The first South African Accessible Tourism Summit will be hosted on 19 and 20 March by the Vaal University of Technology Tourism Management programme, in partnership with the African Network for Accessible Tourism & Hospitality Sector (ANATHS) and Disability Services Unit.
It is jointly held with the Community Engagement Unit, ProAccess, the Gauteng Department of Environment, and the Emfuleni Local Municipality (Tourism Department Cluster).
The theme is Africa’s Journey Towards Inclusive & Accessible Tourism: From Policy To Practice with the aim of drawing from lived experiences to find realistic solutions that will allow for sustainable, accessible tourism in South Africa.
The physical event will be in Vanderbijlpark with registrations closing on 13 March.
Live stream event
The Summit will also be live-streamed on Youtube for anyone to tune into:
Programme for Summit
The full programme of the event is as follows:
DAY 1 – March 19
Theme: Transforming The Sector – Industry, Policy & Implementation
08:30 – 09:45 | Opening with Keynote on ‘Why Accessible (disability-inclusive) Tourism Matters Now’ by Dr Ivor Ambrose (PhD), Managing Director of European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT).
09:45 – 11:00 | Dialogue Session 1
Objective: To establish how accessibility of persons with disabilities and other individuals with access needs can be mainstreamed throughout the Tourism, Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation and Wildlife Conservation (THLRC) value chain from a consumer market perspective?
11:30 – 13:00 | Dialogue Session 2
Objective: To establish how accessibility of persons with disabilities and other individuals with access needs can be mainstreamed throughout the THLRC value chain from a labour market perspective?
14:00 – 14:30 | Dialogue Session 3
Objective: To co-create pathways and collective commitments as THLRC an ecosystem Day 2
DAY 2 – March 20
Theme: Preparing For The Future – Curriculum, Capacity Development & Co-Creation Of Pathways To Transformation
08:30 – 09:45 |Opening with Keynote on ‘Student-Centric disability inclusive Tourism, Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation and wildlife Conservation (THLRC) education as pivotal to transformation’ by Director General’s Office: Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD).
09:45 – 11:00 | Dialogue Session 4
Objective: To examine how tourism and hospitality curricula can embed disability inclusion to produce a workforce capable of driving accessible tourism growth.
11:30 – 13:00 | Dialogue Session 5
Objective: To get insights on how to shift Attitudes to Skills: ‘What should future THLRC professionals know throughout the value chain?’
14:00 – 15:00 | Dialogue Session 6
Objective: Experiential Learning Demonstrations (e.g., stuffed animals, accessibility/disability simulation exercises, & showcasing assistive devices), and THLRC sharing perspectives and perceptions on disability inclusion from a consumer and workforce/labour lens.
For more information, please contact tshenolom@vut.ac.za
The biggest challenge on people with disabilities is rooted mostly in the rural , underdeveloped areas of the country, where information about events of this nature never reach. Next time please stretch the outreach program wider to villages as far as Limpopo in the north, mpumalanga in the east and North west and make an impact in the society.