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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It is estimated that by the end of 2010, more than 400,000 Americans will use treatment abroad for a variety of health needs (Travel Impact Newswire).   Recently, a health traveller blog was launched which includes forums where consumers of Medical Tourism can have their say.  The Health Traveller website hopes to help consumers make informed choices when they are contemplating medical or health treatment abroad.  It points out that – while not yet mainstream – travelling overseas for medical treatment is not new. In ancient Roman times documented cases of people travelling comparatively vast distances to locations of health were not uncommon. What is new is that the major reason Americans are travelling overseas is that the high cost of elective, non-acute medical procedures is making such procedures inaccessible at home in the US. 

The list of medical travel destinations is growing rapidly. In terms of overseas visitor numbers it is difficult to get a good estimate for each country.  While there are currently more than 130 countries that want to offer options for treatment abroad, the locations currently most sought out by U.S. health travellers include such locales as India, Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica and Singapore.  Certainly, medical tourism is not as well developed in New Zealand as it could be and we are – to our detriment – trailing our tourism rivals in developing this industry (Access Tourism NZ, 16 August 2010). In its broadest sense, many patients often view treatment abroad as an opportunity to address health conditions while seeing the world (The Health Traveller).  For this reason, it is imperative that Access Tourism be developed alongside medical tourism, as has pointed out on this website many times before.

Michael McClelland of The Best of New Zealand Fly Fishing  told New Zealand’s Inside Tourism magazine this week that social media isn’t all it is sexed up to be, at least in some North American markets.  The Best of New Zealand Fly Fishing is a travel agency started by McClelland in 1981, and – as the name suggests – the American company concentrates solely on trips to this country.  And because most of his up-market clients are retired or approaching retirement, they are not users of these social media forums.  He says his clients won’t be enticed to NZ just because they receive a message to do so via Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. So he is appealing to Tourism New Zealand to take a balanced approach when it comes to destination marketing. “I do not want see all the traditional ways forgotten. Most of the social media are great for our kids but they are not the market that is coming to NZ. If they do travel then most will probably fall into the backpacker market.”  He adds: “I have looked at every YouTube clip on fishing in NZ and most of the videos are young people that are fishing on their own. Very few are using a guide and even fewer are staying in fishing lodges.  It is great exposure for New Zealand, but it is not the market that really helps sustains the lodges or spends anywhere near the money that our up-market clients spend” (Inside Tourism Issue 800, 26/8/2010).

It is a well-known fact that populations are ageing.  In the USA for example, the McKinsey Global Institute reports that  50+ plus consumers will control the economy for the first time in history in under 10 years.  By 2015, they will command almost 60% of net US wealth and 40% of spending.  Now New Zealand Trade and Enterprise report that manufacturers need to re-think how they market products to Latin America’s Baby Boomers.  The findings of a Neilson report show that while the trend of lower birth rates combined with longer life expectancies have been well-documented in Europe and the USA, the trend also exists to Latin America.  Analysis shows that people aged 50+ currently made up 19% of the population in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Puerto Rico.  Importantly, these percentages are expected to rise to 26% by 2025 and 38% by 2050, according to Nielsen.  “In the next 10 to 12 years, one of every four consumers will be over age 50, and as in other countries around the world, older Latin Americans are defying the traditional stereotypes. They are more affluent, spend more money and are open to new brands and products,” Mary Paz Roman from Nielsen in Latin America reports.

Per Capita Spending Power
Older households – while being 13% smaller than the average home – have higher levels of per capita spending than other age groups:

• Chile: 17% higher
• Brazil: 15%
• Mexico: 15%
• Colombia:13%
• Puerto Rico: 12%

Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) – the international marketing agency for tourism in NZ – says that Chile, Argentina, and Brazil are firmly in their sights as it evaluated the potential in small but growing markets.  Together, the three countries deliver about 21,000 visitors each year to NZ.  In October 2009, TNZ visited South America and talked to people in the industry.  As a result, TNZ has increased its South American budget to NZ$100,000 and put together a trade development plan for this financial year.  This includes joint venture advertising.  Access Tourism NZ hopes that part of the TNZ strategy in South America will include marketing to the older demographic if we are not to miss out on this large and growing group of potential tourists.

Inside Tourism (Issue 799/2) reports that Tourism Industry Association (TIANZ) CEO Tim Cossar outlined at this week’s annual ITOC conference the three things NZ recommends most to our visitors.  One of these recommendations is “thrill seeking activities”.  As pointed out on this website several times before (most recently here), the government’s own data shows that more visitors engage in sedentary activity while in New Zealand and that the largest group of both domestic and international travellers in New Zealand are already 45 years old or older. Not only that, populations in our most important markets (including in NZ) are ageing and will continue to do so for the next several decades.   And it is the older age groups that have the money and the time to spend on tourism, travel, and hospitality.  While “thrill seeking” is a wonderful lure to the smaller and less wealthy younger demographic, it is unlikely that an emphasis on such activities will attract visitors in the older, richer, and more time-wealthy demographic to our shores.  Access Tourism NZ applauds the fact that NZ also emphasizes NZ’s natural beauty and cultural experiences.  In order to build a sustainable tourism industry in NZ, it is this older demographic that we need to be attracting, and nature and culture are amongst the things that are attractive to them.

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)

The New Zealand population is ageing, along with that of the rest of the world.  This fact is significant for the tourism, travel, and hospitality industry because disability increases with age.  And it is older people who already comprise our biggest domestic and international visitor groups.  Statistics New Zealand reports that at 30 June 2010, half the male population of New Zealand was over 35.5 years of age, and half of females were over 37.6 years of age. Over the last 10 years, the median age has increased by 2.0 years for males and 2.5 years for females.  The population aged 40-64 (all Baby Boomers and some leading edge GenX) increased in number by 1.5%, while those 65 or older increased by 3% between June 2009 and June 2010. Over the decade ended 30 June 2010, the population aged 15–39 years reduced from 36% to 34% of the population, while over the same period, those aged 40-64 increased by 1.5% to 32%, and those aged 65-79 grew at an average annual rate of 1.9%. In the 10 years ended June 2010, there was also an increase in the proportion of the population aged 80 years and over (80+), from 2.8% to 3.5%.

New Zealand needs to begin to seriously consider improving access in all walks of life – including in tourism, travel, and hospitality – if we are to manage the opportunities presented by the ageing of the population and the resulting changes in ability in our population and the populations of countries that are our major tourism markets.  We can only build a truely sustainable tourism sector by including access considerations.  Unlike our main rivals, we are as yet taking very few steps in this direction.

It is good to see that Prime Minister John Key has recognized the growing importance of older tourists to  New Zealand tourism.  Inside Tourism 798 reports that in a speech to the Motel Association of New Zealand (MANZ) conference recently, Key said that moteliers should not be surprised if their market becomes increasingly retired people. “They will travel around New Zealand as they will have more time on their hands and will want see the West Coast or whatever and you will get more of them as at the moment New Zealand has 535,000 over 65 and in 40 years it will have a million. We are aging fast.”  He said the average New Zealand male dies at 79 and the average female at 82. The average age of death rises 2.5 year ever decade and Mr Key said his son Max, now aged 15, will have the statistical probability of living to be 100. People will have more leisure time and will be fitter.

Given that the government’s own data shows that:

• the largest group of both domestic and international travellers in New Zealand are already 45 years old or older
• more visitors engage in sedentary activity while in New Zealand
• people experience increasing disability with age

then Access Tourism NZ  hopes that our government and industry will begin to take into consideration what the needs of older and more disabled visitors are.  We need to do this in older to make sure our tourism is sustainable and does not continue to lag behind our major competitors who are already tapping into this growing market.

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.

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.

Guest post from David Clendon, Member of Parliament and Green Party spokesperson for Tourism.  David attended the seminar on Access Tourism given in May at Auckland University of Technology by New Zealand Tourism Research Institute Senior Research Officer and Director of Access Tourism NZ, Sandra Rhodda.

I took the opportunity at a Commerce Select Committee meeting last week to pose a question to tourism officials about Access Tourism.  I pointed out that while this is a major growth area internationally, we in New Zealand seem to be missing the boat on what is potentially a very valuable market.  Mr Ray Salter, General Manager of the Ministry of Tourism, indicated that the Ministry is aware of the issue, and saw it as “…a difficult one in terms of how much information you can provide”.   He went on to suggest that the Qualmark programme (Qualmark is NZ’s tourism quality rating system – admin) might be one avenue for providing more information to people.  He also noted that the Ministry’s data does reflect that visitors are getting older, so there is the likelihood of greater demand for high quality information and better access availability for visitors.  That all says to me that there is a degree of goodwill at the official level, and some judicious prodding might help to convert that into a strategy and some action to both exploit a valuable market opportunity and to provide for people who might otherwise miss out on exploring our wonderful country.   I’ll be doing what I can at the political level, and I’m sure people using this website will also be taking every chance to raise public and industry awareness.

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.

About 50 people attended a seminar on Access Tourism given in mid-May by Sandra Rhodda of the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI)and Director of Access Tourism New Zealand.  The seminar was held at Auckland University of Technology.  (AUT).    Audience members included tourism operators, business people, academics, and individuals from local councils, Qualmark, a government member, and people from a variety of NGOs.   Rhodda gave a summary of why New Zealand needs to develop an Access Tourism sector, mainly from the perspective of the economic imperative to do so.  She also gave examples of developments in Access Tourism in the rest of the world, pointed out how New Zealand is lagging in this area, and discussed the kinds of research that New Zealand needs to do to get such an industry sector going.  To see the presentation, go here. 

The seminar was a prelude to the up and coming one day conference on Access Tourism - also to be run by NZTRI/AUT at the central Auckland campus – on October 4th.  The conference will look at various aspects of Access Tourism, including some of the following: the current situation NZ and worldwide, website access and information best practice, government strategy, policy, and obligations, best practice in transport , accommodation, and attractions access, legal aspects, and quality rating for Access Tourism products in New Zealand.  It will also include brainstorming sessions on strategies for advancing the development of Access Tourism in New Zealand and developing collaboration as a tool to advance that development. These topics are based on those most popularly picked from a list of possible topics in an online survey. Registration and programme details will be available shortly on this website and on the NZTRI website.

Guest blog, continuing on from 22 June

I spoke in the last blog about the fact that the more research we have done, the more comfortable we feel about our business idea and whether it’s a go-er. We plan to look at all the facts and figures at the end of June and then, take a deep breathe, and decide whether we ‘go for it’ or not.  I tell you one of the things we have been a bit blown away about has been the people involved in this part of the business community. Two main comments here really.  Firstly, every single person we have spoken to or contacted to ask for assistance, advice or information has fallen over themselves to be helpful. Does this sector attract a certain type of person? A repeated comment that comes back is along the lines of ‘yes, please start this business, there is plenty of opportunity”.  Existing operators have had to deal with the fact that whilst they operate their business well, there are such gaps in other areas (the stories I have heard about accommodation that really is accessible ……) that they are thankful to have others starting to consider if they can provide extra service or plug some of the gaps. Can you name another sector where existing operators open up and tell you what they know because they are keen to help you get started???   Secondly, the same names come up time and time again. It’s a small, almost intimate sector where, in the words of the Cheers show, ‘everyone knows your name’.  Hopefully for our next blog, we will be able to share with you some of our findings from our survey – until then!

October 4 2010 has been set as the date for the first ever conference in New Zealand on Access Tourism.  The conference will look at various aspects of Access Tourism, including some of the following: the current situation in NZ and worldwide, website access and information best practice, government strategy, policy, and obligations, best practice in transport , accommodation, and attractions access,  training for access in the tourism and hospitality sector, legal aspects, and quality rating for Access Tourism products in New Zealand.   It will also include brainstorming sessions on strategies for advancing the development of Access Tourism in New Zealand and developing collaboration as a tool to advance that development.  These topics are based on those most popularly picked from a list of possible topics in an online survey.   The conference is being run by the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute at Auckland University of Technology, and will be a no frills sustainable event.  For more information, contact sandrarhodda at hotmail.com.

Guest blog: continuing on from June 10 2010

So whilst our survey is out in the ether and hopefully going viral,  we have turned our attention to the money side of the business. We are working with a business mentor and one of the first exercises we did with them was identify what were the critical success factors of this possible business.  Customer satisfaction was of prime importance – thus the survey to ensure we understood from our potential customer’s perspective what they want so we could craft our business around that. Secondly was the fact that the business obviously had to be financially viable.   We started off with some generic type spreadsheets, break-even analysis ,and cash flow type things. An eye opener for me, and I think I already knew this but had not experienced it, was that the more research we did, the easier it has become to do these spreadsheets – clarity has improved 10 fold as we have become more confident with understanding the sector and what specific part of the sector we want to work with. From this understanding, other things start falling into place. Whilst our first set of spreadsheets had us conquering the world of accessible tourism, it’s now becoming very targeted and increased in detail.

(Note: Access Tourism NZ is not involved in the survey in any way)

Guest Post from Bruce Mumford.

The great thing about New Zealand is that there is a great diversity of things to do and see for people of all levels of ability.  Like anywhere else, there are still places in New Zealand that either cater poorly for those needing good access, or which don’t even bother trying.  At one place I was sat in front of a video because seeing the real thing would have been too difficult.  I had an exciting time trying to get down a moss-covered path into a glow-worm cave (run by a very big tour company) that had a walkway that was only about 3 feet lower than the cave roof over a raging stream.  Tricky on crutches!  I gave up after one punt in the dark was followed by more steps, more steps, more walkways, and another punt.  As there was no wheelchair available, I had to get a “fireman’s chair” all the way back to the wharf.  It didn’t surprise me much that the same company had no access on a lake cruise they ran.  They had a wheelchair, but it was at the destination on the other side of the lake.

However, many tours made an effort and I liked the attitude of staff on a “Kings swim with the Dolphins” cruise we did in the Bay of Islands.  “You tell us how you want us to help”.  That works.  A good number of tourist attractions were very well set up for disabled visitors, and a number provided me with great help.  At “The Buried (by a volcano) Village” in Rotorua, not only did they have a wheelchair available, but the site was mostly accessible with a great indoor display and easy paths around the site.  While the rest of the family went to explore inside the excavated huts and down to the waterfall, I was able to read the information on plaques (conveniently placed at wheelchair height) and to trundle around the scenic walkway on the edge of the escarpment.  The Albatross Centre outside of Dunedin even had an electric scooter available allowing me to take the steep, but spectacular scenic path up to the viewing hide.  We did a small bus tour to Milford Sound with “Trips n Tramps”, which wasn’t expensive, but was very well organized for me, with wheelchairs waiting whenever I needed one.  Even though I decided kayaking wasn’t for me at Okarito, the owner kindly drove me for a tour of the old gold-mining town, while the family kayaked across the lagoon to see nesting white heron.

Accommodation was variable, but best when I had booked it myself, contacting the managers months before on the internet.  The internet is a great tool for the disabled traveler and I found New Zealanders very helpful here too: all of my queries were answered and often if a place could not take a booking, they would refer you on to someone else who could.  When emailing Europe, I was used to about a 60 per cent reply rate.  In New Zealand, it was more like a 100 per cent.  By all means try to avoid any places with “lodge”, “manor”, or “resort” at the end of their names, as in my experience, this just means vastly inflated prices with very little or no help for the disabled traveller!  Some “accessible” places the travel agent had booked for me had plenty of room inside, but getting through the door was impossible in a wheelchair because of the step!  But many places we stayed in were great and not at all expensive.  A proportion of all motels in New Zealand are now required by law to be accessible.  One bathroom even had a mirror at wheelchair height – most access designers forget this one!  In short, I found the size and price of tours, attractions, motels, or companies was rarely proportional to the access provided or the help given to the disabled tourist.  In fact it was usually the reverse.

(Bruce is an Australian who was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago.  Formerly a Drama, History, and English teacher, he has travelled in a wheelchair to many countries, and is involved with his local council access committee.   Post reprinted in part and with some adaptations with the author’s permission from Paraquad News.)

Guest article by Veroniek Maat, Intern, NZ Tourism Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, and Masters Student, Leisure, Tourism, and Environment, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

During the Leaders Summit ’10 seminar in Auckland on the 4^th of June, sponsors, partners and experts came together to discuss the impact of the Rugby World Cup 2011 on New Zealand’s tourism, media, sports and creative industries. Martin Snedden, Chief Executive of the RWC 2011 pointed out that not only the bigger cities will be hosting the games but smaller towns like Whangarei, Hamilton, Napier, Rotorua, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Nelson, Dunedin and  Invercargill. By planning the games across the whole country, tourists will also reach less known areas, bringing profit to all regions.  Snedden pointed out that New Zealand will play a hosting role, not only a sports event. The RWC offers opportunities for regions to ‘show off’ by organizing festivals and looking after the people visiting. He also said that New Zealand will not have enough beds to accommodate all RWC tourists. To increase the number of beds, 3 cruise ships will be used (2 in Wellington, 1 in Christchurch). Additionally, New Zealanders will be asked to rent out private homes and to volunteer as hosts to make sure all the visitors will have a place to stay. The volunteer recruitment program was launched on the 9^th of June on the RWC 2011 website. It would be a good idea if the recruitment team emphasized that volunteers could rent out their homes to  senior tourists and visitors with a disability. People who are less mobile or have a visual, hearing or intellectual impairment need a comfortable place to stay during the RWC and would probably prefer not be sleeping in a backpackers dorm or cruise ship. Many seniors and people with disabilities will not be able to fit in with lack of comfort, as youngsters and more able adults will be able to. As Snedden noted, ‘hosting will be the thing that makes the big difference’ and the RWC offers a platform to show what New Zealand can do.

Hold on to your hat, we are off to a conference!!

Want input into an Access Tourism Conference being planned for Auckland, NZ in October?  Go here to have your say.  Even if you don’t plan to attend, you can still give us valuable input.  So far, we have had 62 responses.  This form will only run a few more days so do it now!  Thanks, ATNZ.

Guest article by Veroniek Maat, Intern, NZ Tourism Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, and Masters Student, Leisure, Tourism, and Environment, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Regional festivals, art and culture exhibitions, food tasting events, and markets are planned in anticipation of the Rugby World Cup 2011 to be held in New Zealand.  During the six week event, locals and visitors will be keen to explore more of New Zealand, enabling the regions to showcase their industries, people, arts and culture.  As the regions get ready to host overseas tourists and Kiwis, events have been listed on the Festival Programme 2011, an official RWC2011 site. Welcoming visitors means welcoming all ranges of potential visitors, including children, youngsters, adults, seniors, men, women, foreigners, locals – and people with disabilities. 

The events presently listed on the Festival Program give very little or no information about access, whether access for visitors with a visual, hearing or mobility impairment. Parts of this  website are still under construction but few of the events listed at the time of writing have taken into account  visits from the disabled. Outdoor events such as festivals and markets state nothing about disabled parking lots, paved paths, ramps, Braille trails, or audio tours. Regrettably, out of the 49 events listed, only one of the theater performance group shows engagement with less mobile visitors by describing on their website ease of access to their shows.  

The museums and galleries of New Zealand will also open their doors for RWC tourists. The Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington has included visitors with a disability in their strategy. Disabled parking, adapted guided tours, education programs, wheelchairs, a scooter, audio guides, captions on videos and hearing loops are provided in this venue and people with disabilities will feel welcomed. Govett Brewster Art Gallery is also pro-active in welcoming disabled guests.  It was actively involved with New Plymouths District Council’s Disability Strategy, offered its first Sign Language-interpreted exhibition tour during the Sign Language Awareness Week in 2009, and altered the size of text on wall labels. Besides providing access for the visually impaired, mobility- impaired visitors are encouraged to visit, knowing the galleries’ space lends itself for wheelchair access and wheelchairs are for hire (website). Extensive search for disabled access at other significant museums and galleries throughout New Zealand shows that their websites lack access information about their premises. If New Zealand event producers, museum, and galleries want to offer an “unforgettable RWC experience”to all visitors, they will need to catch up with the access strategies of Te Papa Tongarewa and Govett Brewster Art Gallery.  They should invest in accessible experiences and information provision for people with disabilities because lack of attention for the fastest-growing, largest-spending segment of Baby Boomers (who will have more disability with age), seniors and people with a disability will result in loss of revenues and decline of New Zealand’s destination image.