From Pakistan to Riyadh: Ahsas Takes Accessible Tourism to the International Disability Agenda
For more than a decade, Ahsas Disabled People Organization has been working to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in Pakistan through rehabilitation, mobility support, accessibility, rights, welfare and inclusion.
But for Ahsas, inclusion has never been limited to essential services.
It also means creating opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate fully in society—to learn, work, travel, explore, and experience the world around them.
This broader understanding of inclusion has led Ahsas toward an area that has received comparatively limited attention within Pakistan’s disability sector: accessible tourism.
Asking a New Question
Persons with disabilities have the same interest in discovering new places, experiencing nature, visiting cultural and historical sites, and travelling for education, recreation and personal experience as anyone else.
Yet barriers in transportation, accommodation, infrastructure, information, communication and tourism services can make these experiences difficult or impossible.
What would tourism look like if persons with disabilities were considered from the beginning—not as an afterthought, but as part of the tourism community itself?
Rather than approaching the question only as an advocacy issue, Ahsas chose to approach it through research.
The organization encouraged its Program Manager, Niaz Muhammad, who has been associated with Ahsas since 2014, to undertake academic research focusing specifically on accessible tourism.
The purpose was not simply to complete an academic qualification.
The broader objective was to generate knowledge that could help inform future discussions, partnerships and practical initiatives related to disability inclusion and tourism in Pakistan.
This work led Niaz Muhammad to the Department of Tourism & Hospitality at Hazara University Mansehra , where he pursued his MS research in Accessible Tourism.
The department was established in 2008 and offers academic programmes in Tourism & Hospitality, providing an important academic setting for research into Pakistan’s tourism sector.
For Ahsas, the research represents an important development in the organization’s continuing disability-inclusion work.
From Mobility to Participation
Ahsas has extensive experience addressing mobility and access barriers faced by persons with disabilities.
Over the years, the organization has distributed thousands of wheelchairs and provided support to people with disabilities across Pakistan.
But mobility is not an end in itself.
Accessibility can help a person enter a building.
But inclusion means being able to participate in life.
That includes the freedom to visit a mountain valley, explore a historical site, enjoy a lake, experience local culture, attend a tourism destination with family, or simply travel for pleasure.
This is why accessible tourism fits naturally within Ahsas’s wider vision of disability inclusion.
The organization sees tourism not merely as an economic activity, but as another area in which equal participation should be possible.
Taking the Discussion Beyond the Local Level
This emerging area of work has now reached an international platform.
Following an invitation to represent Ahsas Disabled People Organization, Niaz Muhammad departed Pakistan on 4 October 2026 to participate in the 7th International Conference on Disability and Rehabilitation (ICDR 2026) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
For Ahsas, participation in this international forum provides an opportunity to take its emerging work on accessible tourism beyond Pakistan and into a broader disability and rehabilitation dialogue.
Why Accessible Tourism Matters for Pakistan
Pakistan has an extraordinary range of tourism resources—from the mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan to its historical heritage, cultural destinations, lakes, valleys and diverse landscapes.
But the ability to enjoy these places should not depend on whether a person has a disability.
Accessible tourism requires consideration of the complete visitor experience.
- Accessible transportation
- Barrier-free accommodation
- Accessible entrances and pathways
- Usable washrooms and facilities
- Accessible information
- Trained tourism and hospitality staff
- Appropriate communication and assistance
- Accessible attractions and recreational spaces
- Meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in tourism planning
These issues cannot be addressed by disability organizations alone.
They require cooperation among government institutions, tourism authorities, hospitality businesses, transport providers, researchers, universities, civil society organizations and—most importantly— persons with disabilities themselves.
Moving from Research Toward Action
Ahsas recognizes that accessible tourism is not a field that can be transformed overnight.
Research is an important first step.
Understanding existing barriers, documenting experiences, generating evidence and identifying practical solutions can provide a stronger foundation for future action.
Ahsas therefore sees its current work as the beginning of a longer journey.
The organization aims to use research and experience to contribute to greater awareness of accessible tourism and, where opportunities arise, support initiatives that can make tourism destinations and services more inclusive.
The goal is not simply to create accessible tourism for a particular group.
A New Dimension of Disability Inclusion
Ahsas’s engagement with accessible tourism reflects the organization’s broader evolution.
Disability inclusion is no longer only about rehabilitation, welfare or assistive devices.
It is also about education, employment, mobility, recreation, culture, travel, participation and choice.
A person with a disability should not have to ask whether they are “allowed” to experience the world.
Where do I want to go?
That shift—from limitation to possibility—is at the heart of Ahsas’s interest in accessible tourism.
Through academic research, international engagement and future collaboration, Ahsas hopes to contribute to making accessible tourism a more visible and practical part of Pakistan’s disability-inclusion agenda.
From Pakistan to Riyadh
The journey that began with a question about the right of persons with disabilities to travel and explore has now reached an international disability platform in Riyadh.
For Ahsas, this is not the conclusion of the journey.
It is a beginning.
The organization believes that Pakistan’s tourism future can be more inclusive, and that persons with disabilities should have a meaningful place within that future.
From mobility to participation.
From research to action.
From Pakistan to the international disability community.
Ahsas Disabled People Organization is taking its next step toward a future where tourism is more accessible, inclusive and open to everyone.