Post by tetra on Jun 10, 2019 11:45:46 GMT -8
www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/10/tokyo-2020-u-turn-as-hotels-agree-to-wheelchair-rooms-for-paralympics
Last April The Guardian reported that British Paralympic officials were stunned when hotels near their training camp in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, demanded they pay to make rooms accessible – and then pay again to convert them back afterwards. Finally the Yokahama government intervened and a subsidy program to help existing hotels make refurbishments is being established. I still had to laugh at a lack of understanding revealed by this comment from the part of the cabinet co-ordinating Olympics planning:
“After the refurbishments, the hotel rooms will not go back to the original state. That is an agreement between the Yokohama city and the hotels. The rooms will be left as a legacy.” A legacy? I hope something is lost in translation there.
I am guessing that disability rights campaigners in Japan will struggle for years with efforts to standardize requirements for what constitutes "accessible.''
In Europe, I recently enquired of different river cruise companies if they have accessible accommodations. Nope. "Our boats are small. The hallways are narrow! We cannot accommodate wheelchairs!" Meanwhile these cruise companies have been busily commissioning new boats during this decade with more coming online in 2021 and 2022. How hard would it be to design 2 meters or less of the hallway wider for access to one single accessible room?
The travel agent who helped me find information (she is based in los Angeles) was both stunned and horrified. European attitudes are like the Japanese- we don't because we don't have to.
Note - The Netherlands is a exception. There are several accessible tours available.
