TEHRAN – The city of Yazd will host a special tourism festival which aims to raise public awareness of the need to improve infrastructure for travelling of physically-impaired people.

The event, which will be running from December 1 to 11, is aimed to make Yazd, a destination that can be well-visited by any tourist, regardless of their physical, sensory or cognitive abilities.

“By organizing this cultural/social event, we intend to create and strengthen the necessary infrastructure in Yazd and to sensitize public opinions in this regard,” a provincial official said on Monday, IRIB reported.

Participants of this national festival are officials and heads of the country’s spinal cord injury associations, he said, adding “The festival maybe is a good model for other cities and provinces in the field of urban space adaptation for the handicapped.”

Earlier in May, Si-e Tir, a historical stone-paved one-way street in downtown Tehran, was designated as an accessible tourism destination for all people by the Ministry of Tourism.

Introduced by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the creation of the international “Accessible Tourism Destination” aims to make sure that a destination can be enjoyed by any tourist including physically-impaired people.

The UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Tourism for All are meant to be used as a general, basic mainstreaming framework for ensuring that people with disabilities have access to the physical environment, the transportation system, information, and communications channels, as well as to a wide range of public facilities and services.

AFM/MG