Positioning South Africa as a Universally Accessible (UA) destination will enhance its global competitiveness. This after the Deputy Minister of Tourism Ms Tokozile Xasa and tourism role-players signed and adopted the Universal Accessibility Declaration during the Tourism Indaba 2012 in Durban earlier this week.
“The signing of the Universal Accessibility Declaration, is a demonstration of our commitment to the vision of a universally accessible tourism destination for South Africa," Deputy Minister Xasa said.
Universal Access in tourism responds to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) Global Code of Ethics. For Tourism which state: “Tourism activities should respect the equality of men and women, they should promote human rights and, more particularly, the individual rights of the most vulnerable groups, notably children, the elderly, the handicapped, ethnic minorities and indigenous people.”
The National Department of Tourism (NDT) identified universal access in tourism as an important initiative to respond to the UNWTO “The National Responsible Tourism Strategy developed during the financial year 2011/12 highlights the need to approach the subject in a balanced manner that reflects all the core elements that make responsible tourism.
Furthermore, the National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS) requires of us to promote responsible tourism best practices,” Xasa said.
The signing ceremony was also used to launch the Universal Accessibility Action Plan, which seeks to advance universal accessibility within the tourism sector. Systems have been put in place to support the sector to be UA compliant. UA grading has been integrated and forms part of the standard Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (TGCSA) grading criteria for all star grading categories of accommodation.
So far 800 establishments country-wide have graded for universal accessibility out of a total of 5 728 properties, and the rest of the establishments have been provided with recommendations as to how they can improve their facilities to achieve UA status. To this effect, there is a process of continuous change management to ensure that establishments have a greater understanding of the system, implications and most importantly the potential it presents for their businesses.
Research has shown that people with disabilities, often travel with friends and family which in itself brings additional revenue for an establishment. Market research also points to a growing market of the elderly, who travel often with more disposable income.
“During the departmental Budget Vote in parliament, we announced plans to assess the state of Universally Accessibility for major tourism attractions in the country; this will inform government interventions at these attractions. It is also a higher priority in the UA action plan,” Deputy Minister concluded.
For more information, please contact:
National Department of Tourism
Trevor Bloem
Chief Director: Communications
Tel: 012 444 6607
Cell: 082 771 6729
E-mail: tbloem@tourism.gov.za
Mpumi Simelane
National Department of Tourism,
Tel: 012 444 6612
Cell: 082 354 1510
E-mail: msimelane@tourism.gov.za
