Some disabled access at beaches and hotels, but not ideal

THE Paraplegics Organisation (OPAK) urged the authorities and businesses on Friday to investigate all the accessibility problems that disabled people face at beaches and hotels.

The group, which had a meeting with officials at the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) to discuss accessibility issues, said in an announcement that even though there are 40 beaches equipped with ramps and beach wheelchairs and toilets, there are problems as regards their operation and maintenance.

But the problem is even greater in the hospitality industry as the number of adapted hotel rooms aiming to accommodate the disabled is not sufficient to meet demand from the locals.

It is also “a serious deterrent for organised/mass tourism of disabled persons from which our country could earn significant economic benefits,” the group said.

It also reported accessibility problems in several recreation centres, archaeological sites, squares and a number of attractions.

“A common problem is the construction of interior and exterior ramps whose gradient is unsuitable for wheelchairs,” the group said.

They also said that parked cars in pedestrian areas, lack of special parking spaces, and their uncontrolled use by non-eligible persons are hampering the smooth accessibility for the disabled.

According to the OPAK announcement, the CTO actively supports the disabled “through a range of interventions and subsidies for the improvement of accessibility and of tourist infrastructure”.

OPAK also called on local authorities, government agencies involved in safety and accessibility sectors, as well as the business community and society in general, “to demonstrate similar sensitivity and to mobilise immediately to solve the accessibility issues to the benefit of tourism, of fellow humans, and of our country”.

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.