Tourism is currently an integral element of the way of life for a significant part of society. It has a notable weight in the economy of many countries and is one of the primary chapters of international trade. Additionally, it plays a growing role in communication and knowledge among people. Due to its nature and effects, it is an activity that should be accessible to all citizens. The universal application of the principle of equal opportunities has led to both guidelines and resolutions from international institutions, as well as hygiene and safety standards in tourism services, which have a legal framework in various countries. Tourism is a right for all citizens, so efforts must be combined to ensure the removal of barriers that allow the exercise of these rights.
Tourism for all is a widespread social demand from public authorities to companies that are linked to the provision of tourism services. People with disabilities and/or special needs are full-fledged citizens in countries; it is a progressively relevant tourism demand segment for sector entrepreneurs and a factor in diversifying destinations and products in tourism development strategies.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has designed a new set of guidelines for the inclusive recovery of the sector, in collaboration with the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT), the ONCE Foundation of Spain, and Traceability of Australia. UNWTO emphasizes the importance of placing inclusion at the center of tourism recovery plans and offers key recommendations to achieve this. To do this, the tourism sector must ensure the accessibility of tourists with disabilities. The pandemic may bring a “paradigm shift” for destinations worldwide seeking to recover from the havoc wreaked by the pandemic. These new UNWTO guidelines are based on knowledge from the UNWTO Department of Ethics, Culture, and Social Responsibility and its partners.
This is particularly relevant right now, as tourism has been one of the economic sectors most affected by the crisis stemming from the pandemic, starting in 2019. “Much progress has been made in making tourism more accessible to everyone. As we guide the responsible resumption of tourism, we must ensure that this progress does not regress. Instead, it must intensify, as it will benefit everyone,” assures Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Thinking ideally, all countries should have a Tourism Training Center for All, which consists of providing training services to solve the problems of attention, mobility, and accessibility in tourism media and services. This center would be developed through a continuous management plan with companies and different organizations that oversee the process of people with different abilities. The services provided by the Tourism Training Center for All will be of high level, involving other actors committed to its mission (engineers, architects, legal experts, tourism professionals, etc.) through instruments such as training courses, development and distribution of good practice manuals, learning dynamics, etc. Likewise, establish, in the long term, the creation and innovation of a certification that allows recognizing the various establishments trained to receive and serve this demand segment, and that, in turn, said certification projects the image of hospitality as a country brand at national and international levels.
The vision of tourism we propose promotes the implementation of a training process among the various stakeholders in the sector so that people with special accessibility needs can enjoy, with autonomy and dignity, the products, services, and tourist media designed for all people.
The exponential growth of the tourism sector over the past decades offers unlimited opportunities in the fields of socioeconomic development and job creation, but also poses significant challenges. Along with concerns about economic and environmental sustainability, we must constantly remember that not all segments of society can yet equally enjoy the attractions, facilities, and tourist services.
The scope of this article includes the determination to train and sensitize entrepreneurs in the tourism sector in activities involving the movement of people with physical disabilities, among others. Within global tourism development, it is demonstrated that such training we refer to basically does not exist. Therefore, we join efforts, experiences, and knowledge to involve professionals in this topic, so important for the economy, as well as for the creation of an innovation model such as a training center where activities can be carried out and the needs of the sector can be explained with facts from the perspective of innovating and creating various systems that allow people with different abilities to have a place or space where they can feel satisfied with the service provided to them in different areas such as hotels, restaurants, and tourist centers in both rural and urban areas.
The idea of this topic was created for the defense of the Thesis “Plan for the creation of a TOURISM FOR ALL training center” of the Executive Master’s in Business Administration (EMBA) of the University of Commercial Sciences in Nicaragua (author, Nelson Manzanares); as a reference and important means for strengthening a training plan for tourism service providers and raising awareness of the importance of inclusive tourism both nationally and internationally.
