Japanese officials have confirmed all hotel rooms that are being used for the 2021 Paralympic Games will remain wheelchair-friendly after the tournament comes to an end.
Having good accessibility is fundamental for hotels these days, especially ones that are located near the training camp of the Paralympic Games. However, the Guardian reported that hotels in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, were asking disabled visitors to pay for alterations to the rooms, as well as incur a charge to have them reverted back after their stay.
However, the newspaper has now revealed Yokohama authorities have decided that all accessible hotel rooms will remain after Tokyo 2021.
Jun Mitarai of the cabinet secretariat for Olympics planning said: “After the refurbishments, the hotel rooms will not go back to the original state. That is an agreement between the Yokohama city and the hotels. The rooms will be left as a legacy.”
It will also introduce a law for all new hotels with more than 50 rooms to have one per cent of their rooms accessible to everyone, including appropriate disabled friendly bathrooms.
To help existing hotels make their refurbishments, the government is launching a subsidy programme.
An operational manual is also being released to assist hotels in learning how to deal with those with disabilities, with Mr Mitarai adding: “Hotels shouldn’t view this as a cost but rather as an opportunity.”
Tokyo’s 2021 Paralympics will take place between August 24th and September 5th 2021. There will be 540 events covering 22 different sports, with 4,400 disabled athletes expected to be taking part.