No Russian invasion, no war in his country Ukraine, will stop the World Tourism Network Hero Ivan Liptuga from showing his unique style as a national and a global leader in the travel and tourism sector.
In 2022 he launched the “Scream for Ukraine” campaign together with WTN
Ivan is also a board member of the World Tourism Network and received the Hero Award.
Ivan is based in Odesa, once a major seaside and tourism destination in Ukraine.
In many countries, National Standards exist regarding accessible tourism. They are developed by the National Standardization Organization. If an international standard exists, it should be harmonized and adopted on the National level. If there is no international standard, a country may develop its national standards.
Ivan helped to tune hundreds of pages of a document ISO 21902, which is now becoming the norm to guide accessible tourism
He explains: “I’m chairman of the technical committee N169 of the National Standardization Organization in Ukraine. This technical committee harmonizes international standards or develops national standards. Currently, we have about 50 different standards. NTOU finances this work and promotes standards for the sector.
In our work, we include adoption, learning, consulting, and certification.
ISO 21902 is an international standard for accessible tourism. We translated it and harmonized it to fit the circumstances in Ukraine. It will now it will be adopted to become the official standard for Accessibility in Tourism.
Financed mainly through international grants the Knowledge Network of the National Tourism Organization of Ukraine, including 40+ Universities has been announcing themes of work for each year since 2017.
Before the full-scale aggression against Ukraine, the topics were devoted to various types of tourism. It included the Year of Gastronomic Tourism, the Year of Urban Tourism, the Year of Rural Tourism, and the Year of Medical Tourism.
Considering the increased number of people with disabilities as a result of the war, unfortunately becoming a sad fact among members of the military and also civilians, the theme for 2024 was set to be Accessibility for All.
It is obvious that the two years of war have greatly affected the tourism sector and have practically deprived Ukraine of international inbound traffic.
Exceptions were humanitarian missions, journalists, and military instructors.
However, domestic tourism allows the tourism and hospitality industry to survive, especially in the western regions of the country.
The topic of tourism accessibility under normal conditions presupposes a comprehensive inclusive approach, designed to be accessible to all categories of people with special physical or mental needs.
The National Tourism Organization of Ukraine took as a basis the new international standard of the International Organization for Standardization “ISO 21902 Tourism Accessible for All” and harmonized it in Ukrainian for the tourism sector of Ukraine.
Most studies on tourism accessibility have shown that one of the main difficulties in applying standards is the lack of knowledge among tourism providers regarding modern tools and possible solutions.
There is insufficient information on where to find guidance. The information may be inconsistent with standards in different countries and regions. In some countries, there are no such standards at all.
In addition, tourism service providers find it difficult to deal with situations for which no international standards have yet been adopted.
There are some documents explaining codes, and standards, and providing manuals, that provide guidance and requirements for certain key aspects of accessibility in various environments and services, such as aviation.
In addition, some standards refer to the universal design of transport services and work environments without taking into account the core aspects of travel and tourism.
However, existing standards contain gaps and may differ between countries and even between different regions within a country. This may create unrealistic expectations regarding the availability of services and amenities that a visitor can expect at the destination.
The ISO 21902 standard was developed by ISO Technical Committee TC 228 and takes into account the following aspects:
a) Basic requirements and recommendations applicable to all stakeholders, and relating to service design, information and communications, training, and the built environment.
b) Separate provisions for different types of hospitality and travel organizations and other stakeholders:
- policies and strategies for the public sector;
- transport;
- urban and rural tourist spaces;
- leisure;
- MICE (meetings, motivational tours, congresses, and exhibitions);
- placement;
- food and beverage services;
- tour operators and travel agencies.
This standard is addressed to a wide range of stakeholders to cover the entire accessible tourism value chain:
- National or regional government administrations (including national tourism authorities (NTAs), national or regional tourism promotion authorities, destination management organizations (DMOs and DMOs), local governments, government agencies responsible for infrastructure policy, development, and regulatory framework legislation, organizations or professionals working in the field of management and protection of cultural heritage).
- Travel and tourism industry stakeholders such as investors in destinations and tourism industry, travel and tourism enterprises, businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) throughout the tourism sector: Transportation, accommodation, tour operators and travel agencies, transport manufacturers, hospitality establishments and catering, other tourism service providers and trade facilities;
- businesses and organizations in supporting sectors: for example, companies entrusted with carrying out construction work within visitor areas, architects, developers, and distributors of assistive devices and services for people with special access requirements, as well as companies or professionals working in the field of information and communication technology (ICT);
- Tourist places to visit;
- End users (i.e. tourists and local residents with or without special access requirements).
