Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality said tourism must not be seen as something that must be felt and enjoyed by a select few, but should be made accessible for all, including people living with disabilities.
The Metro, in association with the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, is hosting a workshop on Tuesday to create an awareness among tourism businesses and operators to provide products and services that can be equally be enjoyed by persons with disabilities.
Andrew Whitfield, the mayoral committee member charged with Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture, said the Municipality committed itself during Tourism Month last year to promote universal access through tourism.
He says among the issues raised then was how to deal with visitors with disabilities who visit the Metro which led to two interventions.
"The one is training tour guides on sign language and the other is a workshop with the Association of People with Disabilities and East Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, to promote further awareness about the challenges that people with disabilities face in the tourism space in particular".
Whtifield said that this would be followed by engagements with B&B owners, hotels and product owners in the tourism space to ensure that Nelson Mandela Bay is the most friendly city in South Africa for people with disabilities.
Whitfield also agreed that more needs to be done to improve accessibility for people living with disabilities.
He said about eight percent of South Africans live with one or other form of disability while in Nelson Mandela Bay that figures around 10% while 90% of people living with disabilities are unemployed.
"We need to change our mindset, we need to embrace a new culture of caring and inclusivity in our city and our country and this is whey we are intervening in this particular space. That is to promote awareness around people with disabilities, to ensure that the Municipality designs for disability and that's really a concept that we all need to embrace, is that whatever we do we design for disability," Whitfield said.
