world’s Top 3 economic cities, accessibility is going to continue its focus for enhancement and improvement.
Accessible Tourism has remained a work in progress to ensure every tourist destination, product and service becomes accessible to everyone, regardless of physical limitations, disabilities or age. Making tourism more accessible is not only a social responsibility – the improved accessibility boosts competitiveness and impacts profits as well. The Conference has been helping the stakeholders discover how improving accessibility improves the travel and tourism businesses that witness intense competition, and how cities can remain socially responsible and sustainable destinations. The travel and tourism industry has been swiftly shifting to innovate and provide services that offer more inclusive opportunities for tourists with disabilities.
Accessible tourism in the future is going to be much more than a range of support to the long-excluded target groups – it is going to become a set of ground rules and codes of practice that will contribute to the overall inclusive tourism development.
It will be a win-win for all.
Ghassan Suleiman
Secretary General
