Bangkok Recommendations on International Conference on Accessible Tourism
Adopted
22 - 23 November 2007

We, the representatives of Governments, tourism business sector and tourism-related professional organizations, accessibility experts, disabled people's organizations and other civil society organizations, met in Bangkok, Thailand from 22 -24 November 2007 at the 2nd International Conference on Accessible Tourism,

Appreciate the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of Royal Government of Thailand, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration for their hospitality and support for the Conference, which was jointly organized with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Disabled Peoples' International Asia-Pacific (DPI-AP), Asia Pacific Disability Forum (APDF);

Acknolwedge the commitment made by the Royal Government of Thailand as well as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) for its leadership in promoting accessible tourism;

Recognize the significance of all international and regional documents on disability, in particular, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (BMF) and the Biwako Plus Five (BMF+5) , the supplement to the BMF;

Affirm the full social inclusion of persons with disabilities;

Believe that accessibility in the built environment and transportation is a right as articulated in CRPD Article 9

Recognise further that the mainstreaming of accessible tourism includes removal of attitudinal and institutional barriers in society, and encompasses accessible physical environment, transportation, information and communications and other facilities and services that consequently benefit not only persons with different disabilities, but also older persons, families with young children and all other travelers;

Note that the Plan of Action for Sustainable Tourism Development in Asia and the Pacific Phase II (2006-2012), launched by ESCAP, which pays due attention to the needs of improving accessibility for travelers with disabilities;

Recognize further the Bali Declaration on Barrier-free Tourism for People with Disabilities in 2000 and the Sanya Declaration on Accessible Tourism in Asia and the Pacific in 2006 , both of which affirmed our commitment to promote accessible tourism;

Also recognize persons with disabilities, older persons and cross-generational families as an increasingly important tourism and travel market segment;

To achieve the goal of creating an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for all;

We recommend that:

• 1) Governments sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol and implement the provisions thereof;
• 2) Government agents at all levels, who are responsible for tourism promotion and disability matters, take legislative and administrative measures to promote accessible tourism, in particular by, mainstreaming accessible tourism in overall economic/social development policies and plans and in tourism development policies and plans;
• 3) Governments as well as the business sector, academia, disabled people's organizations and the media promote awareness on the importance of accessible tourism and on the travel needs of persons with different disabilities and cross-generational travelers based on research;
• 4) Each nation create a national committee on accessible tourism to coordinate the effective implementation of measures to promote accessible tourism and monitor the related progress. The committee should be comprised of ministries responsible for tourism, social, infrastructure development, building and transport, associations representing travel agents, hotels, and restaurants, organizations representing persons with disabilities, individuals with disabilities, as well as tourism education and training institutes
• 5) Government focal points on disability and tourism policy, tourism industry, accessibility experts, disabled persons' organizations and other civil society organizations build partnership for effective promotion and implementation of accessible tourism;
• 6) The following measures be taken by the travel and hospitality industry
  • introduce accessibility as a criterion in the rating of hotels and restaurants;
  • present awards for outstanding achievements relating to accessible tourism
• 7) The travel industry ensures that their employees and staff are properly trained to communicate and provide services for travelers with disabilities and older travelers.
• 8) Accessible tourism should cater to the needs of persons with different disabilities;
• 9) Governments and employers take affirmative actions to increase number of persons with disabilities working in the tourism industry;
• 10) Governments provide economic and other types of incentives to promote accessible tourism for the industry;
• 11) Governments as well as other stakeholders acknowledge the following seven elements as essential components of effective accessible tourism and take measures to implement each element, as recommended hereafter;
  • Travel planning :
    • The travel industry should include data relevant to travelers with disabilities I travel planning materials;
    • Travel planning professionals should equip themselves with knowledge and resources on the needs of travelers with disabilities;
  • Access to information :
    • Information should be provided in accessible format
  • Inclusive transportation :
    • Governments need to establish and enforce accessibility policy on various modes of transportation (air, sea, and land) and make it mandatory;
    • The transportation industry must take responsibility for the provision of quality of services equal to or above that of the industry norm;
    • Transport operators are responsible for the provision of seamless, inter-modal transportation system and to be monitored by the transportation authorities
  • Accessible tourist attractions :
    • Governments ensure facilities and services are accessible
    • Tourism providers ensure accessible information at points of services
    • Development and dissemination of technical guidelines on improving accessibility of historical attractions
  • Accessible accommodation :
    • The principles of universal design are to be used in the construction of all accommodations;
    • International/ regional standards on accommodations applying universal design so that all facilities and rooms in accommodations are accessible for all;
    • Accessible accommodation should cater to the needs of persons with different disabilities.
  • Mainstream services for all tourists :
    • Mainstreaming implies that all staff must be competent to accommodate persons with disabilities;
    • Mainstreaming also implies that the built environment and technology is usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design;
    • Develop mainstream services that accommodate persons with disabilities as a norm;
    • Accessible tourism information should be an integral part of mainstream tourism information.
  • Destination experiences :
    • We recommend that the tourism management philosophy known as Integrated Quality Management (IQM) be adopted as a norm;
    • The travel industry should ensure the positive destination experiences of persons with disabilities through the regular training for all employees on the needs of persons with disabilities;
    • Positive destination experiences can be guaranteed through the use of universal design;
    • Involve Governments, tourism authority, consumer /human rights advocates to maintain quality of accessible tourism.
• 12) Educational Institutions develop and improve on curriculum to include subjects related to accessible tourism in travel-related training and education (addition);
• 13) Stakeholders and tourism industry utilize appropriate technology to improve on accessible tourism;
• 14) Travel industry and disabled persons organizations and governments collaborate to provide innovative and affordable solutions to promote accessible tourism in rural context;
• 15) UNESCAP provides regional policy and technical guidelines and appropriate expertise to accelerate the growth of accessible tourism, ( accordingly, Governments would take appropriate actions).
• 16) Stakeholders, in particular, Governments, travel industry and disabled people's organizations, at the regional and national levels should monitor/evaluate the progress of the implementation of recommendations herein through various means including convening regional and national forums. (reporting)