In 2011, the New Zealand National Foundation for the Deaf (NFD) commissioned the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI) to conduct research into the tourism, travel, and hospitality experiences and needs of people with hearing impairments.   Hearing impairment ranges from slight hearing loss to total loss. The research was led by Dr. Sandra Rhodda, Research Programme Leader in Access Tourism. The research included two surveys, one for residents of New Zealand (“NZ”) and one for residents of countries other than NZ (called Internationals, or “Int”) who are deaf or have hearing loss.   The aim of the research was to find out what it is like to travel with hearing loss, how the travel experiences of hearing impaired people can be improved, to establish what people with hearing loss want in terms of tourism products and services, and to offer a better understanding of Access Tourism as a legitimate tourism market.  It also evaluated the case for the development of a ‘Hearing Tick’ for tourism businesses that cater for people with hearing loss.

In summary, the survey found that

• The top four reasons why NZ and Int respondents travel in general are: for enjoyment (84%/91%), to connect with friends, family or partner (84%/59%), to have new experiences (65%/72%), and for relaxation (53%/57%).  In other words, for the same reasons as people without hearing loss travel.
• NZ respondents on average took 7.18 overnight domestic trips during 2010; this is more than the number of domestic overnight trips (4.2) taken by NZers in general. NZ respondents took either one (30%), two (11%), or three or more (10%) international trips during 2010. Forty-nine percent did not travel internationally.
• The primary reasons NZ respondents took their most recent domestic trip were to be with friends and family (31%), to holiday (25%), for business (11%), or to attend conferences (10%).
• The majority (82%) of NZ respondents travelled with at least one other person on their most recent domestic trip – mainly a spouse or partner (73%). Eighteen percent travelled alone.
• On their most recent domestic trip, NZ respondents stayed an average of 4.6 nights away from home, and spent on average $107 per person per day on transport, accommodation, activities and attractions, and food and beverage.
• Thirty-three percent of Int respondents took between three and five domestic overnight trips in their own country. The mean number of domestic overnight trips taken by Int respondents was 6.8.
• Forty percent of Int respondents did not take any international trips during 2010. Of those who did travel internationally, the majority (83%) took between one and three trips.
• Forty-three percent of Int respondents have previously visited NZ, 47% have never visited NZ but plan to do so one day; 10% have never visited and have no plans to do so.
• For those Int respondents who have been to NZ, the main reasons for their last visit were ‘holiday’ (42%), to be with friends and/or family (15%), and to attend a conference or similar event (13%).   The majority (83%) of Int respondents who visited NZ travelled with at least one other person on their  last visit – mainly their spouse or partner. Seventeen percent of Int respondents travelled by themselves to NZ.  On their last visit to NZ, Int respondents stayed an average of 13.2 days.
• Just under half (46%) of NZ respondents are somewhat dissatisfied with the number of domestic overnight trips they currently take. Factors that prevent these respondents from travelling more domestically are cost (74%), a concern that their hearing needs will not be met (37%), and difficulty finding information about access for visitors with hearing loss (24%).  Fifty-nine percent of NZ respondents ‘agree’ or ‘somewhat agree’ that they would take more domestic overnight trips if the level of service for people with hearing loss across the tourism industry in NZ was improved.
• Just under half (43%) of Int respondents are somewhat dissatisfied with the number of international trips they currently take. Factors preventing Int visitors from taking more international trips are cost (73%), time constraints (54%), concerns that their hearing needs will not be met (33%), and difficulty finding information about access for visitors with hearing loss (25%).
• Both NZ and Int respondents agree (mean 4.4-4.6 out of 5) that the most important access needs when travelling away from home include customer service staff who have a ‘can-do’ attitude and the provision of reliable information. This includes information about safety in clear print, emergency alarms in public areas that are visual as well as audible, public audio announcements also provided in text on TV screens, and customer service staff who are knowledgeable about serving guests with hearing loss.
• When asked what other things would make their travel more enjoyable and accessible, both NZ and Int respondents highlighted the importance of understanding, patient staff trained to know how to accommodate people with hearing loss, how to meet their needs, and what to do in an emergency.
• Over two-thirds (70%) of NZ and half (52%) of Int respondents indicated that it is difficult to find information about NZ tourism products that are accessible to people with hearing loss.
• Forty-two percent of NZ and 29% of Int respondents agreed with the statement that ‘information about services for the hearing impaired is often wrong or misleading’.
• The reasons most often stated by both NZ and Int respondents for not seeking information about NZ tourism products were: a lack of knowledge on how to seek information and a perception that it is too hard to find. Some also think the information does not exist, and that businesses do not cater for people with hearing loss.
• The majority of NZ (90%) and over half (55%) of Int respondents feel that the level of service in the NZ tourism industry for people with hearing loss needs to be improved.
• Nearly two thirds (60%) of NZ and three quarters of Int respondents indicate they would ‘often’ return to a tourism business that has good services for people with hearing loss; 64% and 76% would tell friends and family about such a business.
• The majority of both NZ (88%) and Int (89%) respondents think it is a good idea to have a hearing-rating symbol that NZ businesses could use to show they are accessible to people with hearing loss.
• The main reasons given by both domestic and Int respondents for saying the use of a ‘hearing tick’ is a good idea are: to show that people with hearing loss are accepted and provided for, to reduce anxiety and frustration, to make the business easily recognisable, to promote awareness by businesses of people with hearing loss, and to improve first time and repeat patronage by people with hearing loss.
• The majority of NZ (83%) and Int (91%) respondents indicate that they would visit a website that had reliable information on tourism businesses in NZ that cater for people with hearing loss.

The full report can be found on the NZTRI site and on the NFD site.

Two new text books on accessible tourism are available through the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) from Channel View Publications. The first is “Concepts and Issues” (eds: Dimitrios Buhalis and Simon Darcy), which sets out to  explore and document the current theoretical approaches, foundations and issues  in the study of accessible tourism.  Professor Nigel Morgan, The Welsh Centre for Tourism Research states that this volume harnesses “the best conceptual  developments on the topic” and that it will “take accessible tourism and universal design debates into the mainstream of academic enquiryand industry practice“

The second volume is “Best Practice in Accessible Tourism” (eds: Buhalis, Darcy, and Ivor Ambrose).  It focuses on policy and best practice in accessible tourism, reflecting the ”state-of -the-art” as expressed in a selection of international chapters. It brings together global expertise in planning, design and management to inform and stimulate providers of travel, transport, accommodation, leisure and tourism services to serve guests with disabilities, seniors and the wider markets that require good accessibility. Chapter 8, written by Sandra Rhodda of Access Tourism New Zealand, describes the state of accessible tourism in this country.  Overall, the book gives ample evidence that accessible tourism organisations and destinations can expand their target markets as well as improve the quality of their service offering, leading to greater customer satisfaction, loyalty and expansion of business.  Accessible tourism is not only about providing access to people with disabilities but also it addresses the creation of universally designed environments that can support people that may have temporary disabilities, families with young children, the ever increasing ageing population as well as creating a safer environment for employees to work. Noel Scott, of the University of Queensland, Australia says that the volume “provides a ‘state-of-the-art” assessment of both theory and practice. This book establishes a new field of study and provides the benchmark against which other contributions will be judged. It integrates the work of all the key players and should be read by academics, managers and government policy makers.”

An event held during New Zealand Sign Language Week (May 2-8) has highlighted the fact that more deaf people would more often attend sign language interpretation of art in galleries if it was on offer. So says NZ Sign Language interpreter Brydee Jenkins Strang.  The Dunedin Public Art Gallery (DPAG) held a tour of the Beloved collection last Sunday, with Strang translating guide Eryn van Dijk’s discussion. This tour was the only interpreted gallery tour in New Zealand for Sign Language (NZSL) Week, and was the second time it was run. The Beloved collection shows popular works in the DPAG collection such as pieces by New Zealanders  Colin McCahon and Reuben Paterson, and by Claude Monet.  Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand (DANZ) community relations officer Jenna Holland attended the tour, and said deaf attendees enjoyed the event and would like more translated events. “Deaf community members like visualising and describing things,” said Holland.  She would like to see an exhibition of work by deaf artists with a related workshop to introduce people to sign language and the deaf arts community.  DANZ focuses on promoting awareness of, access to, and advancement of NZSL and provides information and resources on D/deaf New Zealanders, and D/deaf culture.  DANZ held a workshop on sign language for
gallery staff during Sign Language Week. NZSL is NZ’a third official language –
the other two are English and Maori.

DPAG visitor host Rosemary Jackson-Hunter said the gallery would like to hold more events like the interpreted tour. “We are considering doing something for people with impaired sight,” said Jackson-Hunter .

A search of the DPAG website reveals that there is no information about access to the gallery for people with any type of disability, and no way to search for such information on the website.  While a few other galleries (and museums) in New Zealand do have such information, an extensive search for disabled access at other galleries and museums throughout New Zealand shows that their websites lack access information about their premises.

Dear Karen,

It would be so great to see you and your husband (who is willing to wheel you anywhere accessible) in New Zealand, and I really wish I could offer you advice about where to get information about accessible places that you could visit or stay at, but that information is essentially non-existent.  At least reliable information is virtually non-existent.  The most reliable is the newly set up website “Be. Accessible”, which has assessed some accommodations, eateries, attractions and so on for access but so far only in the Auckland City area, so not of much use to you I am afraid.   Another source of reliable information is the newly-released Taupo District Council brochure which has accommodations and attractions etc that have been assessed by a person with Barrier-Free training.  I say reliable because these are accommodations and so on that have actually been independently assessed for access for people with a disability, and their accessibility is described.  If you do visit Rotorua, you could then head south to Taupo with this brochure.  There are a couple of other websites which list accessible accommodations, attractions etc, but may I advise caution? The businesses  listed have been rated as accessible by the owner or operator, but my research has shown that operators do not often know what true access for people with disabilities is and so often claim their premises are accessible when they are not.

 As I don’t know the full extent of your access needs, I can’t advise you to “wing it” in New Zealand as you suggest.  I really have not myself checked out the accessibility of tourism products along the routes you describe and would hate to give you misleading advice.  And there is nowhere you can go to for such advice that I know of I am afraid.  I do not have the knowledge about accessible accommodations and walks that you so desperately need.   I see you have tried to download the brochures about “Easy Access Walks” put out by our Department of Conservation and could not do so.  I am not sure why.   I would in any case suggest caution using these guides as some of the walks that I have checked myself in the past were really not that accessible for a person in a chair, or with mobility disability, even though they are stated as wheelchair accessible.  I have to confess though that I have not checked them all.   In case you do want to depend on these, the north island walks can be found here, and the south island here.

There are a handful of operators in New Zealand who offer accessible tours (I will email you a list), but I have not checked these out personally and so can not speak with authority about them.  As we have no quality rating system for Access Tourism products, it is hard to tell.  One thing you could do is write to them and lay out your needs so you can be quite clear that those needs will be met.  Another thing you could do is to have a look at the Access Tourism NZ website for descriptions of trips others have taken in New Zealand (for example, Jim Llewellyn, Bruce Mumford, etc).  And then, if you do travel around New Zealand, it would be helpful to others if you were to let Access Tourism New Zealand know of your experiences so that we can pass on that information to others.

 I wish that information about Access Tourism in New Zealand was more easily available and relaible, but until more funding is forthcoming for research, quality rating, and description in this area, I am afraid all I can do is offer you my apologies for not being more helpful.  The Be. Accessible Foundation is to receive NZ$4 million from the government over the next four years to advance their access programme so I am hopeful that that will lead to more reliable information about Access Tourism products throughout New Zealand in the future.

Regards, Sandra.

At a time when New Zealand is focused on recreating the built environment of ita second-largest city (Christchurch), a new enterprise has launched with two significant and potentially contributory new initiatives: New Zealand’s first nationwide accessibility programme, Be. Accessible, and the first nationwide disability leadership programme of its kind, Be. Leadership.

At its launch event at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Be. Institute formally presented the two programmes and outlined the vision for what the institute, through its initiatives and partnerships, can do to foster accessibility and enable a 100% accessible society for all New Zealanders.

The mission is social change: to improve the accessibility of the physical environment, enable better access to information, promote the inclusion and leadership of disabled people in employment and the community, and change social attitudes and behaviours.

In many respects, the timing of the launch is optimal. One Be. Institute project, the Be. Test Match, will be rolled out through the Be. Accreditation programme (part of Be. Accessible) to the 12 New Zealand cities hosting Rugby World Cup 2011.

In the first phase, the Be. Assessors will visit key locations in each of the 12 cities and assess stadia, fan zones, i-SITES and other relevant locations such as hotels.

However, the organization’s aims for its programmes reach beyond this sporting event. By the end of May 2011, Be. Accessible will have trained 40 Be. Assessors, who will be equipped with the tools and know-how to perform holistic assessments of the aforementioned sites, and thousands of others over time.

They will be able to cover the whole accessibility journey, asking questions like: how accessible is the organisation’s website,  what is the level of customer service, how accessible is the building entrance, interior and products, and are the business / organisation’s marketing materials accessible to all people?  Any business can book an accessibility assessment from a Be. Assessor and learn how they can change their practices or structure to make their organization more accessible.

The Be. Institute was founded through a partnership between the Auckland Council, the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the Auckland District Health Board.  Be. Institute is led by chief executive Minnie Baragwanath, who before founding Be. Institute worked for 10 years in the disability sector, advising to the former Auckland City Council.

In a positive step forward, the New Zealand Government has recognized the skills, knowledge and economic power of older people and how these will benefit New Zealand’s economic competitiveness in the next 40 years.  Minister for Senior Citizens John Carter – in releasing a report called The Business of Ageing, Realising the economic potential of older people in New Zealand: 2011-2051   – said that in less than 20 years, one million people in New Zealand will be over the age of 65, compared to about 560,000 today. And in 40 years, one in four people will be aged over 65, compared to one in eight today.  “People over 65 are predicted to be our only growth market in terms of demography. They will become one of the most significant consumer markets in New Zealand. They will have their own needs and preferences that are quite different from earlier generations of older people, and also quite different from younger people.  Baby boomers will be healthier, better educated and have more spending power than any other generation reaching 65 in New Zealand’s history.  They want to stay active and keep working. Flexible work options could drive job growth and help us respond to projected skill and labour shortages.  Government cannot work in isolation to develop priorities for older people, so buy-in from the business sector, employers and people of all ages is essential to capture the possibilities this report outlines” said Carter.

That the mature market is hailed as a good example of an opportunity for New Zealand, both domestically and internationally is a major step forward.   The report mentions tourism amongst other things.  Certainly, in tourism, there has been little recognition of the growing importance of this market.  The first mention of the fact that “travellers in the older age groups will become even more significant in the future” occurred in the Ministry of Tourism’(now part of the Ministry of Econmic Development) report, Interenational Visitors Tourism Sector Profile, in June 2009.  Then last year (2010), Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism John 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.” said Key.    Also in 2010, the government released a report which recognized the importance of the older market.  The report – Domestic Tourism Market Segmentation - went on to state that major barriers to this group travelling are “health and disability (their own or that of a travelling companion) as well as lack of travelling companions”.    

This latest report states that ”A tourism industry that responds to the changing demands of baby boomers over 65 could have spin-off effects for other industries and stimulate regional economic growth”. As Access Toursm New Zealand has pointed out on numerous occassions, if New Zealand is to seriously market to and cater for older travellers (or indeed, older markets in general), it has to take into consideration that disability increases with age, and must improve its access tourism offer.  Instead of seeing a person’s disability as a barrier (as the Segmentation Report does), it must look at  environment factors such as inaccessible tourism websites, transport, accommodation and other innaccessible products as disabling.

In a press release, the New Zealand National Foundation for the Deaf (NFD) have called for the government to come up with innovative ways to help people with hearing disabilities afford alarm systems that would alert them when they’re activated.  Louse Carroll, NFD Chief Executive stated that people who are deaf cannot hear audio alarms, and nor can many hearing impaired people who take their hearing aids out when they go to bed.  “And that includes people staying in hotels and motels, as well as people in their own homes. Getting an alarm that links with the lights or to a vibrating pad that goes under a pillow is expensive, and we need to look at how we can make these more affordable.”  Mrs Carroll said governments overseas were moving to deal with the issue, and it was time for the New Zealand government to do the same.  A 2003 study of small accommodation businesses in four areas in New Zealand showed that there are a number of factors that impact on the small business owner’s compliance with fire safety regulations.  These include access to resources

The New Zealand Tourism Research Institute at Auckland University of Technology is currently conducting a survey of people who have slight to total hearing loss to find out what their tourism, travel, hospitality, and leisure experiences and needs are.  Included in the survey is a question about visual and vibrating fire alarms.  Tourism is New Zealand’s largest export earner, and we can expect that more and more of our guests – both national and international – will have hearing impairments due to the ageing of the world population.  There have been numerous examples of fatal fires in travel accommodation worldwide, so there is no reason to believe it could not happen in New Zealand.  For example, in 2007-2008, the New Zealand Fire Service reported 139 fires in hotels, motels, and lodges, 1, 147 calls to places of public recreation, and 1, 238 calls to commercial premises such as food and beverage outlets.

Bill Forrester, of Travability Australia, who gave a presentation at the first New Zealand conference on Access Tourism (AT) in October 2010 about how tourism businesses may comply with access legalities, but not promote this fact, also spoke recently on this topic at the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality (SATH) conference in Florida.  Forrester thinks that we are at a critical turning point in the future of AT.  Over the past 20 years the advocacy concentration has been on breaking down the physical barriers that prevented People with Disabilities (PwDs) from accessing holiday destinations.  Now the problem lies in the fact that the travel industry has failed to move beyond a compliance model.  Facilities are built but are poorly understood if they are understood at all, and even where facilities are excellent the accessible tourism sector is not regarded as a valuable market segment, or not understood as a market segment at all. “The result is that those facilities are never disclosed, never advertised and never published in a way that the travellers who need those facilities ever get a chance to know where they are.”  Now, it is recognized that progress will result if the mainstream industry understands the economic benefit AT can bring the tourism sector.  Forrester cites The Shotover Jet in Queenstown New Zealand as an example of a business that accommodates PwDs by offering accessible services but which does not publish this fact.   “….they are providing a service because they believe “it is the right thing to do” not because they see a valuable market. It is accommodation of a traveller with a disability not true inclusion.” 

Forrester points out the current and growing economic importance of the PwD market, and the folly of continuing to treat it as disabilities rights issue.   “Too often the provision of accessible information, like the provision of the facilities themselves, are regarded as an afterthought or part of a special marketing project to provide information out of a perceived community service. The results are often “special” brochures or special web portals that are forgotten about or become out of date once the project that created them has finished. While the intention may good the results will always fail as that information is not mainstream, further unless the person for whom it is intended actually knows about it, then it can be as hard to find as the actual facilities themselves” (Travability).  He cites another New Zealand example where this type of thinking fails. “The Department of Conservation in New Zealand recently produced two guides to wheelchair accessible and easy walks, one for the North Island and one for the South Island. Both of those brochures were never properly displayed and hence most people didn’t realise they existed. The far better solution would have been to incorporate the information into the mainstream trail information in their main National Parks brochure.”  Elsewhere, Forrester sees things improving. “The tide is changing and a great example of a truly inclusive culture is Parks Alberta with their “Push to Open” initiative, but unlike a lot of other disability projects this one is embedded into the vision statement of the organisation.”

Accessible Options was set up in 1993 by Alexia Pickering to provide a range of services to commercial, government, tourism, community and private bodies. Alexia and Accessible Options provide consulting and advisory services for optimising new premises for accessibility, access audits on existing premises, and information valuable to travellers with disabilities travelling to or in New Zealand. Alexia is currently focusing on providing a mainstream solution for accommodation providers to enable them to display on their website, a standard set of information on the accessibility of their premises for guests with disabilities. The “Accommodation Accessibility Appraisal” is already in use by several accommodation providers in New Zealand, however it is a long way from being standard information provided for disabled travellers. Read more about Alexia and Accessible Options

Alexia has developed an Accessibility Questionnaire that is becoming more accepted by the accommodation industry in New Zealand. The information derived from the questionnaire provides a quick reference for visitors on the website about their specific accessibility requirements. Time spent searching and phoning the establishment to understand their facilities can be shortened by them having this information on their website. Alexia is currently campaigning to have her Accessibility Questionnaire adopted as a standard information service by the accommodation industry in New Zealand. Read more about Alexia’s Questionnaire and how to support it’s progress into the mainstream.

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