| Summary: | Universal accessibility implies that everybody has an equal chance to access anything, which should also apply to the tourism industry. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation has pleaded that tourism be open to all, despite any impairments. Universal accessibility is not always available to visually, intellectually, mobility,
psychiatrically and learning impoverished persons. People with Disabilities are often denied tourist activity
pleasures enjoyed by healthy persons. The obvious challenges include restriction of mobility, but few facilities
are visually impaired-friendly, besides addressing the other impairments. The study question was to investigate
whether hospitality staff are educated or trained to assist people with disabilities to enjoy fully the facilities offered
to paying guests at places of accommodation. The study adopted a mixed methodology, following a cluster and
convenient sampling framework, focussing on the Cape Winelands area of Cape Town, South Africa. The results
indicate that hospitality staff are interested in receiving disability awareness training, but that essential appropriate training would benefit disabled travel as a market segment in South Africa. This study is of material importance to tourism organisations, such as Cape Town Tourism and Wesgro, in promoting tourism in one of the major destinations in world tourism.
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