Wheelchair users call for more access to hotels

Cyprus offers the lowest tourism benefits to disabled people, the national paraplegics organisation (Opak) said on Monday calling on the government to take action now.

“Our hotels must be accessible as much as possible with a sufficient number of rooms, in order to be able to serve the large number of people in wheelchairs in Cyprus,” Opak noted.

On World Tourism Day, marked internationally on September 27, which is dedicated this year to recovery from the pandemic and inclusivity, Opak said that few hotels have proper accessibility infrastructure for people using a wheelchair.

However, it added that progress has been made in recent years in terms of beach accessibility and legislation.

“In the last 15 years we have taken initiatives to upgrade the accessibility on beaches and our actions were even broadcasted on Euronews a few days ago. The pressure we are using has brought results in the legislation as well,” they concluded.