Welcome to Access Tourism

New Zealand            

News and views about  tourism, travel, and leisure that is accessible to people with disabilities, seniors, and Baby Boomers who will experience increasing disability as they age.   

Access Tourism New Zealand regrets that due to dozens of spurious comments being received, Comments are closed. Please feel free to contact us via our form with any queries, articles, or news.

 

A press release from Irelands Department of Transportation announces that new guidelines to making maritime travel more accessible for people with disabilities have been published by the Department and the National Disability Authority (NDA).  The guidelines contain practical advice about accessibility to information, improvements to shore facilities, disability awareness training for staff, and emergency planning for those in maritime transport services. 

Transport Minister Dempsey said: “The Government actively supports and encourages continued improvements in accessibile maritime passenger transport services because it will open up and enhance the sustainability of this key sector. Not alone have we published these Guidelines, but we have  recently provided access audits for domestic passenger vessels and disability awareness training courses for operators and their crew throughout the country. We hope that our efforts, (in particular, these Guidelines), will influence those involved in the maritime passenger transport industry to review passenger services and undertake practical improvements to increase accessibility.”

Siobhan Barron, Director of the NDA, added “Transport is key to enabling people with disabilities and older people to participate in the normal activities of life. Making maritime transport accessible, benefits everyone. Accessible maritime transport is also good news for business; it benefits our tourism industry, it’s vital for people living on or visiting our offshore islands and it provides a link to our international neighbours.”

The ”Guidelines for Accessible Maritime Passenger Transport” and a useful card, entitled “10 Tips for Better Access” are aimed at all passenger vessel owners and operators.  They are also aimed at port operators, local authorities and a number of Government Departments who have a statutory remit regarding maritime passenger transport services. It is also a useful resource for the disability sector and other interested parties.

The leaflet ”10 Tips for Better Access” and the “Guidelines for Accessible Maritime Passenger Transport” are available to view or download on the Department of Transport website and the NDA website.

An analysis of visitors to Maine, USA by the University of Maine reveals that overnight leisure visits in summer 2008 and in autumn of the same year were dominated by Baby Boomers (72% and 64% respectively of all visitors).  This is surprising as Boomers make up 30% of the U.S. population.   Recent research by the University of Minnesota reveals that Boomer leisure visitors want solitude opportunities, autonomy, and family activities compared to Gen Xers who also want family activities but seek thrills and excitement, while Gen Y/millenials want social recreation, challenge, and opportunities to test skills and abilities. Boomers consider travel a necessity, not a luxury; they have travelled more than their predecessors; they are time deprived; they like creature comforts; they demand immediate gratification; they see themselves as forever young; they want to have fun, and they are willing to pay for luxury, expertise and convenience(University of Minnesota).

Professional Travel Agent Debra Fortosis notes that “multi-millions of Boomers will be making travel their primary means of fun, entertainment, adventure, and learning during the next few decades”. Fortosis gives a list of 10 Globetrotting Ways Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize the Travel Industry in a review on Ezine Articles.  These include looking for one-of-a-kind, convenience, efficiency and speed in travel, active experiences, comfort, avoiding the stodgy, longer trips, diverse modes of travel, and to travel “whenever, wherever, and as much as they wish”.  In addition, they are willing to pay the price for value, and won’t be fooled by over-promising.  To see the list in full, go here.

The Birmingham (England) Tourism Centre has a full description of how it is accessible to PwDs on its website.  Every aspect, from drop off and entry, reception, facilities, and even access symbols are explained.

The NPD Group’s recently completed report, “Getting A Grip on the Supper Market,” shows that demand for supper (the evening meal) has declined since 2001 and has been especially week since 2006.  One of the most important reasons for this is that there has been a 13% decline in younger age groups (18-31) using restaurants at supper while ageing Baby Boomer visits have declined only 7%.  In addition, those aged 62 or older show a slight increase in supper visitations.  Overall, Boomers and Seniors (those aged 44 or older) comprise 53% of supper visitations.

Grand Pacific Tours has increased some coach tours especially for the single older market.  They say on their website that” With an ageing population many people do not have a regular travelling companion. These tours are especially designed for the single traveller wanting to tour with similar individuals.  Originally introduced in 2009, the number of tours for singles has been increased.  Travellers in older age groups tend to dominate in the coach tour sector, and many travel without partners for one reason or another.  The Grand Pacific Tours website also has a column by Frank Morris called “Grand Years”.  Grand Years covers isues of interest to seniors, including travel tips, legislation, and biographies.  

In a press release today, Tourism Vancouver says it aims to have all businesses assessed and rated for access for people with disabilities soon.  The press release states:

 Thanks to a ground swell of interest and funding that followed Vancouver’s successful bid to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the BC travel industry began making many positive adjustments to ensure Vancouver’s accommodations, restaurants and attractions are accessible to people with disabilities.

“The Games are a catalyst for change of the very best kind” says Bruce Dewar, CEO of 2010 legacies now , a not-for-profit society that partners with organizations, businesses and governments to develop sustainable legacies in sport and recreation, healthy living, arts, literacy, volunteerism and accessibility. “We are using the Games as a driver to get people thinking about how to make this one of the most accessible places in the world.”

This is more than simply a feel-good proposition. One in eight people worldwide live with a disability. In North America alone, travellers with disabilities spend more than $13 billion each year on travel. Together they are one of the fastest growing market opportunities in the world.

In the years leading up to the 2010 Winter Games, Vancouver’s tourism businesses began positioning themselves to tap in to that market with the help of 2010 Legacies Now and its partners. Through the accessible tourism strategy , accommodations, restaurants and attractions in BC are assessed on their capacity to serve people with disabilities. Businesses that fulfill certain criteria in the accessibility assessment earn the right to display icons that address their wheelchair accessibility, visual accessibility, and hearing accessibility. The information is also compiled with the goal of providing clear and consistent information to disabled travelers.

Visitors searching for accommodation on Tourism Vancouver’s website can now specify to search specifically for accessible accomodation listings. In addition, a growing number of attractions, such as Vancouver Aquarium and the Museum of Vancouver, feature their accessibility icons and information on their Tourism Vancouver listing. The intent is to have all businesses assessed and rated soon.

“The part of this project that excites me the most is how tourism has embraced it,” says 2010 Legacies Now’s Bruce Dewar. “The Games are the tipping point and things will carry on from here.” According to Tourism Vancouver’s Walt Judas, “Thinking about how we can meet the needs of locals and travellers with disabilities – that’s now embedded in the way we do business.”

Reprinted from the Tourism Vancouver website

Americans with disabilities spend over $10 billion annually on travel, and almost half of them consult the Internet to support their travel needs. Recently (19 February 2010), Access Tourism New Zealand quoted an Expedia.com press release which stated that Expedia had “launched a unique suite of search tools designed to help disabled travellers find and book accessible accommodation”.  However, Suzanne Robitaille points out that while customers can now search for an accessible room on Expedia, they can’t actually directly book them!  Also, these developments by Expedia follow a successful class-action lawsuit against that company and its subsidiary, Hotels.com.  The lawsuit was brought by two California women with disabilites, Public Justice, and Chavez and Gertler LLP.  They complained that wheelchair accessibility was treated by Hotel.com as an optional amenity. Disabled customers couldn’t learn whether a wheelchair accessible room was available until they checked in.

Why Access Tourism is inclusive of everybody:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxbJNh5qJd4&feature=related

 and an excellent example of inclusion in tourism (and beyond)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyzkcnEJ5Y4&feature=related

A Sensory Park for the visually impaired has recently been created in Chandigarh, India.   The local Institute for the Blind teamed up with the administration and Municipal Corporation to create a park similar to that for the blind in other parts of the world.  The park has many aromatic herbs and medicinal plants like jasmine, lavlena, albertine, mint, neem, tulsi, and bamboo which visitors can smell and touch. Other parts of Asia have similar gardens.  For example, Osaka, Japan has a wheelchair Sensory Garden where visitors can touch the exhibits (including sculptures). In the UK, there are many sensory gardens designed for people with disabilities, including at Hunstanton and Harrow, and in the USA, the National Garden Clubs website lists many such gardens in many states. Australia also has at least some such gardens for people with sight impairment and other disabilities (such as at the Lucas Garden School), and New Zealand has at least one.  The Sensation Walk Braille Trail in the Wellington Botanical Gardens is a 20 minute meander from the Treehouse, up to a Herb Garden and then a Rose Garden. The trail features a selection of plants and landscape elements chosen to stir the senses.  Features on the trail are marked with Braille posts and tactile footpath markers.

Worldwide, cruise passengers are expected to reach 14.3 million passengers this year, one million more than in 2009. In NZ, the cruise industry is growing faster than any other part of the tourism industry, and is worth $3 million/day in foreign exchange earnings.   The important role played by older tourists in this growing sector was last week recognized by the NZ Tourism Industry Association when CEO Tim Cossar stated that “the cruise market is being driven by high spending Baby Boomers”.   But Access Tourism New Zealand (ATNZ) has pointed out many times in the past (most recently, 6/11/2009,  9/12/2009, 13/1/2010, 3/2/2010), that our ports are ill prepared for an influx of older visitors, especially when it comes to improving access for ageing Baby Boomers, cruise passengers who are already disabled, and the increase in cruisers who will have a disability in future.  Why?  Because disability increases with age. 

 The rise in the number of cruise ships visiting New Zealand has been meteoric in the last several years.  The New Zealand Ezine Inside Tourism (IT) reported earlier this month that Ports of Auckland processed nearly 6,000 passengers in a four day period, and that the city will host 60 cruise ships over the season (IT 771).  Four Corners NZ travel news reports that 24 cruise ships are scheduled to dock in Lytellton this month, and some of these will also be visiting Kaikoura and Akaroa.  And Canterbury is hosting three times as many cruise passengers than they did just three years ago, according to Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Christine Prince.

Cruise passengers travelling to New Zealand tend to be in older age groups.  72% are aged between 55 – 74 years, while only 5% were under the age of 40 (2006/2007 Cruise Research, Tourism New Zealand).  But even the age of non-cruise tourists to NZ has risen over the last decade (Tourism Leading Indicator Monitor August 2008), a trend likely to continue as the huge Baby Boomer generation retires and starts travelling more.

Along with an increase in the age of our visitors will come an increase in visitors with disabilities. In the cruise industry - whether as a result of recent successful consumer lawsuits overseas, or a dawning realization that travellers with disabilities have money to spend – cruise lines are slowly removing barriers to people with disabilities (CPA).  Last year, Access Now, a Miami Beach-based organization that promotes rights for disabled travellers, settled a lawsuit with Carnival Cruise Lines over lack of accessibility on the company’s cruise ships. Access Now currently has pending lawsuits against several other cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Westtours and Costa Crociere. Several of these companies, however, are already in the process of improving accessibility for travellers with disabilities. Holland America, for example, has dedicated managers who oversee accessibility issues and requirements of guests with access needs. It would appear that these companies are recognizing the fact that wheelchair users and those with other disabilities already represent a legitimate segment of the cruise market.

Given the rise in cruisers, the ageing of cruise tourists, the consequent predicted rise in disability as cruisers age, and the increasing provision of access on ships resulting in more cruisers that also have disabilities, Access Tourism New Zealand advocates for an improvement in access at cruise ship terminals beyond mere compliance.  There are a number of planned revamps of cruise terminals in New Zealand, including in Auckland and Lytellton.  An inclusion of design principles that take into account the needs of people with disabilities and seniors can only but help the New Zealand cruise industry. 

Why focus on travellers with disabilities?  Because it is ageing Baby Boomers – who will experience increasing disability as they age – who have the disposable income to spend on-shore, and who will swell the current ranks of people with disabilities who already want to travel, but have few choices because of lack of provision. Because travellers with disabilities “see the benefit of taking a cruise because many ships now have accessible features for people with physical, sight, and hearing disabilities” (Tierney, June 2009), we can expect to see more such travellers coming ashore at New Zealand ports.

“The Paralympic Games are an international level sporting event that was created to parallel the Olympic Games and let people with physical disability showcase their athletic abilities. By not working out a deal to televise the Paralympics, NBC and the USOC are quite simply discriminating against those athletes. “  Agree?  Go here to sign a petition to get the Paralympics televised.

According to Francois Shalom at the Leader Post, Baby Boomers present opportunities.  In her article on Boomers, she reports research and observations from a number of industry players including:

• Claude Peloquin, University de Quebec tourism department: the 50+ traveller  is likely to be highly educated, completely independent, experiencing a sort of personal awakening, living a fast-paced lifestyle, able to enjoy life on their own terms, eager to make choices (and) excited to learn;
• Michel Archambault, holder of the Transat chair of tourism at UQAM’s school of management: boomers have already travelled a lot in their lives, are in better health than their parents, and are comfortable with technology;
•  Donavon Gaudette, Association of Canadian Travel Agents: catering to an ageing population includes more frequent rest and bathroom stops and signage in bigger letters
• Westjet airlines: provides “guest ambassadors” at check-in counters to help older people
• Hone Group Voyage: provides winter activities such as architectural and cultural tourism for older folk
• Princes Cruises: caters for older clientele who like longer cruises and far-flung ports-of-call

A German study has revealed that people with physical disabilities – who already take 1.95 million trips per annum in Germany – comprise a considerable customer potential. Because of the ageing population and the increase in disability with age, the study predicts an increase in people with disabilities travelling, especially as future older generations will “place a far higher demand on their holidays and (will) perceive their personal mobility to be far more important than did previous generations” (Case study). The report encourages the German tourism industry to develop accessible tourism products and services in order to take advantage of this high growth market.

RV show sales are hitting record highs in Canada, despite the recession.  And it is thanks to Baby Boomers.  Boomers are looking for well equipped RVs with lots of storage, and RV manufacturers are providing vehicles that in some cases a golf cart can be driven into.  And Canadians continue to head south to the USA in record numbers in the annual “snowbird migration” to get away from Canada’s wintery blasts.  Needless to say, US businesses such as restaurants and general suppliers are benefiting from the increasing annual influx of “Grey Nomads”

Press release from Expedia.com.   Expedia.com®, the world’s leading online travel agency, has launched a unique suite of search tools designed to help disabled travellers find and book accessible accommodations.   Travellers in the U.S. can now visit Expedia.com to search for lodgings in the U.S. that offer accommodations including accessibility equipment for the deaf, accessible bathrooms, accessible paths of travel, Braille or raised signage, in-room accessibility, a roll-in shower and more.

Once a traveller finds suitable accommodations, they can request one or more of the specific accessibility features on Expedia.com’s online Reservation Page. The Expedia.com Customer Service team will review the request and contact the hotel to ensure that the specific traveller requests are met, and will contact the traveller directly to confirm the reservation or to offer to locate a similar room at an equivalent rate at another hotel.
Expedia.com’s call centre has fielded approximately 500 requests per week utilizing this functionality since its initial rollout in August of 2009.  

Expedia.com offers more than 15,000 hotels that publish accessibility options.  “We are thrilled to offer this new functionality to our travellers,” said John Morrey, vice president, Expedia.com. “It was a much-needed part of the online travel booking process and we are proud to be able to meet the needs of disabled travellers who require accessible accommodations.”
© 2010 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved by Expedia.com. CST: 2029030-40 (edited)

At the seminar “Accessibility for People with Special Needs – Infrastructures for Accessible Tourism” organized by the Product Development Directorate of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, the Environment and Culture, Mario de Marco warned that tourism would miss out if it did not start catering for people with disabilities.  Dr de Marco noted that with the ever-growing aging population, more tourists will demand accessible facilities. “This is an important market, particularly during the off peak months where we need to increase arrivals. This tourist category is more flexible to travel and therefore it becomes more important that travelling for such segments is greatly facilitated.”

Australia For All Alliance Inc is a community group of people with disabilities and their carers.   They have produced two booklets which will assist tourism providers to understand what is required to make their facilities accessible to people with disabilities.

The booklets – “Small Changes Can Make A Big Difference: A Practical Guide to the Disability Discrimination Act and The Disability Standards For Accessible Public Transport for Small Businesses & Tourism Industry Operators” and “A Guide to Assist Tourism Operators to Encompass Accessibility” are available together as a set for A$5.00 per set plus postage. For guidance purposes the postage for one set is $2.50 within Australia (postage for multiple sets and/or overseas to be advised).  Please contact the secretary at australiaforall@bigpond.com  for details, or go to the Australia For All  web site.  

Australia for All also offers menu production in large print or Braille Embossed for the Australian market.  Such menus would allow any visitor to a restaurant, hotel, club, or similar venue to read the menu themselves, independently of any companion or wait staff – something we all would want to do.  Details can be found on the web site.

“TOM BROKAW REPORTS: BOOMER$!” WILL PREMIERE MARCH 4TH ON CNBC

Nearly 200 cyber experts and other stakeholders seeking access to the Web for scores of millions of people with visual and other disabilities held a four-day United Nations workshop in Geneva this February.   The need for universal access despite handicaps was stressed during the workshops.

“The key to the information society is universal access and no one should be denied the potential benefits of ICTs [information and communication technologies], not least because they are hampered by their disabilities,” UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said, noting that an estimated 650 million people live with disabilities worldwide.

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Phil Brownie, General Manager of Destination Mt Cook, is thrilled that the Mackenzie region in the south island of New Zealand is amongst 13 cycleway proposals out of 54 that have been shortlisted for the New Zealand Cycle Trail Project.  Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, John Key has already announced that the Budget would allocate $50 million over three years for the Project.  Now that 13 proposals have been shortlisted, feasibility studies will follow.  In discussing the shortlisting, Mr Brownie stated that “Based on experience elsewhere, most trail users would be groups of novice riders between 40 to 65 years old who bike between 30 to 50km per day.  That means if we were to build a Grade 1 Trail, it would need to be two metres wide and have a gradient of no more than four percent.  Our utopia would be no more than 15km between lattes and plenty of accommodation, services and transport options for people to enjoy which would encourage them to stay longer.”

Las Vegas is one of those rare cities where people with disabilities can do almost everything that they  would like to do without worrying about accessibility.  In fact, according to Travel for Disabled People, in one recent year it has been estimated that 2.8 million visitors with one or more disabilities visited the city.   More…….

For some people with physical disabilities, a day at the beach can be unacheivable. Valerie Schuler of The Aucklander reports on the frustration felt by one young wheelie because of inaccessible beaches, and describes how inaccessible many Auckland beaches are.  Problems include lack of disabilities parking, barriers such as high kerbs, changing rooms inaccessible to wheelchairs, and stairs but no ramps to the beach.  “In some countries, ramps go all the way to the water.”

According to market research company, GfK Gruppe, German seniors are planning about ten percent more trips this year compared to 2009. Furthermore, households with a monthly net income of more than €3,250 are planning six percent more vacations than last year. They are also likely to spend more than in the last year.  In comparison, other age groups will travel less in 2010 mainly because of the fear of unemployment. The results of the fourth annual study “GfK TravelScope” are from interviews of 20,000 households and are reported by Tourism Review.

Thanks to Ray Sleeman of the Tourism and Leisure Group  for bringing this to the attention of Access Tourism New Zealand.

Fishbowl Cards is a company which focuses on children, adults, families and friends living with disabilities. What makes Fishbowl Cards unique is that there is no other product like it in the marketplace.

The passion behind Fishbowl Cards comes from Tina O’Neill Finn.  She realized – through her own experiences, a 30+ year career in the social expressions industry , a recognition that there are nearly 55 million individuals living with disabilities in the USA, and more than 100 million family members and friends who support them – that people with disabilities have absolutely no representation in the greeting card aisles of America’s retailers. In 1998, Tina began working to create and market a line of greeting cards, posters, and figurines that reflect the celebration of hope, recovery, improvement, achievement, love and support that children with special needs, their families and friends experience every day.

VisitDenmark has recognized that for people with disabilities to have successful holidays, there must be good physical accessibility to transportation, accommodation, restaurants, museums, and entertainment.  There also must be access to good reliable information about accessibility so that the people can plan holidays appropriate to them.  Therefore, VisitDenmark has, in co-operation with the Danish disability organisations and the tourism industry set up the association “Accessibility for All” with the purpose of running a new tourism labelling scheme for accessibility.

The accessibility scheme has requirements and regulations in regard to the following seven disability groups: wheelchair users, people with mobility impairments, visually impaired, hearing impaired, people with asthma and allergies, people with mental disabilities, and people with reading difficulties. If a business is approved for e.g. wheelchair users, a fact sheet is made which makes it easy and accessible for the consumer to obtain information about parking, accessibility to and within the business, and access to borrowing or renting technical aids.   There are three types of requirements for the businesses:

1)      Minimum requirements which must be met immediately by the businesses.

2)      Production of an action plan which the businesses must fulfil within a specified time.

3)      Competence requirements, where the business makes an obligation to appoint a person who will be responsible for accessibility and to provide a short training course.

VibrantNation Banner

Vibrant Nation has released a survey that shows that American Baby Boomer women are big travel consumers.  The survey of nearly 500 women aged 50 to 75 shows that:

• Boomer women have discretionary funds
• 79% have already planned their holidays for 2010
• 40% of these holidays will be taken in destinations outside of the USA
• 70% of Boomer women – even if married -  are making their own travel decisions
• 42% spend more than US$2,500 on each trip they take
• 57% are prepared to spend more for educational components
• Nearly 60% want sightseeing with either “moderate or extensive physical activity” (Vibrant Nation)

Nevertheless, according to Carol Orsborn, PhD, VibrantNation.com Senior Strategist, Boomer women “remain overlooked in the travel marketplace despite being the healthiest, wealthiest, most educated generation of women in history.”

The Boomers are coming and bringing with them a tide of new interests, energy and travel styles that could permanently change group tourism.  So writes Brian Jewell of The Group Travel Leader.

Boomers are beginning to reach retirement age, and many destinations and tour operators are seeing greater numbers of Boomers travelling in groups.  Many are now aiming their products at Boomers.  Examples of such changes in group travel are given by Visit Tallahassee, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau,  Experience Colorado Springs, Bike and Roll New York City, Greenbriar County Convention and Visitors Bureau,  and Branson Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.  They are adapting to fit the developing Boomer market  as follows…………….

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By Scott Rains, Rolling Rains Report

Now wheelchair users can enjoy the dazzling views of the Venetian Lagoon as they cruise aboard the Minuetto (available in March 2010).   

The Minuetto (owned by Le Boat, a self-drive European boating company) sleeps six passengers and uses an internal lifting platform and an adapted wheelchair to transport wheelchair users. To view the Minuetto  layout and photos to determine if it fits your access needs, visit http://www.leboat.com/flotte/mnto

For more on accessible boats see Serri Backstrom of Waypoint Yacht Charter Services

Auckland’s newest railway station has won high praise from blind and partially-sighted people.   ”The Newmarket station’s only one week old and so it’s great to get such positive feedback from the blind community so early on. They are an important part of Newmarket and so we’re delighted they’ve give the station the thumbs up,” says Cameron Brewer, chief executive of the Newmarket Business Association.

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Accessi Tourisme is a triennial project of cross-border cooperation on Accessible Tourism, between the Department of Turisme de Catalonia, the Departmental Committee of Eastern Pyrenees Tourism, and the Elsa Fundació NGO.  The project functions within the framework of the European Union’s Operational Programme of Territorial Cooperation between Spain, France and Andorra 2007-2013 (Interreg IV A).  Its  objective is to create accessible destinations for target groups of persons with disabilities (motor, visual, auditory and intellectual), in the main territorial localities of the Catalan destinations of the north (Costa Brava, Girona coast, Pirineus, Terres de Lleida, Eastern Pyrenees).

The anticipated results of the project is a European label of accessible tourism which will characterise destinations in terms of their accessible products, services, and tourist establishments for the disabled.

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 The Lake District National Park (U.K.) is partnering in the delivery of Cumbria’s Rights of way Improvement Plan.  They are working to improve the rights of way network, including improving access to those with limited mobility.  A page on their website and links describe the access in outdoor areas already available.  They want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to experience the National Park’s special qualities. Their National Park Management Plan states that they will

‘provide, develop and promote access for all people who seek opportunities to enjoy the special qualities of the National Park’ 

In 1996 they published a booklet ‘Countryside Access for People with Limited Mobility’, which contained 21 routes.  In 2009, the booklet ‘Miles without Stiles’  was published  and contains  information on 39 routes, and new Miles without Stiles routes are being constructed every year.

 David Switzer, Access and Recreation Developer at the Lake District National Park Authority provided the following information about the development of access in the park……………………………………

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Guest article by Lynn Stoppelman, MS, MA, Baby Boomer’s View

In a decade that may well be defined by social networking, people who are retiring will be travelling. It is important to give them a 3-D quality experience.  They can afford to enjoy their retirement years and expect to see and do things in an active way.  According to the website Immersion Active, 78 million people in the U.S. Census are Baby Boomers and they control 67% of the U.S. wealth -approximately 28 trillion dollars.  So what moves the American Boomer?

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Whether it’s a result of recent successful consumer lawsuits, or a dawning realization that travellers with disabilities have money to spend, cruise lines are slowly removing barriers.  So writes the Canadian Paraplegic Association.

Last year, Access Now, a Miami Beach-based organization that promotes rights for disabled travellers, settled a lawsuit with Carnival Cruise Lines over lack of accessibility on the company’s cruise ships. Since then, the company has upgraded access by, for example, providing cabins with plenty of bathroom turnaround space, accessible showers, and automatic cabin door openers, accessible routes, accessible seating with companion seats in the lounge and dining areas, an accessible gym and sauna, and lifts to access some of the stages, so wheelchair users can participate in shows on the carnival Jubilee.

“The initiative that they are taking is incredible,” disability rights lawyer Matthew Dietz, who represented Florida advocacy group Access Now, recently told New Mobility magazine. “The designs [on the Carnival Jubilee] are as close to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines as you can possibly get.”

Access Now currently has pending lawsuits against several other cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Westtours and Costa Crociere.  Several of these are already improving access for travellers with disabilities. Holland America, for example, has dedicated managers who oversee accessibility issues. It seems that these companies recognize people with disabilities are an important segment of the cruise market.

The article goes on to give tips for PwDs who want to go on a cruise.

A Transit Access Training Toolkit has been developed by The World Bank Disability and Development Team within the Human Development Network of the World Bank. This publication includes pocket-size guides, model posters, public service announcements, and other resources to assist in training bus drivers and other public transport personnel.  Funds for the toolkit were provided by the governments of Norway and Finland. The document is  available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and in printed and CD versions.

English-language version (PDF Format) is at: http://www.udeworld.com/rercapt/images/aptdocs/TOOLKIT.ENG.elec.pdf

A European Training Certificate in “Access for All in the Tourism Sector” is being developed. The ETCAATS project has two main aims: 1), to develop online training in accessible tourism and 2), to develop a ‘Road Map’ for a common EU certification system for accessible tourism vocational training, in line with the European Commission Qualifications Framework (European Network for Accessible Tourism, ENAT).

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An aging population of Baby Boomers and the increasing stress of modern life has created a boom in wellness retreats and spas around the world according to Elisabeth Brehl, managing director at German exhibition organizer EPOC Messe Frankfurt.   Skin Inc magazine reports (February 2010) that the spa trend is expanding and spreading from day spas and spa resorts.  The pursuit for personal wellness has extended to become a lifestyle trend itself, and leisure time is increasingly associated with activities that look to cultivate physical, spiritual and mental well-being. According to Euromonitor, health and wellness tourism globally grew 57% between 2003 and 2008 to reach $65.5 billion.

Boomer consumers are defying the stereotypes of aging – and giving marketers pause to think.  A new study of 1,100 Boomers gives marketers a first glimpse of the Boomer consumer at age 70. The research was released at the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, and will also be presented at the annual gatherings of the nation’s two largest professional associations in aging—the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the American Society on Aging (ASA).  The research revealed that 93% of surveyed Boomers predict that they will have more time to do things like travel and dine out, and 76% predict they will use technology to stay connected to family and friends.

Planning for the March 1-3, 2010 seminar in Maputo on Access Tourism continues. Scott Rains of the Rolling Rains Report will evaluate the quality of South African Access Tourism products.  Others on the agenda include professionals in disability and development from the World Bank, and well-know Universal Design experts Veronica Camisao and Phillip Thompson. Christopher Patton has prepared a slide show on the outdoor accessibility programs of South Africa National Parks

Simon Darcy

Dr. Simon Darcy has created a new blog on Accessible Tourism Research.   Simon is Associate Professor at the University of Technology, School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Sydney, Australia.  He has a worldwide reputation in the field of Access Tourism research, and in the fields of disability, ageing,  sport tourism, and diversity management.  An experienced mixed method interdisciplinary researcher, he seeks to apply the most appropriate research methods to the problem at hand. He has a significant publishing record.  All Simon’s research is industry linked. He is also involved in community advocacy projects and passionately believes in the rights of all people to fully participate in community life.

 The new blog seeks to explore the complexity of Access Tourism by presenting a brief history of the field through key documents and by presenting new research as it is published.

Tony Perron, Account Manager for the American Automobile Association predicts that in 2010, the most significant decline in trips will be among younger members of the  population (Gen X and Gen Y), while the incidence of leisure trips taken by Boomers is expected to increase.   Not only that, but  among those planning to travel, the expected average number of leisure trips that will be taken during the next six months is up to 3.0 from 2.8 in October 2008.  This, and other trends in travel as predicted by Perron, are reported by Sally Berry, of Bristol Creek Tourism Consulting.

The upcoming 17^th International Conference on Information Technology and Travel Tourism (IFITT) in Lugano, Switzerland (10-12 February 2010) has a session devoted to Access Tourism.  The session, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Tourism Information, will be chaired by Franz Pühretmair (KI-I, Linnz).  Dr.  Pühretmair will also give a talk entitled  Enabling and Supporting Accessible Tourism is a Chance and not an Obligation: Areas of Support, Prospects and Advantages.  Other speakers will include Shadi Abou-Zahra of World Wide Web Consortium (Accessible Web Design: Opportunities and Business Benefits), Elina Michopoulou of University of Surrey (Addressing Disabled User Requirements: A Destination Perspective), Anja Lenz of Blue Bird (Developing Packages for Accessible Holidays – a Practical Approach), and Markus Lassnig, of eMotion, the Competence Centre for ICT-Research for the Tourism, Sport and Leisure Industry (An Initiative for Accessibility in Austrian Tourism Bringing together the Tourism Industry, Disabled Stakeholders and the Political Environment: Achievements, Lessons Learned and Pitfalls).

A second session, Sustainability and Inclusion through ICTs, will include a talk by Wolfgang Drews, University of Trier (eTourism for all? Online Travel Planning of Disabled People), and other talks about ICT and Sustainable Tourism.  Papers of interest to Access Tourism in other sessions include Testing Silver Surfers (Mirski, Groth, Zangerl, and Leahr), and  MediaTurDownloader: an Accessible Tourist Assistant Application (Roig, Pérez, Bibiloni, and Palmer).

The UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sports has launched “Accessible Tourism: Making it work for your Business” on behalf of the Accessible Tourism Stakeholder Forum for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

It sets out the business case for Accessible Tourism and the economic potential in providing better services and encouraging more tourism from people with disabilities (PwDs). It was launched by Margaret Hodge, Minister for Culture, Creative Industries, and Tourism who in the Foreward points out that

“No sensible person in business makes life more difficult for their customers. The most successful businesses make life easier.  By making your own hotel, guesthouse or tourist site more accessible, you are instantly making your business more attractive to at least 11 million potential disabled visitors from here in England, and millions more from abroad.” 

In fact the the number of PwDs worldwide is currently about 600-900 million, which represents a significant market

According to the report, there is a huge economic potential in providing better services and encouraging more tourism from PwDs. New figures from the UK Tourism Survey highlight the importance of this sector: 12 % of all overnight domestic trips in England between January and June 2009 were made by visitors with access needs, or those accompanying someone who had access needs. This amounts to 5.7 million trips, contributing almost £1bn to the economy in just six months.

PwDs tend to take longer holiday breaks than the average – four days as opposed to the average length of stay of three nights – and therefore tend to spend more money per trip (£216 as opposed to £197 overall). Once PwDs have found accommodation that suits their needs, they can be loyal customers returning year on year.  They tend not to travel alone and are often accompanied by carers, family or friends. Over 50 per cent travel with a partner, 20 per cent with a child and between 21-25 per cent with a companion2. This will increase occupancy and bring in extra revenue.

Operators are reminded that with an increasing number of customers likely to be of an older age (and therefore increasingly disabled), they may need to make some improvements to their facilities. “The over 50s buy 40 per cent more holidays than the under 30s, averaging five or six breaks per year.”  

The potential is great. “Nearly half (48.6 per cent) of those with a limiting disability and just over a third (34.6 per cent) of those with a non-limiting disability did not take a holiday that lasted at least a week in 2007/08, and that when asked 15 per cent and 23 per cent respectively said that they would consider going on holiday in the UK if the conditions were right. If all of those who said they were prepared to take a holiday were encouraged to do so then this would also boost volume and value of tourism for UK businesses.” (DCMS)

A bibliography of “Disability and Tourism” (third edition, May 2005), compiled by Simon Darcy is available on the University of Technology Sydney (UTS, Australia) website. The bibliography includes material on tourism demand, supply, regulation, and coordination perspectives found in theses, market research reports, academic refereed journal articles, texts, and conference proceedings, and government policy/reports and third sector reports.  Professor Darcy is an Access Tourism New Zealand hero.  An Associate Professor in the School of Leisure, Sport, and Tourism, UTS, he teaches and researches in sport, tourism, and diversity management, is author of the website “Accessible Tourism Research“, and has been involved in, for example, the setting up of the website “Sydney for All”.

An October 2009 qualitative study sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons and Microsoft of how the boomer generation thinks about technology offers a fresh perspective on a generation often not considered when experts chart consumer appetites for technology.  Boomers and Technology: An Extended Conversation shows that:

•  Boomers are the fastest-growing age segment on such social-networking sites as Facebook, and many log on at least once a day.
•  While not early adopters, social networks will be a big part of boomer life in the future.
• When it fits their needs, boomers will embrace leading-edge technology.
• Technology is a big part of boomer leisure and creativity, including in planning travel.
• Boomers want technology to fit the lives they have made and the values they hold dear.

The full repot is avialable here.

New Zealand’s population, like those of the majority of developed and developing countries worldwide, is ageing.  The number of people aged 65 and over is projected to increase by 72% from about 12% currently to about 20% of the population by 2026 and increase further to 25% in 2051.  Those aged 50 and older will increase from about 19% of the population currently to about by about 21% by 2021 (Ministry of Health).   

In addition, life expectancy at age 65 has grown steadily for both genders in New Zealand since the mid 1970s, and this trend is projected to increase over the next 50 years. 

The 2006 New Zealand census showed that disability increases with age.  Thus about 10% of people 44 years old or younger have a disability, while about 20% of those 45 to 64, and 45% of those 65 and older do so.

Therefore, as in other nations around the world, including nations that are our main source of overseas visitors, the future holds an increasing number of older people who will experience more disability as they age. 

Interestingly, Ministry of Social Development research shows that the average living standards of older New Zealanders are higher than those of the population as a whole and that there has been little change in the average living standards of older New Zealanders since 2000.

These facts taken together surely indicate that for the New Zealand tourism industry to remain successful and for it to become sustainable, we must begin to develop reputable, assessed tourism and travel products for people with disabilities, seniors, and ageing Baby Boomers that are truly accessible.  We must also avoid the pitfalls inherent in doing this mentioned in an earlier article.

New figures show that the amount of money spent annually by Brits over the age of 65 is set to hit the  £100 billion mark.  In addition, Brits 50 years old and over forked out £276 billion in 2008 – a whopping 44% of the total family spend in the UK.  These figures come from the UK Office For National Statistics “Family Spending” report.   Age Concern UK, and Help the Aged UK have called on businesses to wake up to the scale of the opportunity presented by older consumers and adopt a more inclusive approach to the design of products and services.  To promote the importance of the older market, Help the Aged set up an engage business network.

Svayam – an initiative of the S. J. Charitable Trust – has been working towards making various public places accessible to all especially the elderly and the disabled in India.  Svayam works with the Ministry of Tourism to promote Access Tourism, and undertakes audits, identifies problems, and develops strategies to bring public places into line with Indian disabilities laws and policies, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, to which India is a signatory. It also works with the Archeological Survey of India to further accessibility at heritage sites, for example, at Humayan’s Tomb.

The Association of Barrier-free Travel Destinations in Germany has a simple motto: holidays for everyone. The organisation is a group of towns, cities and tourism regions which work to continuously develop and publicise barrier-free tourism in Germany. The Eifel region, the City of Erfurt, the Franconian Lakes, Langeoog Island, the Ruppiner Land region, the Saxon Switzerland and Lower Lusatia all offer a wide range of options and facilities that enable visitors with disabilities and/or restricted mobility to discover their many delights. There are a variety of choices withinn the regions, from city breaks or a relaxing time on the beach to full-on activity holidays in the open countryside.   The official German Tourism website also has information about Barrier-Free travel.

In Spain, The Instituto de Turismo de España (TURESPAÑA) is the Administrative unit of the Central Government in charge of promoting Spain abroad as a tourism destination.  Their website also has information about tourism in Spain for People with disabilities.

Further to the Access Tourism New Zealand report noting that the next ITB Berlin Convention in March will discuss the mega trend of demographic change, the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) will be represented in a session on Barrier-Free Tourism for people with disabilities.

The European Travel  Commission and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation have commissioned a report on Demographic Change and Tourism.  The report, due early this year, will focus on understanding of current and future demographic changes and their impact on the tourism sector.  Trends such as the ageing of the world population on tourism demand, frequency and length of stay, and product choice, and a focus on how the private sector can make the most out of such trends in terms of product development and marketing will be examined. 

The report will likely show that the worlds ageing population will have a significant impact on tourism.  For more information, see the European Travel Commission Research Highlights, October 2009.