Barbados – Kerrie D. Symmonds, Barbados’ minister of tourism and international transport, told TravelPulse on Thursday that the island is looking into several initiatives to make tourists with disabilities more comfortable on vacations, while also improving the quality of life for its disabled locals.
As part of Caribbean Week New York, which was organized by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), we sat down with Symmonds to learn more about what Barbados is doing to tap into the accessible travel market and help their own people at the same time.
“It’s a tremendous benefit to cater to someone with a disability,” said Symmonds, who took over as minister in May of last year. “We need to keep them comfortable so we can capture this market. But first, we need to cater to the full menu of requirements for this market.”
Symmonds said that mostly has to do with infrastructure improvements, but also told a requirement is being considered for hotels to have at least a certain percentage of its room inventory made equipped with traveler with disabilities in mind. He also said certain streets on the island will be revamped so locals with wheelchairs can use them.
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