FAB Award Ceremony Address

Congratulations to the Barbados Council for the Disabled and all those who have worked closely with this umbrella organization for Persons with Disabilities, particularly the National Disability Unit of the Ministry of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Rural and Urban Development, the Barbados Tourism Authority, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association and all the other Government and Non-Governmental organizations represented, for organizing this spectacular event tonight.

Tonight’s ceremony is one of those watershed occasions when we can together remove the remaining obstacles in the way of making Barbados better.

Tonight we are giving public recognition to those institutions which have gone beyond platitudes and done something constructive to remove barriers in the way of citizens and visitors to Barbados enjoying their constitutional and God-given rights.

I am therefore delighted to address this audience which represents the key players in a possible revolution that can transform our perception of people with disabilities.

Tonight’s ceremony is a classic example of how “Team Barbados” can take a good idea and create a win-win situation for us all.

It is an excellent example of how every Barbadian as individuals in their own right or as members of organizations can make a contribution to the wholesome development of Barbados.

In November 2005 a project called Fully Accessible Barbados was launched. Its goals and objective were to:

• Raise the quantity and quality of services available to persons with disabilities.
• Achieve an all inclusive society, where there is recognition that people with disabilities are potential customers.
• Encourage the necessary changes in our structural environment to enable persons with disabilities, both visitors and residents, to have access to all facilities.
• Achieve international standards of access.
• Attract more visitors to Barbados.

It promised to pursue these goals by:

• Making awards to public and private sector institutions that have made their facilities and services accessible for all.
• Promoting Barbados as an inclusive society.
• Raising the awareness of the local business community to the benefits of receiving an access award.

• Raising the standard of service delivery by incorporating a “universal design” that gives access to as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation.

The plan was to make Barbadians more aware of how we routinely discriminate against people who are differently able.

Hence the movement systematically set out to shock the average person into realizing how the traditional perception of people with disabilities lead us to think that they are in some way sub-human and should be debarred from public places and locked away out of sight.

Little did we know that within a matter of four years this new awareness would create unforeseen opportunities for us to diversify our tourism product and generate desperately needed foreign exchange in one of the worst global economic recessions in 80 years.

The truth is that there are more people with disabilities than we think; and what’s more we all are prone to some form of disability.

It has been estimated by the United Nations that around 10 per cent of the world’s population, or 650 million people, live with a disability. That’s the world’s largest minority.

In countries with life expectancies over 70 years, individuals spend on average about 8 years, or 11.5 per cent, of their life span living with disabilities.

Barbados with a life expectancy of over 75 years has to face up to the challenges of disability.

The Barbados Council for the Disabled has listed several categories of people that could be considered “disabled”. They include:

• The physically challenged
• The deaf and hearing impaired
• The blind and visually impaired
• The intellectually challenged
• Persons with respiratory challenges

The number of disabled people in Barbados has been estimated to be 14,000. The population of Barbados is an aging population and it means that people over 55 years of age are likely to develop ailments that place them in one or more of the categories listed above.

You can appreciate that disability is therefore a serious and growing national problem. The proportion of people aged 55 years and over in Barbados is about 25% and rising.

I became aware of the routine discrimination against people with disabilities in November 2005 – not due to my age but – when I injured my ankle at the St. Philip Carnival. I found it difficult to access facilities which were essential for me to do my work and other activities which I had previously taken for granted, such as going to a restaurant. Nearly everywhere I went there were formidable obstacles. I just could not exercise my human rights. (Trinidad)

When you take into consideration the fact that Barbados is a service economy that relies heavily on tourism, you would realize that we not only deny many of our clients their rights, but also fail to capitalize on business opportunities that are staring us in the face.

As you know, tourism is one of the pillars of our economy, with countless satellite industries. A sagging tourism industry sends ripples throughout the economy.

Right now we are experiencing challenges due to the global recession. The numbers of visitors from our major source countries have fallen in recent months.

In addition to this we anticipate that the lifting of restrictions on travel to Cuba by the Obama Administration will have a negative effect on the numbers coming from the USA.

There is therefore a pressing need for us to diversify our tourism product by finding niches in which we have an absolute advantage. Indeed the statistics show that in catering to the needs of the various categories of people with disabilities, we are not just creating niches but penetrating a huge demographic with enormous spending power.

Statistics from the tourism sector show that more than a quarter of all tourism trips are taken by people over 55.

This is an age group that is most likely to have the spending power and the time to take overseas holidays.

Making your facilities more accessible to this group is one of the most effective means of penetrating this growing market.

Let us start with the United Kingdom, from where most of our visitors come. According to statistics from the Council for the Disabled:

• There are approximately 10 million persons with disabilities living in the UK with an estimated £80 billion purchasing power.
• In England alone, over 2.7 million persons with disabilities travel annually.
• The Disability Discrimination Act places a duty on services providers and facilities not to discriminate against persons with disabilities.
• The Act stipulates that service providers take reasonable steps to remove, alter, or avoid physical features that make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for a person with a disability to use the service.
• The National Accessible Scheme aims to help service providers within the UK tourism industry make their services more accessible, allowing more disabled people to use them.
• This scheme has been extremely beneficial in promoting travel and vacation within the United Kingdom.

In the USA, where the second largest number of our visitors originates:

• The US Census Bureau reported in 2005 that 1 in 5 US Residents reported some form of disability.
• Approximately 20.9 million families have at least 1 member with a disability.
• Vacations taken by people with disabilities rose 50% from 2002.
• Overall, adults with disabilities take about 2 trips every 2 years and each trip generally lasts 5 days.
• 71% of adults with disabilities have travelled at least once in the past 2 years.
• This includes 21 million pleasure/leisure travellers and 5 million travellers who combine business and pleasure.
  • • Adults with disabilities, spend an estimated $13.6 billion a year on travel.
    • The Caribbean is ranked fourth behind Canada, Mexico and Europe, as their most popular international destination.

In Canada:

• The Conference Board of Canada reported in 2001 that the combined annual disposable income of working aged Canadians with disabilities was Can. $25 billion.
• Some States provide grants to ensure that people with disabilities, mobility impairments and other challenges can enjoy holidays like the rest of their compatriots.

Similarly in the Caribbean, where the third largest number of our visitors resides, there is also a huge demand for holidays by disabled people who do not travel abroad because of the fear of discrimination.

I therefore want to congratulate the Barbados Council for the Disabled, the National Disability Unit, the Barbados Tourism Authority and the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association for opening our eyes to this huge market.

What’s fascinating about this market is that the demand is highly elastic. Keep in mind that:

• Persons with disabilities usually travel with care-givers, family or friends.
• The location of conferences is frequently selected with accessibility in mind.
• Hotel users say they would stay in hotels 2 more times per year if hotels were to accommodate their needs as a person with a disability.
• This means that hotel spending by the disability community could at least double if hotels were to make the necessary changes.
• The same is true for the Airline Industry.
• 85% of those who travel say that they share their travel experiences with others, indicating a powerful network among travellers with disabilities.

It is therefore abundantly clear that an Accessible Barbados will attract new and repeat business.

Let me stress that time is of the essence in capturing this market.

Singapore, which for many Barbadians, including the Father of Independence, the Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, offers a model which we could follow.

In April 2009, Singapore went after this growing accessible tourism market by opening its doors to the 3rd International Conference on Accessible Tourism (ICAT 2009) which aimed to bring People with Disabilities to the heart of a more inclusive global society.

With the theme “Tourism Unlimited: Access for All“, the event endeavoured to break down barriers to accessibility and allow free mobility for all.  This event promoted accessible tourism in the Asia-Pacific region.

Singapore, with its strategic location, made a promise to become a “Global City for All” where unlimited access is achieved through specially designed buildings and facilities.

Barbados has also made some strides to become fully accessible. We have looked carefully at the hindrances and made some progress in removing them. For example:

• In 2002 a White Paper on Disabilities was adopted by Parliament. The Government committed itself to the development of policies and programmes to protect and empower disabled and socially disadvantaged persons.

• • I can assure you that my Government through the Ministry of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Urban and Rural Development will place this White Paper top of the priority list in this financial year. It is currently being reviewed in order to arrive at an Action Plan as a precursor to the drawing up of legislation.

• A Building Code has been under discussion for many years. Included in it are provisions to set and regulate standards including those for people with disabilities. The objective is to remove all physical barriers to access by the disabled in all new and refurbished buildings

• I can assure you that this Code is being seriously considered by the Ministry of Public Works.

• Barbados became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in July 2007. It pledged to create an environment in Barbados conducive to the integration and inclusion of persons with disabilities at every level of society from nursery to old age.

• I can assure you that my Government through the Ministry of Social Care is working assiduously to ensure that Barbados is in a position to ratify this enlightened Convention as soon as possible.

• In order to make Barbados fully accessible, recognition of the rights of people with disabilities must become the norm.

• My Government is working towards introducing legislation banning discrimination against people with disabilities.

Tonight’s Awards Ceremony affords me the opportunity to highlight the work of the trendsetters.

I congratulate each and every one of you for voluntarily demonstrating what can be done for both ethical and business reasons.

Tonight we are focussing on the tourism sector, mainly……

• Hotels
• Restaurants and Bars
• Recreational Facilities

But I can assure you that for reasons that are consistent with my Government’s policy of protecting and empowering the most vulnerable members of society, we shall at a later point turn the spotlight on the facilities of every service provider in Barbados.

These will include:

• Conference centers
• Retail outlets
• Employment in the public and private sectors
• Churches
• Educational and training establishments
• Transport vehicles.

What is amazing is that these changes in attitudes and in the physical structures used by our clients (a) do not cost an exorbitant amount and (b) do not take away anything from other users.

With respect to (a), service providers only need to make changes that are ‘reasonable’. These might include simple changes to layout, improved signage, information and staff training. Once the Building Code is completed, my Government will consider what tax concessions could be given to get landlords to comply with the requirements.

With respect to (b), these changes improve the facilities and the quality of life for all. I am sure that most of us, at some time or another took our trolleys loaded with luggage into the only toilets at the airport which could accommodate these wide carriers. Similarly, faucets that do not require endless turning make life easier for all of us.

Improving our physical and service environment is a prerequisite for achieving developed country status.

Barbados cannot improve its Human Development Index without taking into consideration the needs of the disadvantaged. In the final analysis the measure of the progress of a civilization is how it treats its most vulnerable members.

My message to you tonight is that what is good for people with disabilities is good for Barbados.

I therefore end by again congratulating the first winners of the Fully Accessible Barbados Awards.

Thank you for setting the standards which I hope many others will try to emulate.

 

HON DAVID THOMPSON Q.C, M.P, Prime Minister Of Barbados