During an interview for the IBCCES Accessibility Champions podcast, Jeff Strachan of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) spoke with host Dr. Geraldine Naidoo about Dubai’s efforts to become one of the top three accessible cities in the world and how accessibility is a critical factor in achieving this vision. Strachan, who has lived and worked in Dubai for the last 24 years and who has spent most of his career in sales and marketing within the Middle East and Africa, spoke about the exponential growth of tourism and hospitality during his tenure in Dubai. Strachan speaks with conviction as he emphasizes the need for accessibility and how this is accentuating Dubai’s drive to become one of the best cities in the world to live in and visit.

Last year, Dubai achieved the status of Certified Autism Destination™ (CAD), a comprehensive certification program that ensures that a location’s tourism, hospitality, and entertainment organizations are accessible to autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals. This training process highlights a key difference in the way that Dubai is approaching accessibility; according to Stratchan, “We’re starting with people. And in many cases, many cities, or attractions, or hotels, they would start with physical products. But we are really starting with knowledge.” This methodology, according to Strachan, allows the city to tap into one of the key points that their research has found to draw visitors to a location, that is, peer-to-peer or word-of-mouth recommendations. This factor is particularly prominent among people of determination and their families. If a family has already traveled to, and enjoyed a certain location, hotel, or attraction, and found that it met their accessibility requirements, then they will share this information with their peer group, their community, and more families will visit that location. IBCCES, Strachan notes, “is one of those trusted peer-to-peer groups that facilitates the exchange of knowledge.” He goes on to state that one of the largest weaknesses within the hospitality and tourism industry is a lack of clarity, depth, and transparency. 

One of the key factors in being able to achieve the CAD designation is the Dubai Way system, a large-scale training platform created by DET for the tourist-facing workforce of Dubai. Strachan shares, “That’s very unique for a destination to provide a depth of learning for their workforce. Usually, they would leave that to the private sector…the Department of Economy and Tourism, through the Dubai College of Tourism, is making a training platform available to the workforce.” This learning management system includes IBCCES’ autism, sensory sensitivity, and cognitive difference training. Every potential Certified Autism Center™ was able to use this platform to initiate training for their staff. This training assists the workforce in not only identifying people of determination who might need accommodations or assistance, but also provides staff with the confidence to be able to assist and interact with these visitors and ensure that their needs are met appropriately. Additionally, Strachan says that staff should also have the ability to make recommendations and provide feedback within their area of work to effect experiential guest changes or make product changes based on their own learning, as well as observation of customers. It is this human-level connection that makes the difference for guests and visitors.

“We are measuring guest satisfaction through our visitor survey for everything, from their arrival experience, navigation through the airport, through the transportation…into the hotel, their enjoyment of our malls, our shopping proposition, our attractions, and then they have the departure from the city. That means that we want to make sure that every traveler is satisfied.” This unique approach showcases the investment that Dubai has made in making sure that the city overall, and not just individual organizations or attractions, is inclusive for people of determination. An increasing number of travelers are either themselves people of determination or have a member of their traveling party who is a person of determination, and this necessitates that excellent service be provided for all visitors. Independent verification and measurements are also important to the city and Strachan says with pride that Dubai has been the most recommended destination in the world for three consecutive years by TripAdvisor. That independent observation, when combined with their internal research, highlights that Dubai is making progress in accessibility and is maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction, which is the exact return on investment that DET is looking for with their commitment to training and certification through these programs.

Additionally, this detailed internal research allows DET to understand and evaluate the complete journey of the visitor experience in Dubai. Having these evaluations allows the city to locate any issues or challenges, which is particularly valuable for addressing issues with accessibility, where there are so many multi-faceted variables, including specific access issues, but also general information concerns. Strachan notes that this is an area of great concern for people with autism and sensory sensitivities in particular, as many brands, even larger, global brands, do not provide the necessary depth of information that people with access concerns require. He emphasizes that this is not a challenge that is unique to Dubai. Brands might put their opening and closing hours on their website, but are far less likely to add information about quiet hours or available low-sensory spaces at their location. This lack of information can be paralyzing for travelers who are unable to tell if their needs will be met. When deciding what changes to implement, an organization should, Strachan says simply, “Listen to the customer; they will tell you.”

Strachan also advocates strongly for the employment of people of determination within the travel and tourism industry. He considers this one of the best success stories of his career. Having people of determination employed within the industry is valuable for their lived experience. Strachan notes that some of the area’s biggest wins, with the highest uplift and customer satisfaction ratings have been with hotels and attractions that employ people of determination. Although it makes sense, there are few employers who are making a concerted effort to hire someone who can provide insights on accessibility through their own, personal experiences. The podcast host, Dr. Naidoo mentioned that the combination of training and personal experience is a win-win for organizations. Strachan agreed with the assessment, using the analogy of baking a cake, where there are many different ingredients that need to be combined to create something extraordinary. Training, employing the right people, marketing, having the right attitude, and having empathy towards others are all key elements, necessary at different levels to reach the goal of full inclusion and access.

Concluding the interview, Dr. Naidoo asked what advice Strachan would give to others in the hospitality industry. His advice is simple: to focus on the future. Knowing how to shape the future is key. He goes on to say that sharing stories about the past is fine, but leaders need to be focused on the future because that is where people live, not the past. In his job as the College of Tourism, he is surrounded by the active energy of young people and one of his favorite activities is interacting with students and asking them about the news and encouraging them to be cognizant of the effect it will have on them by getting their takeaway from it and motivating them to maintain a focus on the future. This movement and awareness of progress is advantageous for all people in Dubai and the world whether they be neurodivergent or neurotypical.

IBCCES is working to promote greater accessibility and inclusion for autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals around the world with the positive efforts of accessibility champions like Jeff Strachan and the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism. Dubai’s remarkable achievement in becoming the first Certified Autism Destination™ in the Eastern hemisphere demonstrates the transformative power of comprehensive accessibility training when implemented with vision and commitment by organizations and leadership. Through IBCCES’s comprehensive programs that include autism, Down syndrome, neurodiversity, and accessibility training, Dubai was able to equip its tourism workforce with not only knowledge, but also the confidence to create truly inclusive experiences. As Strachan’s insights reveal, this partnership between Dubai’s forward-thinking leadership and IBCCES’ evidence-based training methodology has created a blueprint that other destinations can follow, one that prioritizes understanding people first, invests in workforce development, and measures success through genuine guest satisfaction rather than superficial compliance.