Since late 2015, in the Dominican Republic, we've been hearing about the importance of the relationship between the tourism industry and the Dominican State in developing policies and projects aimed at promoting this new market segment. Ideas like these have spread around the world, and one of their main spokespersons was the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai, when he declared 2016 the "Year of Tourism for All."
Rifai highlighted the importance of this segment for the local and international development of the hotel industry when he linked business to law, saying that "accessibility for all should be at the heart of tourism policies and business strategy. Not only for human rights reasons, which are already important, but also because there is a potential market and a magnificent business opportunity." At the time, he was referring to the more than one billion tourists with disabilities who visit tourism each year, the equivalent of 151% of the world's population at the time.
Currently, our country's main source markets are the United States, Canada, and some European nations, but these first two markets account for the majority of our annual hotel occupancy. In 2015, there were more than 53 million adults with disabilities in the United States (almost 22 million of the total population). They either benefit from state assistance programs, are retired, or simply have regular jobs, but ultimately have the means to travel and pay for it.
These numbers, however exaggerated they may seem, must also include important realities such as the increase in life expectancy, which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is on the rise due to population growth, advances in medicine, and the "Verticality of the Family," which refers to the fact that families today are no longer as homogeneous as they once were and most include several generations within their family unit. Therefore, they have more diverse needs that must be met by industries and their growth strategies if they are to be seriously sustainable over time. All this means that, as time goes by, tourists will demand more value for their money, and this is increasingly linked to "amenities"—in other words, the accessibility of tourism products or services in our destinations.
Tourists with disabilities are aware of the "value" of accessibility and are willing to pay for it. They are loyal to a destination or chain, repeating their stay at a particular hotel depending on the level of service and accessibility (of products or services) they find. They rarely travel alone, considering they feel insecure when exploring a new destination. That's why it makes sense for business owners in the sector to adapt their facilities to address this not-so-new market segment.
According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), "80% of people with disabilities live in developing countries." This refers to the quality of spending that a disabled tourist may incur during their stay in a hotel establishment. Now, why do we believe that starting to make these small advances seen in some of the national hotel chains a reality is an important growth and sustainability strategy for the country? First of all, because providing easy access to recreation and leisure is a matter of fundamental rights, and second, because it is a concrete way for companies to contribute to the development of a more just and equitable society for all.
When we as a company include a person with a disability in the workforce, it impacts not only the person directly, who acquires a way to earn a living, but also their family, as it significantly reduces those "disability-associated costs." We see a mother who can find work because she no longer has to care for her child at home, and family members who no longer have to worry about their loved one being forgotten by society. Ultimately, companies linked to one of the most important sectors for the Dominican Republic's economy are at the forefront of making real changes in the quality of life of more than one million people with disabilities and their families throughout the country.
The sector is changing, and this is a reality because it is a mandate not only at the level of "strategy" or "market intelligence" for the company that undertakes it, but is already included in national laws, as is the case for the Dominican Republic with Law No. 5-13 on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For the State itself, it is a sustainable strategy for economic growth, since the inclusion of projects such as improving the accessibility of our hotel facilities nationwide puts us in direct competition with other destinations, thus increasing resilience during the famous "stagnation" of the country's low seasons and responding directly to the strategies proposed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on producing wealth in an equitable and sustainable manner.
In short, Accessible Tourism makes the hotel sector more humane and generates a different kind of wealth linked to a tourism industry with a higher perceived quality. It thus proposes real changes in the perception, acceptance, and quality of life of people with disabilities and their families.
Eng. Robert A. Almonte, MPM
Director of Accessibility, Proinversión, SAS
