Magued Fawzy, head of the Chamber of Hotel Establishments, said the situation of hotels in tourist destinations had been studied closely and a clear strategy set based on the current situation, with priority given to the human element, adding that during this June the chamber will finish drawing up the training program for hotel workers. The training plans include how to deal with accessible tourism, which caters to people with special needs, the elderly and children.
Speaking at the Accessible Tourism Forum in the Arab Region, held in Cairo today, he added that the chamber is putting the final touches to the new system of standards for evaluating Egyptian hotels, in cooperation with the UNWTO, which will be announced next July, revealing that 10 new points relating to accessible tourism have been introduced; if they are present in a hotel, they help it obtain extra points in the evaluation to raise its star rating. Points have also been set for green tourism.
Fawzy stressed that within two years accessible tourism will be mandatory for Egyptian hotels, through the provision of equipped spaces in garages, special paved paths for these guests in hotels and the use of technology that makes it easier for them to use hotel services.
He pointed to a quick survey he conducted before the forum on hotel managers' understanding of the concept of accessible tourism, covering 60 hotels in various Egyptian cities, which found that 70% of them knew no more than that accessible tourism concerns tourists who use wheelchairs, while the answers of the other 30% varied to include pregnant women, the elderly and children.
