Aside from foreign tourists, the Department of Tourism wants to provide better services to persons with disabilities (PWDs) whom they described as a “special market.”
“We will market the Philippines as a barrier-free tourist destination. It’s a special market that has a very high yield,” Tourism Undersecretary Maria Victoria Jasmin said in the Regional Forum on Accessible Tourism for Persons with Disability yesterday afternoon.
Jasmin said they need to find new ways to invite tourists in the country to reach their 10 million tourist arrivals target by 2016.
She said PWDs usually have a person who accompanies them and they require prompt services and facilities for their convenience.
Jasmin said Cebu should also adjust to the needs of the PWDs in their infrastructures and accommodation since the province has a diverse offering that caters to various tourist markets.
“What they want on other places, they can find it all in Cebu,” Jasmin said.
Jasmin cited Batas Pambansa 344 or the Accessibility law which requires certain buildings, institutions, establishments and public utilities to install facilities and other devices.
She said local government units should require property owners to implement the law and withhold approval of the building construction if it doesn’t follow the requirements of the accessibility law.
The law requires the buildings to have sidewalks, ramps, railings and other architectural utilities that would provide convenient mobility for the PWDs.
Jasmin said they incorporated the basic requirements of the accessibility law in the new checklist for standards of accommodation of tourism facilities next year. Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya