Equal rights and equal opportunities a collective responsibility Cont’d

Accommodation
Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities constitute still another set of challenges. For example, very few hotels offer accessible persons with disability - friendly rooms with wider entrances, low-level switches, hand dryers, towels racks and beds; chairlifts and room information written in simple and concise language for persons with cognitive disabilities. Of the rooms available, few have ground floor access. Access through hotel is also problematic.

Few hotels have lifts to all floors on slow timers, easy access to reception, pool and bar areas, clear signage, visual alarms and clear access throughout the entire building. While the some hotels provide special parking areas, in many cases these are uncovered and quite distant from the main hotel entrances, and that steps are negotiated in order to access the building.

Another issue related to accommodation facilities and amenities concerns the different types of disability to be provided for. Indeed the needs for the persons with vision or hearing (audio-visual) impairment or intellectual disability are quite different from those with a physical disability.

Most of the hotels provide facilities responding more to the special needs of people with physical disabilities, and especially those in wheelchairs. For example, among hotels that offer wheelchair access, few provide information in Braille or in audio-visual format.
Many persons with disabilities find facilities at eating and drinking establishments within tourist destinations area to be difficult to access.

Some encounter difficulties when making hotel reservations. It was observed that in some hotels, an individual, even when available, could not reserve specific accessible rooms. In other instances, some rooms were promoted as accessible rooms, actually appeared to be inaccessible to persons with disabilities. For example, showers with handrails may well help some persons, but for many wheelchair users, bathtubs present a major barrier.

Tourism Sites
Attractions are the elements of a tourist destination that stimulate the purpose of a journey and visit. They may be of leisure-type, such as visiting theme parks or participating in sport events; nature-based, such as seaside tourism or mountain trekking, historical, such as visiting museums or shopping for antiques; or socio-cultural, such as festivals or visiting friends and relatives. Most of the problems encountered by tourists with disabilities in the course of tourism are found in inaccessibility sites.

For example, many beaches are not equipped to accommodate wheelchair users. Similarly, poor access to museums, historical monuments or shopping areas restricts persons with disabilities from enjoying the opportunities of participating in these activities.

Being a fundamental human right for all to have equal rights and equal opportunities to access all tourism infrastructures, products and services, including employment opportunities and benefits that tourism industry can provide “Tourism for All” is no more a concept or privilege. Therefore, the tourist industry must provide the same choices for all consumers to ensure the full participation of persons with special needs, and protection of individuals’ rights to travel with dignity.

Recognising both this fundamental human right and the needs of attracting and adequately catering for persons with special needs to both boost the tourist sector and meet international standards necessitated creation “Tourism-for-All – The Gambia Charter –(TAG)”.

Tourism-for-All – The Gambia Charter, is a charitable organisation of seasoned young Gambian professionals of diverse fields, notably, human rights activists, journalists, economists, statisticians, lawyers, promoters, social workers, university lecturers, physiotherapists, orthopaedic technicians, architects, urban planners, medical doctors, tourism experts, committed to the creation of The Gambia a unique destination. That is a destination that caters for the needs of all tourists.

With regard to tourism access improvement, it is important for all concerned to take into consideration the rights and the needs of diverse user groups, including single disability groups, persons with multiple disabilities, and women and girls with disabilities. Therefore, the degree of sensitivity, clarity, safety and convenience required in designing tourism facilities from the perspective of persons with disabilities will benefit everyone else.
    

Aims and Objectives of Tourism-for -All The Gambia Charter - TAG

1. To further and safeguard the interests of tourists with special needs and persons with special needs/disabilities working in tourist industry;

2. To educate tourists with special needs/disabilities about their rights and responsibilities;

3. To raise awareness amongst all stakeholders of the rights of tourists with special needs and their responsibilities to making their vacations memorable ones;

4. To provide a channel for representation and advocacy of tourists with special needs/disabilities interests and rights;

5. To provide a forum for consumers and sympathizers solidarity;

6. To influence those who make decisions that affect tourists with special needs by providing them with authoritative and expertise opinions of interests and concerns of tourists with special needs;

7. To become the premier advocate for tourists with special needs/disabilities protection in The Gambia;

8. To strive to influence the legislature and other competent authorities to enact effective tourists with special needs/disabilities laws and regulations and formulate relevant policies and programs;

9. To ensure tourists with special needs are provided with goods and services fit for purpose, safe, and of acceptable quality and standard;

10. To ensure tourists with special needs/disabilities freely access all tourist facilities without or with minimum supports;

11. To ensure that providers of goods and services conform to statutory health, safety and environmental standards;

12. To promote a tourism patterns that have regards for tourists with special needs/disabilities;

13. To assist government and the private sector (stakeholders) in attracting tourists with special needs/disabilities and their relatives, friends, sympathizers to The Gambia;

14. To advise and assist tourist with special needs/disabilities in The Gambia in getting adequate redress in the event their rights are infringed;

15. To be an effective partner of The Gambia government, development partners, civil society organizations, and private sector entities interested in the rights and welfare of tourists with special needs/disabilities;

16. To collaborate and co-operate with government in the implementation of international conventions and agreements relating to the rights of tourists particularly those with special needs/disabilities;

17. To be an effective member of the international community of civil society organizations with common aim of bettering the welfare of tourists with special needs/disabilities;

18. To promote fair and ethical business practices in the interest of tourists with special needs/disabilities;

19. To do such other things as may be conducive to the attainment of the aims and objectives of TAG.
To be continued