A few years ago much of my work revolved around accessible travel and tourism. At the very least, that was the major focus of my podcast, A Different Way of Seeing. Rather, A Different Way of Travelling, as the show was then called. Yet somehow, apart from my trips overseas, my focus seemed to have shifted over the past few years.
Which was why it was so exciting for me to be asked to be part of not one, but two inclusive travel panel discussions at the World Travel Market, Africa 2024 conference during April.
The first panel was hosted by Warrior on Wheels, an organisation that gives children with disabilities the gift of adventure. It is also the sister organisation of the Accessible South Africa platform, the group for whom I used to host the podcast and remain a member of the board of directors.
The second panel was led by accessible travel consultant Tarryn Tomlinson from the Liveable group. Tarryn herself is a wheelchair user, and the panel was made up of people representing different disability sectors and in diverse tourism-related roles. The blindness sector was represented by blind tour guide Winston Fani and myself, sharing insights from my own travels and conversations I’ve had on the podcast.
Also present were Jabaar Cassiem Mohamed, talking about travel for a Deaf person using South African Sign Language, Briony Brooks from Cape Town Tourism, who was speaking of the Limitless movement to include people with disabilities into tourist activities in and around Cape Town, and Geertje Van den Broeck, who runs a guest house that is fully inclusive for people with mobility access challenges.
It was a fascinating discussion that focused on the business case for inclusive travel in Africa and some of the realities we face as people travelling with our various disabilities. Additionally, Tarryn introduced a new AI tool that can revolutionise accessible travel, which I’m sure I will share with you in the future.
The discussion was picked up by a reporter who wrote an article that appeared on a number of websites, along with an image of the team. I was thrilled to be quoted in the article, and my podcast was also mentioned.
Here’s a link to one of the sites that featured the article: https://menafn.com/1108121732/Accessible-Tourism-Emerges-as-a-Vital-Growth-Opportunity-for-Africas-Travel-Industry
PS An additional wonderful surprize was that Tarryn subsequently approached me to be a panellist at a second travel conference, the Travel Indaba taking place in Durban. Watch out for my blog about that experience in the next few weeks.
