Published on : Thursday, April 19, 2018
Accessible tourism, which tries to promise accessibility to all tourist destinations and services for visitors in spite of their disabilities or age, as per the World Tourism Organization under the United Nations (UNWTO), remains a new concept in Vietnam but is slowly gaining momentum.
Đỗ Cẩm Thơ, deputy head of tourism department under the culture ministry, explains that in majority of developed countries, public infrastructure comprise features to make sure disabled people can use them hassle-free like lifts in train platforms, grab rails in bathrooms and auditory and visual signals to assist deaf-blind people at pedestrian crossings.
As a result, tourism also requires following regulations to make certain accessibility for all disabled persons. Many tourist operators have huge busses specifically designed to house wheel chair users and side by side destinations are equipped with facilities to serve the disabled.
Nevertheless, in Vietnam, these facilities are truly lacking. There, accessibility in terms of disabled people is not taken seriously, in typical design or construction process. For instance, till now, many places use staircases instead of sloping lanes or a separate lane for the disabled, buses lack lift system for less mobile persons etc.