On 3 July a seminar for hospitality and tourism industry representatives, led by consultant Malcolm Rhodes from Access2Britain, took place at the Ambassador’s Residence. The main theme of the seminar, which we financed, was to promote an accessible environment for disabled people in the tourism and hospitality industries.

The key speaker of the seminar, British consultant Malcolm Rhodes, raised the participants’ awareness of the opportunities for the hospitality and tourism industries in the niche for tourists with disabilities, both in the internal and foreign market. The British consultant also shared his expertise on how to carry out the adjustments necessary for making hotels, restaurants and public spaces accessible for people with disabilities in a cost-effective way.  Mr Rhodes particularly underlined that it was important not only to comply with European Union regulations, but also to carry out changes in a skillful way, taking into account the needs of the individual tourists.

Before the seminar Malcolm Rhodes carried out a familiarisation of a number of hotels, restaurants and public places in Latvia, assessing the existing opportunities and how improvements could be made.  

This will lead to the development of a database on accessible hotels and restaurants in Latvia.

Mr Rhodes intends to build further co-operation with Latvian partners. The Latvian Tourism Development State Agency and the Hotels and Restaurants Association have shown an interest about his proposals.

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