Tribe Tours will be developing wheelchair-friendly routes and tours on Sentosa. Photo Credit: The Palawan @ Sentosa, Shangri-La Group
Inbound travel planner, Tribe Tours, is pioneering
wheelchair-friendly routes and tours in Singapore. Founded in 2016 to
offer curated tours that include corporate team building retreats or
team bonding events from 20 to 300 pax, it has been hosting tours for
global events in Singapore such as ITB Asia and Board Members Meetings.
The planner has won awards from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) for
its tours and its Chinatown Murders, a gamification and storytelling
experience, and the WiT Travel Changemakers Award 2023 in the “Hidden
Gems” category.
Yock Song Law, head of partnerships and business development who
joined Tribe Tours from the STB, where he spent 10 years of his career,
is eyeing the accessible and inclusive travel market. He sees potential
for demand not only from inbound travellers but the local market as
well.
“We’re talking about tours not only for PWD (Persons With
Disabilities) but an ageing population around the world. In Singapore,
citizens aged 65 and above made up almost a fifth of our population in
2023,” he said.
According to Population Trends, in Asia and the Pacific, the number
of older persons is projected to more than double, from 630 million in
2020 to about 1.3 billion by 2050, forming one quarter of the population
– up from 13.6% in 2020.
Tribe Tours launched its inclusive and accessible tour in Singapore,
conducted by PWD guides, last August. The 1.5-hour wheelchair-friendly
Enabling Village Tour brings visitors around the inclusive and
accessible community space, where they learn about how each area caters
to different needs that PWDs may require, from physical needs, assistive
technology, to employment opportunities.
Law said the tour has proven popular for corporates and school
groups, and welcomed visitors from countries including Korea, Hong Kong,
China, and Thailand. “Overseas visitors are particularly interested in
Singapore’s approach to inclusive planning. Seeing visitors depart
feeling inspired and eager to implement similar initiatives in their own
communities is truly rewarding.”
Pilot projects with Sentosa Development Corporation
Tribe Tours is now working on pilot projects with the Sentosa
Development Corporation to develop wheelchair-friendly routes and tours
on the island. “For PWDs, going to Sentosa now can be a challenge – and
there are several stress points. How wheelchair-friendly is public
transport, how do they get access to the beach?
“Sentosa is a good place for us to test and start. We are looking at a
range of tours – self-guided, guided for those with some mobility such
as ability to get out of their wheelchairs and a different route for
guests requiring full accessibility options,” said Law.
Beyond that, he is exploring how tech and data can help with wayfinding around Singapore.
“Travel can be more inclusive for people with disabilities when we
make wayfinding easier. By empowering PWDs to provide firsthand data on
accessibility, we can feed open maps platforms like Google with the
information they need to help everyone navigate the world with
confidence,” he said.
The Singapore government is also preparing for the future of an
ageing society. From March 2024, wheelchair users can find barrier-free
routes on the national OneMap app, making it easier for them to navigate
different parts of Singapore. The initiative by the Singapore Land
Authority (SLA) to map out such routes features wheelchair-accessible
covered linkways, ramps, footpaths, pedestrian crossings, and overhead
bridges with lifts. About 1,100 km of accessible routes have been mapped
across nine areas in Singapore.
Source: WiT