Hotel shake-up should take disabled into account

Sir,

Referring to your editorial comments on the proposed CTO regrading of the hotels’ star system (Tourism plan needs to be thought through, February 15), I see that gardens, reception areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, entertainment, sports and security are to be assessed and stars awarded accordingly. Not a word about disabled access or disabled facilities though.

The disabled community consists of approximately three per cent of the population and while this may seem trivial, in comparison it statistically amounts to 75,000 people with money to spend from the 2.5million Brits visiting the island for a vacation. Can Cyprus really afford to ignore 75,000 paying customers?

The spin off from this would also help the Cypriot disabled community enormously and might even convince the planners that this section of the community actually exists and has a right to lives outside their own home.

The only down side I can see is that Cypriots would have to stop using the pavements as parking spaces.

B Baker
Limassol

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.