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

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

Bill Forrester, of Travability, has posted a response on Tour Watch to the article yesterday on this website about Access Tourism being mentioned in the NZ House of Commons.  Here is Bill’s  post:

“Sandra Rhodda recently posted an extract from a speech in the New Zealand parliament  which acknowledged the infrastructure built in Australia for the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Unless the underlying culture of both the Tourism Industry and the Tourism authorities changes during the lead up to these events to embody an inclusive philosophy then at the end of the event we will still be left with just a collection of accessible infrastructure.  While New Zealand acknowledges that Australia has a plethora of accessible built infrastructure where we are failing is in the promotion and understanding of its use and the growing significance of the market. It is one thing to build the infrastructure for events like the Olympic Games or Rugby World Cup but a totally different thing to incorporate Access Travel into the mainstream. That is where Australia has failed and where New Zealand faces potentially the same problem. Once the Rugby World Cup is over the the focus will be lost unless the operators of the Accessible Infrastructure realise its market potential and adopt a truly inclusive attitude to all travellers regardless of their ability. Australia still relies on third party NGO’s to maintain databases for the access tourist because it hasn’t taught the industry itself how to incorporate accessible information into their mainstream advertising and information sites.  The debate has to shift away from access to true inclusion and as I keep saying Tourism Authorities need to lead that push not abrogate their responsibility to the disability sector. The Rugby World Cup affords an opportunity to start taking about inclusive experiences not about just creating an accessible environment.”

We could not agree with Bill more: there is also in NZ a lot of accessible infrastructure (see Bill talking about it here and here), but unless the industry adopts an inclusive attitude and promotes this infrastructure, it may as well not exist.  An examination of websites for access information for 42 of our most important museums and galleries, for example, shows that 69% have no access information, and most of the others have inadequate  information .  As to Rugby World Cup 2011, a number of cultural events have been planned to coincide with this sports festival.  An examination of the 45 websites for these events shows that 86% have no information about access.  Does this mean that 69% of our museums and galleries, and 86% of cultural events coinciding with RWC2011 have no access for the disabled?  Surely not!

During a speech in the House of Representatives this week (Third Reading of the Rugby World Cup 2011 Empowering Bill, 16/11/2010) Rahui Katene, MP for Te Tai Tonga, who had discussed Access Tourism in the house before, again spoke on this subject. She said: 

We have spoken about the need for the Rugby World Cup to be accessible and leave New Zealand with a legacy of accessible infrastructure for the growing access tourism market.  And I want to refer to our partners across the ditch, who have led the way in respect of access tourism.  Australia was left with a legacy of an accessible environment after it hosted the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. Australia now has the ability to cater for the growing access tourism market, estimated to be worth $A4.8 billion a year. The access tourism market in New Zealand is estimated to be worth $NZ1 billion a year.

 Access tourism is tourism, travel, and hospitality which takes account of the access needs of all people with permanent or temporary disabilities, older people, and anyone else who needs improved access (such as parents with prams). Access tourism presents a major economic opportunity and is growing in popularity in many parts of the world because of increasing numbers of post World War II baby boomers wishing to travel who are ageing and therefore experiencing a degree of disability.  An accessible event needs to be accessible at every point of the journey. It starts with being able to confidently book on-line in the knowledge that the details on accessibility are reliable and consistent. Poor information acts as a barrier and discourages people with access needs to travel. Every aspect of transport and accommodation, as well as the event itself, need to be accessible.  So, finally, the opportunity exists with the Rugby World Cup to create an accessible environment for all to enjoy a great game of rugby.

Yesterday, Access Tourism NZ received an email request for information from Paul W for help finding holiday places and accommodation for a wheelchair user planning a trip to New Zealand.  Paul wants to visit the North Island with his wife and two sons.  Therefore, Paul is actually planning a trip for four people, and if he is not satisfied that the trip will be a success for himself as a wheelie, NZ may loose out on four visitors.  Below is our response to him.

Dear Paul,

Thank you for your email asking for help in planning a trip to New Zealand for a wheelchair user.  I am sorry to inform you that there is no comprehensive and reliable information in one place that you need to plan such a trip.   I know that for a person with a disability, planning a big trip is even more fraught than for someone who does not have a disability.  The reason I do not have the information you need is that here in NZ, anyone can say they are wheelchair accessible and there is no quality rating system that ensures that their claims are true.  For example, tourism operators such as accommodation providers often think they are accessible when they are not.  It is not that they are being deceitful; it is just that they have no idea of what true access is, and so I often get emails from people who have turned up at an accommodation provider or eatery they have been told is accessible only to find that it is not.  I also receive email enquiries such as yours from around the world steadily, and have to provide the same answers.  The solution to this problem is that NZ must begin to take Access Tourism seriously if we are to adequately cater for what I believe will be a growing demand.

There are a few sources of information about Access Tourism in NZ, but some of these must be used with caution.  They are:

1. Accomobility, which lists accessible accommodation.  While this is a step forward, I should caution you that all accommodations are self-assessed by the owner/operator, and my research – and anecdotal information from many people – show that operators think their premises are accessible when they are not (this is mentioned on the site).  Therefore, I would advise always checking with operators about your specific needs before booking any of these accommodations.
2. Each of the major centres and some of the smaller centres have general information about access for PwDs – if you hope to visit these, I suggest you look at the council websites or contact the councils involved, or the disabilities NGOs (such as WEKA, CCS Disability Action, Disabled Persons Assembly, which has a number of links, etc).
3. Some centres have specific information about access for visitors.  For example, Wellington has a group of accommodations and a group of sights and activities subheaded “accessible”, but I assume these are self-assessed as there is no information to the contrary.  Wellington City Council also has an access map.    Auckland is, to my knowledge, the only city in the North Island that has begun to actually professionally access visitor features for access on any scale. For example, 15 accommodations are assessed here, and assessment of some dining, entertainment, transport etc occur elsewhere on the website.  Auckland also has an access map (a bit dated and I believe being updated), and there are definitely moves in that city around the whole issue of visitor access.  Kudos to them.  Whangarei, north of Auckland, has access information on the CCS site, and an access map.  I am unsure if the accommodations etc were professionally assessed for access.  The CCS site also has information about access to recreation in Auckland, and Auckland parks.  
4. The New Zealand Tourism Guide – one of NZ’s largest and most important guides – has a page of “Accessible Accommodation”.  However, a random check of a few the accommodations listed shows that their websites have no information about access, or very little.  Again, as the NZ Tourism Guide itself warns you, it is wise to check if booking.  They also tell you that “.. it is important to check whether accommodations welcome your guide dog……..”  This is in spite of the fact that to refuse a guide dog would be in breach of the Human Rights Act!
5. Other websites also list accommodations etc that are accessible, but the same caution applies.

I hope some of this is helpful,

Best regards

Sandra

Auckland City

New Zealand’s first Access Tourism Conference, held by the NZ Tourism Research Institute October 4, 2010 at Auckland University of Technology, had excellent post-conference press and blog pickup, and Access Tourism was mentioned elsewhere.  Pickup included: National Business Review, Business Scoop, Voxy, Silobreaker, the Otago Daily Times, the Rolling Rains Report, the Bill Forrester Linked In discussion group, Travability on LinkedIn and on the Travability website, the Apparalyzed Forums, the Low Visionary website, the Accessible Tourism Research website, Travel Memo, on the NZ Maori Party website, the European Network for Access Tourism website, the eTravel Blackboard website, Accessibility News International, Inside Tourism eZine 14/10/2010 (article by Anne McLaren) (IT807), the Campus Daily website, the American Association of Retires Persons website, and in the Tourism Business magazine (October November 2010, “Could you be ignoring 11% of the market’.  Pp 16-17.  Author: Annie Gray, editor).  In addition, Access Tourism was mentioned in a speech to parliament by Rahui Katene MP  for Te Tai Tonga, and the Minister for Disability Issues includes Access Tourism in two speeches; article here.  These speeches were then picked up by various media and NGO websites.

In a first for New Zealand, McLaren Brown Publishing is now including information on accessibility for people with disabilities in all its tourism publications.  “We see Access Tourism as essential information for all visitors both international and domestic, ” says Publisher Anne McLaren. “ It is a growth market which we cannot afford to ignore. ”  New for the visitor is The Little Green Kiwi guide to New Zealand with a map and useful website links for Access Tourism.   ”There is not a lot of information out there about Access Tourism in New Zealand”, says McLaren, “and some of that which exists is unreliable.  We hope that more tourism businesses in New Zealand will become reliably accessible and that information about access becomes more available so that we can begin to include that information in our publications.”  The Little Green Kiwi is a handbook of information about New Zealand and its region with an emphasis on the eco-friendly.

Order your free copy on www.littlegreenkiwi.co.nz

Tariana Turia – New Zealand’s Minister for Disabilities Issues – told a meeting in Whanganui that the Ministerial Committee on Disability Issues last week held a “useful discussion about the concept of Access Tourism – that is tourism which enables all people to access accommodation, travel, information, events, without any structural impediments to doing so (New Zealand government website).  She went on to say “The Rugby World Cup provides us with an opportune time to look at how we can make our country a leader in accessible tourism.”  Praising Whanganui for their recent disability strategy, she noted that the strategy had at  least three goals that “are about ensuring accommodation options, recreational and cultural activities, and information about disabled peoples is accessible and widely used throughout the region”.  She also noted that the Horizons Regional Council website has some good information on transport options for disabled people. “It might be an interesting process to go through, to have an audit on the online facility, the signage, the venues, pathways, toilets, transport options and so on. Ask yourself the question: what can Whanganui offer that will make a trip a pleasure rather than a burden?”  Minister Turia also mentioned Access Tourism in a speech to the Disability Support Services Consumer Consortium, and went on to say that she has “asked the group from the Accessible Rugby World Cup to come back to the Ministerial Committee later this month, to really see how we can lift our game to ensure accessibility is a target in everyone’s planning” (New Zealand Government website).  Access Tourism New Zealand hopes that outcomes of the Ministerial Committee on Disability Issues discussions – particularly those related to Access Tourism – will be made known publicly. The committee was formed in 20 months ago in February 2009, and so far, outcomes of discussions around Access Tourism have not been reported in any depth.

The following is from a speech to the NZ parliament by Rahui Katene, MP for Te Tai Tonga about the Rugby World Cup 2011 Empowering Bill

“… the Bill doesn’t mention the whole concept of Access Tourism.  The message from Rugby World Cup advocates is that the provisions in the bill are simply about providing hospitality for the tens of thousands of visitors who arrive. ……….  But hospitality could also extend towards ensuring we are truly prepared for the influx of overseas visitors, through such specific and tangible provisions as:

- Ensuring the Rugby World Cup Website is accessible – by that I mean being able to quickly navigate the Tourism New Zealand site to find out information about accommodation/ airports/ transport and parking which will ensure disabled visitors, the elderly and others seeking to even gain access to the venues will be supported

- We could be creating a common brand – Be Accessible – Aotearoa would welcome all peoples to the world of the 2011 Rugby World Cup

- And we could do all this tomorrow – by auditing the main tourist accommodation venues to ensure we have a set of standards around what you have to have in order to cater for all.

This is a massive area of work that isn’t being adequately addressed and we would like to see that improved.”

Inside Tourism reports that JetStar’s latest TV commercial highlights actors who are older than usual which saw CEO Bruce Buchanan being congratulated. “There are images of an older age group in the ad which is wonderful to see and we request you to have a word with TNZ (Tourism New Zealand, which markets NZ to the world) about it,” he was told by Carolyn Deuchar of the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI). “I’ll take that up,” he replied.   NZTRI has a Research Programme Area devoted to Access Tourism (tourism, travel, and hospitality for people with disabilities, seniors, and Baby Boomers who will experience increasing disability with age).  Guy King of Select Tours said he endorsed the idea of marketing to Baby Boomers. He said “TNZ has failed miserably because you get a lot of advertising showing bungy jumping and skydiving and they have largely ignored the baby boomer market.   Yet that is where a lot of the money is and that is something that needs to be addressed. I would strongly  recommend it.”  Tourism Auckland outgoing CEO Graeme Osborne added: “I can assure you that TNZ has modified its thinking to reflect that. The new broom at TNZ is taking into account those market characteristics.”  Access Tourism NZ is pleased to see that TNZ has modified its thinking and looks forward to seeing the results of this modification.

Access Tourism NZ Conference Photo courtesy Pascal Languillon

The 80 delegates at the recently held inaugural Access Tourism New Zealand conference held at Auckland University of Technology were ask to fill in a short survey to help the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute better plan for subsequent such conferences. The results of the survey are now available.  Delegates came from the private sector (36), NGOs (18), local government (14), the public sector (6), and academic institutions (6). Just over half (41) of the delegates filled in the form in part or in full. Of these, most were either “very much satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the conference content (91%), speakers and presentations (85%), accessibility (91%), and the overall experience (90%). All except one of the remainder were “satisfied”. Eighty eight percent would like to see the Access Tourism conference become an annual event (10% were undecided). More stated that the main reason for attending the conference was for the content (46%) than anything else, although personal and professional development (22%) and networking opportunities (20%) were also important. Delegates learnt about the conference mainly through e-mailed newsletters or referrals (both 40%).

When asked for comments, delegates stated that the most beneficial aspects of the conference were awareness raising, information gathering, and networking, while suggestions for improving the conference included avoiding duplication, expanding the topics covered, having the presentation material available prior to the conference, more time for group discussions and interactions, splitting into streams, and running the conference over two days. Delegates wanted to see more government and industry representation (for example, it was noted by many that no-one from Qualmark, Tourism New Zealand, major industry organizations such as the Tourism Industry Organization, or the Ministry of Tourism – now the Tourism Strategy Group – were there). Themes or topics suggested for future conferences included providing solutions and ways forward, case studies of access improvement at businesses, inclusiveness in the wider community and what that means, best practice in access in the various tourism sub-sectors and on websites, government initiatives and frameworks for coordination, disability awareness training, consumer research, and disabilities segmentation.

For the full list of comments, download the attachment here.  Videos are now available here.

Guest article by Tracey O’Callaghan, The Summit Lodge.  In this article, Tracey describes the motivation behind establishing a guest lodge that is accessible to people with disabilities.  The lodge is a five star rural retreat in the sheep farming and wine-growing region of Gladstone, in the Wairarapa, New Zealand.

I became aware of the issues of aging populations, Baby Boomer expectations and shifts in societal values whilst working in HR and researching workforce supply and demand.  At the same time I was providing life coaching to individuals in terms of career, retirement and coming to terms with other major life changes.  So, when my husband and I decided on a lifestyle change it was completely natural for us to take these issues into consideration!    I could not see myself facing another 20 years plus in corporate senior manager roles and neither of us could contemplate ‘retiring’ in the traditional sense of the word.  We both enjoy people, entertaining, food and wine; we wanted to move to a rural setting where we could grow fruit and vegetables and keep a few pets and so we decided to establish a guest lodge.  Right from the start we wanted a property that was accessible.  We have friends we have mobility issues and are either reliant on a wheelchair or who have restricted movement and so we know some of the problems they encounter when travelling.

Continue reading………………………………….

Continue Reading

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).

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.

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.

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 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.)