THink #5 Special Issue: Profit for Good

THink: Profit for Good Special Issue
This is a unique
cooperation
between a big
company and a small
social enterprise
to promote social
innovation and to
implement real
accessible tourism
services.
The Luxgen V7-Eco-Hyper, the first locally designed and manufactured accessible vehicle in Taiwan.
of the “Luxgen V7 Eco-Hyper”, the “9453
Friendly Traveller” info-platform and 9453
Accessible Transportation Service Network
and Charity Travels.
Joint Effort to Design
Luxgen V7 Eco-Hyper
To create a more human-centred, comfortable
and affordable accessible vehicle
for senior citizens and PWDs in Taiwan,
Yulon and OurCityLove worked with disabled
citizens and universal design experts
from 2012 to 2016 for the “Luxgen V7 Eco-
Hyper”. Designed with the input from representatives
from OurCityLove and social
welfare institutes, the “Luxgen V7 Eco-
Hyper” successfully meets the different
needs of travelling families with PWDs.
The increase in the capacity of accessible
transportation was welcomed by its target
community since its market launch in
December 2016.
9453 Friendly Traveller
Working with OurCityLove, Yulon
trained and provided incentives to PWDs
to contribute accessibility information of
restaurants, hotels, and tourist attractions
based on their own experience. To share
the information, the online web portal
"9453 Friendly Traveller", Taiwan's first
accessible tourism info-platform, was set
up in December 2017. Currently, it has
accessibility information of 10 cities in
Taiwan. A printed version is also available.
9453 Accessible Transportation
Service Network and Charity Travels
To increase the social impact of “9453
Friendly Traveller” and to implement its
market services, Yulon and OurCityLove
organised car rental (CARPLUS 格 上 租 車 )
and 168 taxi drivers with accessible vehicles
in different cities, offering family
travel services everywhere. It is important
that we bring more customers to accessible
restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions
to encourage other business owners
to make their facilities accessible as well.
Furthermore, Yulon and OurCityLove managed
to convince private companies to sponsor
social welfare associations that organise
charity travels for families with PWDs.
My Friendly Country Road
The efforts of “9453 Friendly Traveller”
in compiling and sharing accessibility
information had encouraged other
individuals and organisations to contribute
to accessible tourism as well. For example,
63-year-old Mr Hsu Chi-Feng and 38-yearold
Ms Huang Shin-Yi, who both suffered
spinal cord injury, decided to go a step
further by helping facilities become more
accessible. They joined a project called “My
Friendly Country Road", an initiative set up
jointly by Yulon Group, OurCityLove and
the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau,
with the objective of becoming more productive
members of society. Together with
35 other PWDs, they worked with architects
and accessibility experts to reconstruct
facilities and introduce assistive services in
53 rural communities. They also shared
their success stories to inspire other communities
to follow suit. By sharing product
design and accessibility knowledge this
way, “9453 Friendly Traveller” created a collaborative
model of public-private partnership
(PPP) for cross-sectoral collaborations
to grow its impact.
Mr Hsu shared his sense of accomplishment
in connecting stakeholders
and achieving tangible outcomes. “I can
do something good for society with my
disability, no, with my different ability!”
says Mr Hsu.
24 | #5 • July 2019