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

The European Disability Forum is an independent European non-government organisation which has played a key role in ensuring that all relevant EU policies and initiatives  take disabled people into account.  It reports that the European Commission has just adopted a communication on tourism which proposes to better include people with disabilities.   The latest communication from the Commission points out that tourism plays an important role in Europe’s economy. It comprises 1.8 million enterprises, many of these being small and medium-sized businesses. It also points out that transport and tourism is a basic right for all citizens, including people with disabilities. The right to travel and to access tourist activities is enshrined in Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).    The UN CRPD has been signed and ratified by New Zealand, so that these rights exist in this country.  However, we have not done a very good job in implementing this (see for example, this post, and this).   

CRPD has been signed and is in the process of ratification by the European communities and its Member States.  Read more……………

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Tourism South East (England) has commissioned a series of case studies to understand how businesses have benefited from making their properties more accessible in the run up to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games being held in 2012.  The case studies include video and text case studies.  To find out more, continue reading……

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If you haven’t seen much yet about “age friendly” communities, you will. Starting next year, in the USA alone 10,000 Baby Boomers a day will turn 65. The cumulative impact of an aging society has moved — slowly, to be sure — into the mainstream. So writes Philip Moeller in US News. Older residents say that there are a number of things that would make their community more age friendly: housing that better accommodates older occupants and visitors; public and volunteered transportation that provides affordable, physically accessible, safe. and flexible service; downtown areas and, especially in the suburbs, gathering places that are pedestrian friendly and don’t require a car to reach; retailers who “get it” about legible store signage, senior sensitivity in product selections, and accessible store layouts. 

Why bother? According to the World Health Organization:

• In 2000, the global population of people aged 60 and over was 600 million; by 2025 there will be 1.2 billion and, by 2050, almost 2 billion.
• The proportion of the global population aged 60 will double from 11% in 2006 to 22% by 2050.
• Older people play a crucial role in communities – in paid or volunteering work, transmitting experience and knowledge, or helping their families with caring responsibilities. These contributions can only be ensured if older persons enjoy good health and if societies address their needs.
• Making cities age-friendly is one of the most effective policy approaches for responding to demographic ageing.

The WHO has set up an Age-Friendly Environments Programme which is an international effort to address the environmental and social factors that contribute to active and healthy ageing in societies.  Since cities have the economic and social resources to undertake the necessary changes to become more age-friendly and are in the position to lead the way for smaller communities, most of WHO’s initial work in this area has focussed on the urban environment. Cities wishing to become more age-friendly can take part of the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities©.

In addition, the European Commission has recently launched an “Access City Award to highlight the European cities that are taking the most effective and innovative action to improve their accessibility for disabled citizens (read more here).

Translink, the main provider of public transport in Northern Ireland, have produced a free online access guide to transport in the country and also with regards to travelling into Ireland. The guide gives great information about the different type of public information available including the Metro, Ulsterbus, Goldline and NIRailways.  It contains information and advice on how to use services, and contact details to help plan a journey. The guide has been produced in partnership with the Inclusive Mobility and Transport Advisory Committee (IMTAC), and identifies the degree of accessibility at rail and bus stations throughout the country, following major and ongoing investment in improving the facilities.
You can download a PDF version of the guide from Translink’s website and it is also available from rail and bus stations in Northern Ireland. Large print, Braille and audio tape versions can also be provided on request by Translink by contacting them on: 028 9066 6630 (or Typetalk 18001 028 9066 6630).  For other information about things to see and do in Northern Ireland, visit the OpenBritain Directory.

Reprinted with permission from Craig Grimes, Open Britain and Tourism for All

Lilian Müller is currently President of the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) and Managing Director of Tourism for All Sweden. She has worked in the field of accessible tourism since 1995, and was one of the initiators behind Tourism for All in Sweden.  She has been instrumental in building up services like the Swedish accessibility database EQUALITY, providing accessibility counselling for the tourism sector, produced training material and holding training courses for staff in tourism companies, and training accessibility auditors.  In an interview with the Design For All Foundation, Müller describes how tourism for all is not about designing and creating solutions and products just for people with disabilities, but is about making sure that these products fit the widest possible number of customers.   ENAT, which was established in 2006 with a grant from the European Union, partners and/or supports many projects around Europe such as CETA (Competitiveness for European Tourism for All).  ENAT also established ETCAATS (European Training Certificate – Access for All in the Tourism Sector), an online training course in Tourism for All, and a ‘road map’ for an EU certification system in the area of accessible tourism vocational training.   Müller describes how Access Tourism is becoming better known in Europe as a concept with the potential to increase visitor numbers.  Access Tourists are attractive because many are willing to spend more money in the low season and they are more loyal to destinations than the average tourist.  She points out that with an ageing population likely to experience increasing disability over time, no tourism operation can afford to ignore improving access.

Disabled people in New Zealand should to put pressure on the Government to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).  So said Professor Ron McCallum, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during a recent visit to NZ hosted by the Human Rights Commission.  The UN Committee is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Disability Convention by States Parties. McCallum is also professor at the University of Sydney Law School and is the first totally blind person to be appointed to a full professorship in Australia.  The HRC reports that Professor McCallum met with government officials and community people to share information and discuss issues around monitoring the Convention.   Professor McCallum believes the most important aspect of the Convention is its reliance on the social model of disability. This model states that people who have impairments are a natural part of our human diversity and that society creates barriers by not considering all people when designing buildings, websites, policies, etc. This view clarifies that government and society must commit to removing the barriers they create, so that all people can participate. There is particular onus on NZ to implement the Convention because NZ was instrumental in progressing the CRPD, and in fact won the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award for making noteworthy progress towards the full participation of citizens with disabilities.

Passengers will enjoy easier access to information about their rights when travelling by rail or air thanks to a Europe-wide publicity campaign in 23 languages launched by the European Commission this month. Although the Commission has in recent years introduced legislation to ensure air and rail passengers benefit from the same standards of treatment throughout the European Union, not all passengers are yet aware of what they are entitled to. To remedy this, posters reminding people of their rights will be displayed in airports and train stations in all Member States and travellers will also be able to consult free leaflets and a specially designed website in all of the European Union’s official languages.  Passenger rights include a guarantee of equal treatment for people with a disability or reduced mobility.  In Europe, more than one in five people find travelling difficult due to old age, disability or other mobility issues, and the information includes information about the right of train transport for passengers with reduced mobility, information on accessibility for passengers with reduced mobility, assistance for persons with reduced mobility, and air travel for the disabled.

USA Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood of the Department of Transportation announced the first federal rule to specifically provide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protections on cruise ships. The action comes as the 20th anniversary of the ADA approaches on July 26. “This administration is committed to protecting the rights of passengers with disabilities in all modes of transportation,” LaHood said in a press release. “This rule will ensure fair treatment for people with disabilities who travel by ship or boat.”  The rule applies to two categories of vessels: vessels operated by public entities, such as public ferry systems, and vessels operated by private entities primarily engaged in the business of transporting people, such as cruise ships. The rule will ensure that vessel operators’ policies do not discriminate against passengers with disabilities, LaHood said. Under the rule, vessel operators cannot charge extra for accessibility-related services to passengers, cannot require passengers to furnish their own attendants, and cannot deny access to passengers based on disability. Vessel operators will have to provide information to passengers about the accessibility of their facilities and services and make a knowledgeable person available to resolve accessibility concerns.  The rule does not establish standards for building new vessels or altering existing vessels. Those standards will be developed by an independent agency, the Access Board, and eventually be adopted in future rulemaking.  It also does not apply to other private vessels that transport passengers while providing another key service, like charter fishing boats or dinner cruises. However, a Department of Justice rule will cover that group of operators.

From Open Britain.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard recently Tanni Grey-Thompson, the UK’s most famous Paralympian, gave OpenLondon the thumbs up. She said “The guide includes advice on travelling around London’s public transport network, where to eat and sleep and accessible tourist attractions. The British Museum, National Galleries, Madame Tussaud’s, Houses of Parliament, Shakespeare’s Globe and Tower of London are all highly rated.”  Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson showed her support for OpenBritain 2010 during its launch at the National Theatre on the South Bank in London in July 2009 and it’s great that we have her continued support for our new OpenLondon Guide.  Welcoming the OpenLondon guide, she said: “It’s nice to know that if you’re going to trek half-way across the city it’s going to be okay, and if not, at least you know what you’re letting yourself in for.”  During the Evening Standard interview Tanni was also voicing her concerns about access for disabled people in the West End of London, more specifically Covent Garden, as it’s “particularly difficult to get around, with lots of small shops and cobbled streets. She suggested that while major chains like Marks & Spencer and John Lewis were well equipped, some retailers had the wrong attitude to change.” 

The OpenLondon 2010 Guide which can be ordered through OpenBritain.net.

Reprinted with permission from ADPN, Auckland, New Zealand newsletter, July 2010.

Early in 2010, with the help of some of our members, the Auckland Disability Providers Network (ADPN) made a written submission to the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) on the Regional Parks Plan. Vivian Naylor, Barrier Free Advisor and Educator (of CCS Disability Action) and I (Pam Antill, Executive Officer ADPN) also made a verbal presentation at a hearing and feel that changes are being made as a result of our efforts. Here is a quote from the feedback:  “As part of the deliberations, the sub-committee agreed on several amendments as a result of your submission, including the following new policy:  ‘Over the life of this plan undertake facility and service improvements (in accordance with the policies in Part 12 Infrastructure) at a range of beach and ilderness locations within regional parks to ensure that there is adequate shelter, toilet facilities, seating, disability parking spaces, firm surfaces from the disability car park space to the park entry and appropriately designed and maintained tracks to destinations such as viewing points and beaches; focusing in the first instance on destinations within the following coastal and wilderness locations: Arataki, Hunua Falls, Long Bay, Muriwai, Tapapakanga and Tawharanui.’…..”

Some Barrier Free audits have yet to be undertaken, but in time, it should be possible for everyone to enjoy access to at least some of the amazing wilderness that is part of our city. Interestingly, the submitters who followed us were from Shakespeare Regional Park, responsible for a new project run by a voluntary group called ‘SOSSI’. They are building a predator proof fence across the end of the peninsula and had just the previous week cut a new quick access path for convenience to a natural beauty viewing spot. On hearing our presentation,  they latched onto the idea of making this suitable for wheelchairs and other mobility vehicles. So! If nothing else, we may have influenced another group to make positive changes to their thinking.

In size and purchasing strength, Baby Boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964 – represent the largest group of consumers. And, according to Margo DeAngelo and Phyllis Schiller, recession or recovery, they’re still spending in the USA. In their article, DeAngelo and Schiller quote some facts about American Boomers from a number of authorities.  These include: 

• 78 million American Boomers have an annual purchasing capacity of US$2 trillion despite the current recession; 
• they comprise a quarter of the population and thus the biggest generational segments;
• 14% are already over 65; over the next ten years, the growth of the 50+ age group will be 22%, compared to the growth of 18-to-49-year-olds, which is going to be 3%; 
• 33% have significant financial assets;
• Americans in their fifties, are less interested in “stuff” and more in experiences.

The influence of Boomers in the market place – including in tourism – is not confined to the USA.  According to Audrey Kauffmann (Vancouver Sun), “from Japan to Germany, senior citizens make up a lucrative and fast-growing opportunity in the tourism industry, with deep pockets, disposable income and free time.”   Older travellers have strong purchasing power, and have become common targets for marketers.  For example, travel companies in Germany and Austria are launching new programs to attract Boomers, and one businessman created a “50plus Badge” to help seniors identify ranked hotels across Austria and Germany that are suitable to older folk.  Amenities at these hotels include wider doors that are wheelchair accessible.

Matt Zalen writes in the Jerusalem Post that the Israel Tourism Ministry is allocating NIS 15 million yearly (about US$4 million at time of writing) to improving wheelchair accessibility in tourist sites. The results of this investment are impossible to ignore. Hotels, beaches, national parks, theatres, museums – essentially all the makings of a perfect tour – are progressively becoming more accessible. The Israeli Planning and Construction Law of 1995 mandates that all new public buildings are required to be fully accessible to the disabled, and an upcoming law will mandate that hotels built before 1995 must also cater to the needs of people with disabilities within five years through renovations.  For information about Access Tourism destinations in Israel, visit Access Israel.

The Rolling Rains Report (RRR), the world’s leading website about Travel, Disability, and Universal Design, has again picked up a horror story of a New Zealander with a disability refused access to a bus.  This follows on from several other NZ horror stories that have gone viral over the last couple of years on the RRR and on other websites – a woman refused access to a bus,  another woman thrown out of her motel because she had a seeing-eye dog, councils being sued because they failed to comply with accessibility regulations, wheelchair users trapped on the Trans Alpine passenger train for 11 hours, blind hotel guests charged extra for their seeing-eye dog…….these stories are not a good look for New Zealand.  Tourism is our second-most important exchange earner and hugely important to our economy.  While we have no idea in this country how many of our domestic or international visitors are people with disabilities, it is known that about 17% of kiwis have a disability, that about the same percent are disabled in our major markets, that people with disabilities would currently travel more if tourism and travel products were reliably accessible, and that the number of people who will become disabled is set to increase as the large Baby Boomer segment ages, because disability increases with age.  It is also known that Access Tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism segments internationally.  New Zealand will miss out on this increasingly important sector if it does not work to improve its Access Tourism offer and to increase the number of positive instead of negative tourism and travel related stories.

The London Festival of Architecture (LFA) is a city-wide celebration of architecture in the capital. As London gears up for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games the festival looks at ways that planners, architects and local communities play their part in the development of “The Welcoming City” and access for people with disabilities.  For example, as part of the festival, LFA commissioned a water and solar powered wheelchair lift to address the challenges of equal access to historic sites.  The lift is designed by Matthew Lloyd Architects working with Architecture Inside Out and Price and Myers with the support of the Royal Engineers and the Royal Parks and can be seen at the Duke of York Steps, St James’.  The lift is an experimental project designed and created to raise public awareness about access, sustainability, and architecture in the public realm.

The June 201 Access Exchange Newsletter  reports that Colombia is amongst world leaders in providing Accessible Bus Rapid Transit services for people with disabilities (PwDs).    Meanwhile in New Zealand, The NZ Tourism Guide (one of our largest tourism guide websites) advises that “most urban transport buses are not equipped to cater for the disabled.”    “If the world’s megacities are to be livable places in years to come, the Colombian approach to public transit is likely to be a big part of the solution. Access to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) by passengers with disabilities, which means better access for everybody, is a cutting edge feature of this solution” says Tom Rickert of Access Exchange International. Rickert examined bus systems in Columbia during a visit as part of a larger World Bank project. For example, the BRT system in the city of Cali includes: 

• Level boarding, from enclosed stations with doors that open in tandem with the doors of high-capacity articulated buses, permits wheelchair users and everyone else to safely board from a protected and well-lit environment.
• Audio and text announcements now being installed in buses and stations assist all passengers and especially those who are blind, or who are deaf, or hard-of-hearing.
• High-tech proximity debit cards allow easy fare payment at ticket machines as passengers enter the stations, a feature that assists those with cognitive impairments, including tourists, visitors, and other first time users of the system.

 Recent reports of new BRT projects are encouraging and include: 

• Guadalajara, Mexico’s, Macrobús BRT system has scored well in public opinion polls of users of the recently opened accessible system. A second accessible BRT corridor, Eje 4, has opened in Mexico City.
• Lima, Peru’s BRT systems is now operating and BRT systems are operating or planned in most of Latin America’s largest cities.
• Ahmedabad, India, recently opened an accessible BRT system and plans are moving ahead in Bangalore and Pimpri-chinchwad. 
• Hanoi, Vietnam, is planning construction of seven kilometers of its first BRT corridor. 
• In South Africa, Johannesburg’s Rea Vaya system opened in August of 2009. Cape Town’s system is under construction. 
• In Tanzania, construction is scheduled to begin in September on Dar es Salaam’s “DART” BRT line and the system should begin operation in 2012.

 (This article reproduced (with some edits) with permission from Access Exchange International. Contributors of information for this section include the ITDP, CTS Mexico, and Gerhard Menckhoff and Dieter Schelling of the World Bank.)

A European Award for Accessible Cities has been launched by the European Commission.  The award aims to promote accessibility for people with disabilities in four areas:

• the built environment and public spaces,
• transport and related infrastructures,
• information and communication, including Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and
• public facilities and services.

The four finalists of the European competition will be invited to attend the award ceremony that will take place in Brussels on 2 and 3 December 2010 at the European Day of People with Disabilities conference. The winner of the European competition will receive the ‘European Award for Accessible Cities 2011′ and will feature prominently in activities to promote accessibility at European level during 2011.  In addition, a special ‘European Champion for Accessible Cities’ award will be made to recognise the work of a network of cities or initiatives.

Accessibility is a broad concept that addresses the removal and prevention of barriers that cause problems for persons with disabilities in using products, services and infrastructures on equal terms as those without disabilities.  Accessibility to the built infrastructure, transport, services and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is essential for people with disabilities to be able to exercise their rights and participate fully in society. This includes the right to education, to engage in work, citizens rights related to voting, access to documents, and freedom of movement as well as access to leisure and cultural facilities (libraries, museums, theatres, cultural centres, concert halls, hotels, restaurants, etc.) Accessibility is also a fundamental part of the social sustainability of the urban environment.

More information about the awards will be made available shortly on the European Commission’s website.

The NZ Tourism Industry Association, in a press release welcoming a reduction in marine safety charges paid by cruise ships, has recognized the importance of Baby Boomers to this market. “This is a high value tourism sector, driven by high-spending and discerning international baby boomers,” said Tim Cossar, TIA Chief Executive.  Eighty-one cruise ships and more than 112,000 passengers are expected to have visited New Zealand by the end of the 2009/10 season (year ending August), says Mr Cossar. In total they will make 479 port calls, with each cruise estimated to be worth about $1 million to the New Zealand economy. The sector is expected to grow by a further 30% in the 2010/11 season, with a record season forecast for 2011/12.  Cruise visit are really expected to take of in 2014, when the Panama Canal is expanded so that bigger ships can pass through and potentially head our way.

Cruise passengers in New Zealand tend to be in older age groups (over 70% are 55 or older), and as Access Tourism New Zealand has pointed out before (most recently, 6/11/2009,  9/12/2009, 13/1/2010, 3/2/2010, 24/2/2010), 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.  Certainly the cruise industry is very aware of access issues in cruising – witness the fact that a session on accessibility and cruising was one of the six breakout sessions at the recent UK Cruise Convention.  Meanwhile, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, stipulates that the construction, acquisition and operation of all cruise and ferry terminals and vessels of signatory nations (including New Zealand) should comply with its accessibility provisions.  Lets hope NZ does so.

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.

Are you a person with a disability?  Have you had dealings with JetStar airlines in the last twelve months?  Sheila King is asking people to contact her if they feel they have been discriminated against by JetStar.  Sheila is making a claim against JetStar after she was refused access on a flight because the flight already had two passengers who required wheelchair assistance.  Sheila’s email is sheilaking@bigpond.com

David Layton, a member of the young disabled campaigners group Trailblazers, has been shortlisted for the Uk’s prestigious “The Charity Awards 2010”.  The Greater Yarmouth Mercury reports that, amongst other things, the group has investigated accessibility on public transport and at leisure venues, and has campaigned to make changes in these areas for disabled people. Their transport campaign has even led to the Department of Transport launching a consultation to fine transport providers if disabled users can’t access the disabled spaces.  The Trailblazers Group has lobbied Parliament, met government ministers and handed in a petition at 10 Downing Street. They are currently investigating equality in employment and will be looking into Access Tourism later in 2010. For a news item on critiquing London’s bars, restaurants, theatres, and galleries, see the video clip “Trailblazers hit the Headlines”.