Access Tourism NZ TOURISM FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, SENIORS, AND AGEING BOOMERS IN NEW ZEALAND AND WORLDWIDE

Scott Rains, Access Tourism hero, is featured in this month’s Universal Design Newsletter. In an article subtitled “Building the Case for Inclusive Tourism” (Access Tourism), Lindsey Scherloum describes how Rains, founder of the Rolling Rains Report, has brought together people in the field from across the world, and how he has been  a key player in developing Access Tourism nationally and internationally.  For the full article, read on…………………..

Scott Rains is everywhere. From conferences in Indonesia, Mozambique and Brazil, networks touching every corner of the world, to scores of internet appearances, his advocacy of Inclusive Tourism (Access Tourism) seems to have no boundaries. After writing a list of things he’d done in 2009 for the editor of New Mobility magazine, Rains was surprised. “Even I was impressed,” he chuckled bashfully. When New Mobility saw it, they were impressed too, and had enough hard evidence to name him 2009 Person of the Year. An incredible connector, he said, “My role is to link people together, articulate problems and keep focus on tourism and the semi-parallel infrastructure you build for tourists.” In 2004 Rains began the Rolling Rains Report, a prolific blog, receiving up to 300 hits a day, which provides an excellent venue to display the wealth of information collected through conferences, organizations for which he writes and speaks, and global networks of people in the field. As impressive is Tour Watch, an online “incubator” of experts and professionals in Inclusive Tourism.

“By founding and maintaining Tour Watch, Scott Rains has provided fora for those around the world dedicated to tourism for people with disabilities. His expertise, drive, reach and dedication are unparalled,” said Sandra Rhodda of Tai Poutini Polytechnic (now Senior Research Officer at the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, and Director of Access Tourism New Zealand).

It all started with a conversation. Rains and his wife were talking about transitions into retirement. Already a traveller, writer and researcher, he realized he could take advantage of what he knew about accessibility from his own disability, and through tourism, make it internationally relevant.  Although there was some discussion of accessibility in the hospitality industry, the scene was embryonic. Tourism needed a reconceptualization beyond the idea of “accessible tourism,” which went little past the 32” door. His was a vision which included the Seven Principles of Universal Design, and incorporated people from those with disabilities to hospitality workers into the full experience of travel. He began under the radar, building resources with disability travel agents and writers. Slowly his notoriety increased; he defined Universal Design to the tourism world and started brainstorming words to describe what he was looking for. He saw that achieving change in tourism, with its diversity of players, pre-established systems, and global mentalities, required clear communication of well defined concepts. Mindsets vary in different parts of the world, Rains noted. Japan’s impetus for change stems from an awareness that its population is aging, whereas South Americans have a real heart for people with disabilities, he said, and a more Marxist focus of inclusion of all citizens.

So Rains came up with “Inclusive Tourism,” “the systematic application of Universal Design by the travel and hospitality industry at every stage of a product, service, or policy life cycle.”  Because of tourism’s ties to national incomes, Rains’ involvement with tourism reached into international development, advocating consideration of people with disabilities in economic policies. He worked on rebuilding Indonesia after the tsunami and New Orleans after Katrina, pointing out that developing regions have the advantage of little pre-established infrastructure, allowing policies and projects to begin with a mindfulness to Universal Design. Attending the 2010 World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) conference in Mozambique, he hoped “UNWTO will come to explicitly champion Inclusive Tourism, knowing disability is a cross-cutting issue that is both cause and effect of poverty.” Funded by the World Bank, this gathering saw representatives from 18 countries, and organizations such as Global Partnership for Disability and Development, and Handicap International, and discussed the interrelationship of development and tourism. By the end of the conference, Rains had some new projects to add to his schedule: an accessible makeover of UNESCO historic patrimony site Sao Luis, Brazil; an accessible overland corridor from South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal province to Mozambique’s capital city; a collaboration with Botswana’s Endeavour Safaris and Inclusion By Design to open a fully accessible safari lodge inside Gorongosa National Park, staffed by people with disabilities.

His unending enthusiasm for change has been impressively effective, as Inclusive Tourism continues to expand into a powerful force. “Scott is one of these unique persons, passioned for living, for travelling, for meeting and dealing with people and for creating networks for building a society which is better for all,” said Rosangela Berman Bieler of the InterAmerican Institute on Disability and Inclusive Development.

For a list of resources about Inclusive Tourism and Scott Rains, visit www.UniversalDesign.com, Newsletter Extras.