DTCM committee working to make Dubai more 'special needs' friendly

The committee first visited the Dubai International Airport (DIA) to ensure that all the facilities at the airport were easily available to the physically challenged besides being user-friendly. The panel praised the special care the airport was giving to this important segment of the society, highlighting the fact that some of these facilities were not even available at other comparable airports of the world.

It also visited some hotels where it reviewed the facilities available for the physically challenged. Following this, the hotel officials agreed to develop the special needs facilities in line with Dubai's vision to be a friendly and accessible city for the physically challenged.

The committee, comprised of officials from the Department of Civil Aviation, Dubai Municipality, DNATA, Dubai Club for Special Needs, Al Jazeer1 Consultants, KLM, Challenge and Gateway ICB, North Tours and Al Fajr Information & Services representatives, was formed in mid-2001 to ensure the accessibility of Dubai's tourism infrastructure for the physically-challenged visitors.

The committee has, in a short span of three years since its formation, successfully placed this segment of the industry in the centre of public attention.