Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds envisions Barbados to be a premier Universal Accessible tourism destination. 

However, he believes that not enough attention has been paid to the “standards and quality of the services that we provide by way of creating a regulatory environment that will firmly and decisively facilitate universal access”. 

This, he pointed out to the Standing Finance Committee, during the Appropriation and Estimates Debate 2019-2020 held in the Lower Chamber. 

“By alienating and excluding persons with disabilities who are visitors, we are also in effect alienating and excluding Barbadians who have disabilities,” he stressed.  

Symmonds said that this important sector must come to a point where regulations are in place that will require all new investments in tourism – hotels, villas, restaurants, attractions – to have facilities which accommodate persons with disabilities. 

“Rooms which are specially designated for persons with disabilities, so that the cupboards are structured differently that you can hang your clothes more comfortably if you are wheelchair-bound. The doors carry signage in braille so as to tell you what to do in case of a fire; Bathrooms retrofitted to accommodate wheelchairs,” he highlighted. 

“We must now make sure that by a regulatory framework these things are done as a per cent of the room stock, so that we are able to truly market ourselves to the world in a tangible and realistic way as being ‘Fully Accessible Barbados’”. 

The Tourism Minister further stressed, “If we can do that, we separate ourselves and distinguish ourselves from the rest of the Eastern Caribbean who are not there yet, and we make ourselves more competitive by extension.”