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

The Annals of Leisure Research is seeking papers for a special issue that examines the inclusion and citizenship of people with disability in “cultural life” (recreation, leisure, the arts, sport, or tourism).  The purpose is to:

a)      clarify what the terms inclusion and citizenship mean in different cultures;

b)      to place inclusion and citizenship to ‘cultural life ‘(recreation, leisure, the arts, sport or tourism) across discourses relating to economic, social and environmental contexts that affect people with disabilities participation; and

c)       to discuss the terms inclusion and citizenship from the ideological frameworks of government, researchers, providers of service or disability advocacy groups.

Submissions are sought from the consumer (demand), providers (supply) and coordination/regulation (government) sector perspectives. The guest editors invite interested researchers to contribute theoretical, methodological or empirical papers related to the theme of this Special Issue. The topics of potential papers include but are not limited to:

• The role of inclusion and citizenship in the construction of ‘cultural life’(recreation, leisure, the arts, sport or tourism) environments and experiences;
• What is the impact of inclusion/exclusion on the person and their experiences?;
• The social and/or cultural construction of inclusion in ‘cultural life’(recreation, leisure, the arts, sport or tourism) activities and experiences;
• The role of inclusion in the construction of cultural, sub cultural and personal identities of different societies;
• The role of inclusion in the construction and/or deconstruction of the intersection with gendered, ethnic and sexual identities within the experience of ‘cultural life’(recreation, leisure, the arts, sport or tourism);
• How experiences of inclusion compare and contrast between different dimensions of disability (e.g. mobility, vision, hearing, cognitive, sensitivities etc.);
• The impact of inclusion and citizenship within space and place making

Important Dates:

• Abstract deadline: 30 June 2011 to Jerome(at)dal.ca
• Notification of acceptance of abstracts deadline: 1 August 2011
• Submission for double-blind reviewing process: 30 November2011
• Review Process Notification: 30 January  2012
• Special issue publication: June or December 2012

For submission guidelines and more, continue reading……………..

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In a first for New Zealand, The New Zealand Tourism Research Institute at Auckland University of Technology has created a Research Programme Area in Access Tourism headed by Sandra Rhodda. 

 NZTRI’s Access Tourism programme aims to research and develop Access Tourism in NZ.  Access Tourism is tourism, travel, and hospitality for people with permanent or temporary disabilities, seniors, parents with strollers, and any person with a need for improved access.  This is an interdisciplinary research area that addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by Access Tourism.

The Access Tourist already represents a sizeable proportion of our tourism markets.  Between 17 and 20% of the population in our main markets already report a disability, and this percentage is bound to grow because the large Baby Boomer cohort is ageing and disability increases with age.  Those aged 45 or older already comprise almost half of our domestic and international visitors (and over 70% of our cruise ship visitors).

Areas of interest include:

• Research and policy development
• Understanding the Access Tourism market
• Awareness promotion and education of government and industry to the potential of Access Tourism
• Access Tourism product development and marketing in NZ
• Promotion of cooperation in a developing Access Tourism sector, including in the public and private sector
• Access Tourist satisfaction and motivation
• Economic and social benefits of Access Tourism
• Access Tourism as an important factor in tourism sustainability
• Relationship of Access tourism to Health, Wellness, and Medical Tourism
• Opportunities for Access Tourism legacy development around major events such as RWC2011

The International Business Times reports that eight-to-ten years ago, medical tourism was hardly large enough to be noticed. Today, more than 200,000 patients per year visit Singapore alone and nearly half of them are from the Middle East (source: Travel Memo).  This year, approximately half-a-million foreign patients are expected to travel to India for medical care, up from 150,000 in 2002. Factors that have accelerated medical tourism include the high cost of health care, long wait times for some procedures, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in both technology and standards of care in many countries (Travel Memo). 

An Australian report just out (Health Tourism in Australia: Supply, Demand and Opportunities) presents a detailed examination of health and wellness tourism in that country.   The research suggests that Australia would benefit from developing niche medical tourism offerings based on Australian medical strengths/expertise.  Meanwhile, New Zealand continues to lag in even considering the development

NZTRI staff at the conference

Podcasts of the presentations made at the inaugural Access Tourism New Zealand conference held in Auckland yesterday are now availabe on the NZ Tourism Research Institute website.  Presentations include those made by Sandra Rhodda, Director of Access Toruism NZ (talking about Access Tourism and New Zealand), Minnie Baragwanath(Access Tourism in Auckland), Diana Palmer (World Access Tourism), Bill Forrester (Inbound Tourism and Access Tourism), Mary Schnackenberg (The tourist with vision disabilites), Chris Peters (Tourism and the deaf or hard of hearing), Alexia Pickering (A wheelchair users experiences), Kathy Olsen (Accessible websites and information), Chris Ross (Transport and the disabled), and Auckland Disability Law (Legal aspects of Access Tourism).

Indian hospital operator Fortis Healthcare has agreed to purchase a 23.9% (US$687 million) stake in Singapore-based Parkway Holdings.  This could lead to a major shakeup in the global health-care industry. So writes Bruce Einhorn in the Bloomberg Business Week.  Medical Tourism, which occurs when a person leaves their own country to seek medical treatment in another country, is a growing trend.  Nearly 150,000 Americans travelled abroad in 2007 for international medical care, and numbers drastically increased throughout 2008 and 2009.  Such treatment could be cosmetic or health related.  In Asia, Singapore has the best reputation for doctors and hospitals, and Parkway is well regarded.  India has for some time now had ambitions to be a major player in the medical tourism market and its hospitals are generally much less expensive than those in Singapore or other medical-tourism destinations such as Thailand or the Philippines. For instance, a hip replacement that costs $43,000 in the U.S. could cost $12,000 in Singapore and just $9,000 in India, writes Einhorn. Single heart bypass surgery, depending on severity, may cost an average of $25,000 to $40,000 in the United States, while an individual travelling to destinations such as India may receive such care for approximately $10,000.   By buying the Parkway stake, Fortis has now positioned itself to become the regional leader in Medical Tourism.  There will be a strong presence in India, where Fortis has 46 hospitals  for the most price-sensitive patients, and a new base in Singapore for higher-end customers aiming for more luxury.

New Zealand is missing out on Medical Tourism as there seems little government resolve in developing this market.  In fact, the most recent Ministry of Tourism figures for medical visits to NZ show that such visits have remained at around 0.01% of our total visitor count for the last seven years.  Our neighbours, Australia, held their first Health and Wellness Tourism conference in September 2009.   At that conference, it was discussed how Health and Wellness tourism is estimated to be worth in excess of US$1 trillion and is one of the fastest-growing drivers in the travel industry.  Ruth Grau, Springboard Vacations USA and Medtral NZ has stated that New Zealand has a potential of 2000 medical tourists a year ( Inside Tourism 742, June 19, 2009), and explains why New Zealand is attractive to medical tourists.   In addition, Dr. Hans Raetz, who is involved in the development of a Southern Cross private hospital in New Zealand tourism hotspot Queenstown says that there is a real possibility for medical tourism at the resort (Travel Memo 24 March 2009).  In fact, the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand, in its brief to the incoming Minister of Tourism in December 2008, stated that the “wellness market (has) the potential to attract high value visitors and would benefit from target marketing’.  Meanwhile, Medical Tourism “has not been something that has been considered’, according to Associate Minister of Tourism Jonathan Coleman (Inside Tourism 742, June 19, 2009)

Market researchers Mintel report that last year alone Brits went on no less than 205,000 health and wellness holidays, spending an estimated £135 million on these kinds of holidays and the fun doesn’t stop there, with sales set to increase by as much as 150% by 2011. “This sector (homeopathic tourism) is a thriving industry as a developing figure of well-off baby boomers take their health needs into their own hands plus pursue the elixir of eternal youth,” said Richard Cope, senior Mintel analyst.

“It seems many British tourists are developing a taste for a holiday with a difference. Tired of the fly and flop package deals, they are opting for spa holidays, holistic breaks or in some cases a medical break for a session of cosmetic surgery or dentistry. Although this is a niche market, health and wellness holidays are steadily growing into a high value business, with the average cost of a trip well in excess of the holiday market norms. This market is fuelled by those looking to escape the pressures of a culture of long working hours and what some operators see as an urge to retreat from the debilitating effects of the consumer society,”

Medical Tourism is yet another sector that New Zealand is missing out on as there seems little government resolve in developing this market.  

Our neighbours, Australia, held their first Health and Wellness Tourism conference in September 2009.   At that conference, it was discussed how Health and Wellness tourism is estimated to be worth in excess of US$1 trillion and is one of the fastest-growing drivers in the travel industry.  Ruth Grau, Springboard Vacations USA and Medtral NZ has stated that New Zealand has a potential of 2000 medical tourists a year ( Inside Tourism 742, June 19, 2009), and explains why New Zealand is attractive to medical tourists.   In addition, Dr. Hans Raetz, who is involved in the development of a Southern Cross private hospital in New Zealand tourism hotspot Queenstown says that there is a real possibility for medical tourism at the resort (Travel Memo 24 March 2009).  In fact, the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand, in its brief to the incoming Minister of Tourism in December 2008, stated that the “wellness market (has) the potential to attract high value visitors and would benefit from target marketing’.  Meanwhile, Medical Tourism “has not been something that has been considered’, according to Associate Minister of Tourism Jonathan Coleman (Inside Tourism 742, June 19, 2009)

Aussies realize potential of medical tourism while NZ turns its back on this lucrative market. Continue Reading