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

Several recent incidents point to how money could be saved in New Zealand if Universal Design (sometimes called Lifetime design) principles were adopted at the start of all.   Universal Design is a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication and policy to be usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. Most simply, Universal Design is human-centered design of everything with everyone in mind.  It refers to a broad-spectrum solution that produces buildings, products and environments that are usable and effective for everyone, not just the able-bodied or people with disabilities (PwDs).  Universal Design applies as much to tourism as it does to any other walk of life. It has a number of principals.  According to Lifetime Design, a NZ company, these include usability, adaptability, accessibility, inclusion, and lifetime value.

In one incident, the NZ Post Office has had to redesign a Blenheim Post Shop only weeks after a major overhaul made the shop virtually impossible to use for PwDs, seniors, and even parents with prams.  NZ Post would not make public the cost of the renovations to the revamped post shop.  In a second incident, the Greymouth Aquatic Centre – a brand new complex opened in 2009 – will spend up to $6000 to redesign and reconstruct a wheelchair access ramp found to be too steep (Greymouth Star May 2010).

Thanks to Linda Ingram for pointing these stories out.