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Taipei Plan of Action for Accessible Tourism

© Scott Paul Rains

One could imagine a fleet of fire trucks dwarfed by the lobby of the Grand Hotel in Taipei. They would even be color-coordinated with the scheme of green, gold, and bright enameled red that unifies this ornately detailed symbol of Taiwan's prosperity and pride.

For several days in May the hotel had another distinctive characteristic. Representatives from throughout the Asia Pacific region gathered to carry forward the agenda of coordinating the development of inclusive travel. Readers of this column had the opportunity to participate virtually through their comments posted at a previous Suite 101 article, "The First International Conference on Accessible Tourism - Taipei, Taiwan."

I was privileged to deliver the Opening Keynote, following the Opening Address by Taiwan's Prime Minister . Thanks to the tireless staff of conference host, and Taiwan's preeminent agency serving people with disabilities, the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, I reviewed the history of inclusive tourism:

When businesses realized that they must compete for our business or lose us - that is when the story got interesting to me.

I believe that the travel industry, not governments or social entrepreneurial agencies will make the next revolutionary contribution to the rights of people with disabilities.

The travel industry will become promoters of our human rights because we have spent more than 30 years tirelessly forcing governments to treat us as real human beings and have created social and non-profit agencies to work for us. These laws and educational resources make it possible for something new to happen. The travel industry will find partners in government because tourism by people with disabilities can partially pay for the infrastructure changes needed to treat disabled citizens justly - and meet the coming challenge of our aging populations.

The event was an historic opportunity to continue development of accessible travel that was aware of its responsibility for education and advocacy in the post-tsunami era. Delegates promulated the following foward-looking document and scheduled a follow-up conference - on a similar grand scale - in Phuket, Thailand in 2007.

We, the participants of the International Accessible Tourism Conference, held at Taipei from 5 to 6 May 2005:

Recognizing that tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in Asia and the Pacific, and that people with disabilities and older persons are beginning to enjoy newly found opportunities for travel, sports, cultural, educational and entertainment activities;

Recalling that, to implement the extended Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Person, 2003-2012, the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Conclude the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, held at Otsu, Shiga, Japan, in October 2002, adopted the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asian and the Pacific;

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