DiveHeart Malaysia Ambassador and the founder of the Children’s Scuba Diving Centre Syed Abdul Rahman hopes to work with ITC Malaysia to expose to the world that Malaysia can cater to particular communities through accessible tourism and Islamic tourism.
Diveheart is a non-profit Organisation based in Chicago, USA, which assists special communities with water therapy, water sports and scuba diving activities worldwide.
In Malaysia, DiveHeart extends special programmes for communities, such as those with physical disabilities and special needs. DiveHeart Malaysia also trains the Malaysian Paralympic team.
To enhance inclusivity in water sports, swimming and scuba diving, DiveHeart Malaysia now includes programmes for Muslimah ladies wearing hijab.
“I would like to thank WITC for inviting DiveHeart Malaysia to participate in this year’s exhibition, which is a great initiative and effort by ITC to allow special communities,” said Syed.
“We are training Muslimah lady divers, wearing hijab, to dive in our lovely beautiful Malaysian islands.
In September, we certified Nur Suhaili Yusof, a double-leg amputee. She was brought to the beautiful Bidong Island in Terengganu and was certified by the Sultan of Terengganu. She is the first leg double amputee woman to be certified in Southeast Asia.
“We have started training Nur Syahirah, a double-hand amputee who will be our para-scuba-diving candidate for 2023.”
Working with tourism industry players
According to United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), accessible tourism can be a real game-changer for destinations and businesses, helping them recover from the crisis and grow more inclusive and resiliently.
And DiveHeart is keen on helping industry players to adapt to accessible tourism to cater to every community and need.
“We would like to share our expertise with other industry players to be accessible tourism friendly. We can share and train some industry players on handling special communities in the tourism industry.
“We are qualified and certified. We can train industry players involving DiveHeart and Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) adaptative techniques.”
DiveHeart’s expertise in accessible tourism is mainly focused on islands, beaches, water sports and activities, and diving.
