MIAMI, United States. – Workers at Cuba’s Hotel Nacional, one of the most emblematic tourism facilities in the island, have begun to receive training since December 6, to offer services to disabled individuals.
According to Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN), the course will extend until this Thursday, and it is being taught by members of the National Association for the Blind (ANCI, by its Spanish acronym); the Association for the Hearing Impaired and Hypo-acoustic (ANSOC by its Spanish acronym), and the Association for the Physically Challenged (ACLIFIM, by its Spanish acronym).
The release emphasizes that managers and staff of Cuba’s Hotel Nacional are being trained “in theory and in practice” looking ahead to the celebration of the IV Iberoamerican Summit on Accessible and Inclusive Tourism, which will take place at the hotel.
This event “will allow for the sharing of optimal experiences in the region in the delivery of tourism services to individuals who are physically, sensory and cognitively challenged,” the organizing committee announced.
Mirtha Leyva Fuentes, who holds a doctorate in pedagogical science in Special Education at Instituto Central de Ciencias Pedagógicas, is one of the specialists in charge of staff training at Hotel Nacional. She indicated that tourism workers “must know how to deal with a person with disabilities.”
Leyva Fuentes indicated also, that the various hotel installations should guarantee the necessary physical conditions for developing “accessible tourism”, so as to eliminate the so-called architectural barriers.
Also, she called for ridding hotel operations of “attitudes that exclude.” In her opinion, these should also be eliminated.
The university professor explained to ACN that courses that involve intellectually-challenged or autistic individuals, the hearing and visually impaired, or the physically challenged, must meet ISO tourism standards for accessible and inclusive tourism, as well as for gender and diversity of the LGBTI community.
The official news outlet stated that the training of Hotel Nacional staff also seeks to “accomplish an affective environment, one of communication” and that “the interaction style between workers and clients be inclusive as well.”
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