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

Journey without Barriers (JwB) is an initiative that provides the experience of barrier-free travel for the emerging global market of persons with disabilities and senior citizens because: 

• People with disabilities and their caregivers/friends constitute a huge potential tourism consumer market.  This potential still remains       untapped in India. 
• People with disabilities all over the world have the same needs to travel and go places  as any one else. Lack of accessibility is a major reason for       restricting their travel.
• Increasingly, older people from around the world enjoy travel and would like some basic facilities that will help make their travel easier.

 JwB will enable a process, whereby persons with disabilities enjoy the benefits of leisure and travel, while contributing to the growth of the tourism industry and the economy at large. The focus will be on developing accessible tourism opportunities in India, while tapping into the global market of persons with disabilities and senior citizens.   JwB will be set up as a wing of Travel Another India (TAI), www.travelanotherindia.com a Responsible Tourism Venture (RTV), in India.
JwB will ensure that :

• Basic accessibility in all the services; e.g., accommodation, travel, sightseeing, shopping, etc. is provided
• Physical assistance is provided where necessary; e.g., while transferring from a vehicle, crossing the road, etc.
• Safety within the services is provided; e.g. safe transfers to and from the wheel chair, safety while walking/climbing, etc.

 JwB is committed to the economic viability of this project, to its potentail to increase social sustainability, and to including people with disabilities.  To read more about these aspects…….
 

JwB operates on the premise that it makes good business sense to promote inclusive tourism and therefore all stakeholders will stand to gain economically. As a majority of JwB stakeholders – especially the primary affiliate and service providers – are from local communities, income generated from each enterprise will benefit and contribute to sustaining these local economies, in the long run, JwB will develop business plans, promote entrepreneurial skills of the stakeholders and develop marketing strategies for the venture.  Each venture will be unique in the way this is developed, depending on the place, the tourism potential, the nature of the stakeholders and accessibility of the environment.
Stakeholders
 JwB will engage with any individual/ group with an interest in such a venture. The individual/group may or may not have a prior experience in tourism, but should be willing to pioneer such an initiative and take the responsibilities that go with it.  JwB will especially encourage individuals with disabilities/ disability groups to promote these ventures.  In India, according to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, there are more than 687,632 persons with disabilities on the live register of 81 employment exchanges and special cells of the country waiting to avail of government jobs.  While data is scarce, it will not be wrong to say that most efforts in employment of persons with disabilities in India still focus on the stereotypical, are charitable and non-profit oriented. Promoting entrepreneurship is still a dream.
JwB firmly believes that entrepreneurs with disabilities will add value to the experience of inclusive tourism and promote the image of the disabled as productive members of society. They are in touch with disability groups from Ladakh to Chennai to inspire them to take on this new challenge.
 Service providers:
This will include the range of service providers to the tourism industry – hotels, restaurants, monuments, shops, tour operators, taxi operators, environment clubs, architects, etc. Making these businesses accessible will be a large part of JwB’s focus. To further this goal, they will conduct access audits, lobby for better access, provide training on access issues and promote these as responsible ventures in the travel industry. Their endeavor will be to promote design for all, so that it enables a wide range of people from a wide range of situations to access the services. This will, naturally, increase turn over and be more economically beneficial to the service providers.
 Specifically identified tourist sites and places:
Parks, museums, religious sites, etc. will need to have basic access for tourists with disabilities. JwB will involve the concerned agencies to promote inclusion within their mandate.  They will start with specifically identified sites within the area and then work towards making all such sites inclusive. Access audits and training will be a part of this process.
 Ministry / Department of Tourism, local and national:
The Ministry of Tourism in India has started promoting inclusion in its agenda. JwB will involve the local tourism departments to ensure that the policies translate well as a practice.
The process includes: 

• Identifying the primary affiliate 
• Tourism Potential and Needs Assessment (TPNA) of the place 
•  Developing a Terms of Reference with the primary affiliate
• Conducting access audits 
• Developing a business plan 
• Lobbying for and training on accessibility with the various stakeholders 
• Building the capacities of the primary affiliate on accessibility and business management 
• Marketing

This list is not chronological and items may overlap. Some of these are continuous and ongoing till the end of the formal affiliation. It is expected that any affiliation will last up to a maximum of three years, depending on the need.
 How JwB arose and who are all involved
JwB is inspired by the inclusive travel company in India called Himalaya on Wheels (HoW!). Started in Ladakh, by a group of enterprising disabled individuals, this has enthused the beginning of a long journey…..
 The People’s Action Group on Inclusion and Rights (PAGIR) is a rights movement working to create a society that is inclusive and sees economic contribution as the first step to social inclusion. Towards this, PAGIR recently set up Himalaya on Wheels (HoW!), an enterprise to promote tourism for all.  PAGIR has partnered with Travel Another India (TAI) to set up this enterprise and develop tour packages in Ladakh for guests who use wheel chairs.

Gouthami, Shivani, and Vidhya form the core group of JwB.

Gouthami is the CEO of TAI and has the experience of promoting Responsible Tourism Ventures in India. gou@travelanotherindia.com.  

AB 50, Anna Nagar, Chennai – 600 040 www.travelanotherindia.com

 http://travelanotherindia.blogspot.com/

Shivani Gupta from AccessAbility is an expert in access audits and has the  experience of working on access policies in the tourism industry. shivani@accessability.co.in.  

Vidhya, a professional in the disability sector, has worked with disability groups and local governments on inclusion and advocacy issues. hi.vids@gmail.com