DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, 01 April 2023: Dubai College of Tourism (DCT), part of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism has launched the ‘Autism and Sensory Awareness’ course within the Dubai Way training platform. The training course builds upon the ‘Inclusive Service’ training and ‘Dubai Way’ courses, ensuring that the tourist-facing workforce provides visitors with the highest standard of service when visiting Dubai. The course supports Dubai College of Tourism’s aim to secure Dubai’s position as a ‘certified autism destination’ and is being launched on the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day.

Through detailed audits from the International Board for Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), Dubai seeks to become a certified autism-friendly destination. Many of Dubai’s hotels and attractions are now well underway in auditing their facilities, and staff can take the prerequisite training within the Dubai Way platform.

Essa Bin Hadher, General Manager of Dubai College of Tourism, commented: 'At Dubai College of Tourism, we are committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive destination for all travellers to Dubai. With the launch of our new 'Autism and Sensory Awareness' course, we are taking an important step towards achieving our goal of becoming a certified autism destination. By equipping our tourist-facing workforce with the knowledge and tools to better serve visitors with autism, we are ensuring that all travellers to Dubai have a positive and enjoyable experience. We are delighted to be launching this course in time for World Autism Awareness Day, as we continue to showcase Dubai as an inclusive destination.' 

The autism and sensory awareness training course ensures that staff take a knowledge assessment, are provided an autism overview, understand autism identification, common needs, autism perspectives, sensory awareness, and basic safety protocols. The course then goes on to explain the nuances of travelling with autism, attraction to water and animals, and specific lessons for each traveller interaction, including hotels, attractions, and transportation.

The drive to ensure Dubai becomes a certified autism-friendly destination is supported by Dubai Airports Sunflower lanyard initiative and the various services for hidden disabilities. The discrete lanyard is worn by autistic passengers and permits access to family and priority lanes both at departure and arrivals. Dubai entities are very focused on ensuring families with autism are provided with as much information as possible. The entire travel experience can be significantly enhanced by providing information to autistic passengers prior to travel.

Dubai Way is a world-class training platform with programmes for staff in Dubai’s tourism, hospitality and other service sectors, who interact with visitors on a day-to-day basis.