Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Barbara Rwodzi says aspects of inclusive and accessible tourism will be enshrined in the Tourism Bill which is on the cards.
Zimbabwe has some of the fascinating tourism facilities dotted around the country, but most of them are not accessible to persons with disabilities.
This has seen Senator Annah Shiri who represents persons with disabilities in the Senate, enquiring about the government’s plans.
However, in her response, Minister Rwodzi said while they are waiting for the enactment of the law, the government has already included braille in some critical facilities
‘’Thank you Mr. President and thank you very much to Honourable Senator Shiri for the question that speaks to what the Ministry is doing for the accessibility of tourism facilities to the people living with disabilities.
‘’We have a huge understanding that 15% of the world population world-over lives with disabilities. It is an issue that has not been addressed in the Tourism Bill in our country and in the Act as well.
‘’We are working on our Bill and repealing some of the law in the Bill and adding more issues that speak to various spectrums of tourism and accessibility of tourism facilities to the people living with disabilities is also inculcated in the new Bill that we are working on.
‘’As we all understand that there are some complications sometimes within accessing places for the people living with disabilities, hence it has to be enshrined in the law in case something happens.
‘’However, in 2022, our Ministry started to make some inroads towards that without the law. I am sure reference could be known about what His Excellency, the President of the country has done to provide the braille facilities as well as the Victoria Falls for the blind.
‘’So it is within what we are working on to ensure that within our population in society, those who live with disabilities will be able to access every tourism facility,’’ she said.
