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

2010 Legacies Now Measuring Up

The Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games held earlier this year have left lasting legacies for the disabled. Will New Zealand take the same opportunities presented by holding Rugby World Cup in 2011?  It is probable that we have left things a little late to make any large differences, although some progress is being made.  Access Tourism NZ has already described how planning to improve access around the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 began in 2004 and is ongoing.  In the case of British Columbia, the organizing committee for the Vancouver Games  (VANOC) knew from the beginning that its responsibility was not only to organize and stage successful Games that upheld the values of the Olympic and Paralympic movements, but also to improve the communities in which those Games would take place.  VANOC’s sustainability targets also included social sustainability.  In 2000, the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation partnered with the Province of British Columbia to establish the 2010 Legacies Now program. Since that time, 2010 Legacies Now has worked with more than 4,000 organizations province-wide, investing in programs that will be self-sustaining legacies in the areas of sport, healthy living, literacy, arts, volunteerism and accessibility.

 The planned legacies of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are numerous and multi-faceted. Of interest to Access Tourism are the following:

• precedent-setting planning and accountability through ongoing stakeholder engagement with consortiums representing persons with a disability
• enhanced accessibility in Whistler and Vancouver for people with disabilities; Whistler is now one of the most accessible resort communities in the world
• barrier-free guidelines for accessible events and accommodation
• A program called Accessible Tourism, a collaboration between 2010 Legacies Now, the Province, Tourism BC and other partners to help 3,600 tourism businesses and 27 recreations measure their accessibility and learn how to improve it so they can draw and serve people with disabilities, young and old (Scrapbook, p.15)
• The Measuring Up program, supported by 2010 Legacies Now along with the Province of BC, which helped more than 100 communities assess and improve accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities, including the elderly. Examples of the types of projects supported through Measuring Up include enhanced sidewalks and more accessible parks and transit options.
• Built environment:
  •  Richmond’s Speed Skating  Oval designed to meet and exceed national accessibility standards
  • Whistler Olympic plaza was slated to continue to serve as an outdoor gathering place for residents and visitors, equipped with an open grass lawn, amphitheatre seating, a 13,000 sq ft playground that is accessible to people with and without disabilities, outdoor performance spaces and public art commemorating the Games
  • The Olympic and Paralympic Village Whistler, located a short ride away from venues for Olympic and Paralympic athletes and officials, has a blend of accessible apartments, townhomes and hostel accommodation alongside a High Performance Centre
  • The new Vancouver Olympic Centre, which includes swimming pool change rooms  equipped with movable screen walls so all users, including those in wheelchairs, can use them more easily
  • City of Vancouver project “City Hall Community Garden”, with 40 new plots, eight of them accessible to seniors and people with disabilities
  • Three state-of-the-art playgrounds in Vancouver, Whistler and Richmond, which enable all children, able and disabled, to play together

Beach wheelchairs for the disabled are becoming more common.  To give just two examples from opposite sides of the world, the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa Municipality (Israel)  just purchased six of the chairs for four of its beaches.  The chairs are designed to enable people with mobility disability to move around on beach sand and enter the water.  There are plans to increase the number of such chairs available.  In  Brunswick Heads (Queensland, Australia), the Disabled Surfers Association with assistance from The Northern Rivers Community Foundation and Byron Shire Council have purchased four “four-wheel-drive” beach wheelchair.  Owen Danvers, who gave one of the chairs a test run at Torakina Beach, said it was a huge bonus for Brunswick Heads’ disabled residents and visitors.  “For a lot of people, just to be able to get their feet wet is an experience, especially for those who’ve never been on the beach before.”   Ted Kabbout, of the Disabled Surfers Association, said the chairs could also be used by the elderly.  “With the ageing population, there are a lot of people who haven’t been down to the beach for a long time who can now think about getting there again.”  Mr Kabbout said the purchase of the chair was the first step in a push to make Brunswick Heads beaches more accessible. In the long term, he would like to see accessibility ramps built at various locations on the river and beaches.  “Brunswick Heads is such a good location for these things to be in place. It’s the perfect fit. It doesn’t cost a huge amount, we just need the will,” Mr Kabbout said.

Photo Courtesy National Sports Centre for the Disabled

Christchurch New Zealand is to host the 18^th International Symposium of Adapted Physical Activity (ISAPA2011) in July 2011.  The International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA) holds these symposia every two years.  IFAPA is a cross-disciplinary professional organisation of individuals, institutions, and agencies concerned with promotion and dissemination of knowledge and information about adapted physical activity. The International Symposium of Adapted Physical Activity is a vehicle to raise local awareness and provide an outstanding setting for local professionals to interact with world leaders and international colleagues in adapted physical activity. ISAPA 2011 will give New Zealand the opportunity to make an international contribution to adapted physical activity. Participants at ISAPA include practitioners, researchers, scholars, pedagogues, scientists, teachers and students in a broad spectrum of fields. Fields include regular and adapted physical education, community and therapeutic recreation, dance and creative arts, sport training and competition, leisure education, psychomotor therapy, kinesiology, medicine, nutrition, rehabilitation, special education, occupational and physical therapy, and many other areas.

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

Video reports from all 64 matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ will be broadcast in International Sign on FIFA.com.  For the first time, the Official Website of FIFA and the FIFA World Cup is enabling deaf and people with hearing impairments across the globe to follow all 64 matches of world football’s showpiece event even more comprehensively. International Sign, also known as IS, is an international auxiliary language used at international meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Congress and events such as the Deaflympics. The WFD represents approximately 70 million deaf people worldwide, and assists in making sign language available to deaf people, especially regarding matters of education and information. “Football is a universal sport and it must be accessible to everyone. We are therefore delighted to be offering this service for people with hearing impairments and the deaf,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. All International Sign match report videos will be available at FIFA’s official website, FIFA.com soon after each game.

Vancouver Island’s Campbell River and District Fish and Wildlife Association, Marine Harvest, Ministry of Tourism Culture and the Arts, and the Island Coastal Economic Trust will spend Can$100,000 to develop an accessible outdoor wilderness recreation destination featuring trails, a dock for freshwater lake fishing, and wilderness viewing at Roberts Lake. The initiative is designed to provide an intermediate access site which meets the needs of people with mobility, hearing and visual impairments in addition to seniors and families with strollers and young children and enables them to access and enjoy the wilderness. Shane Renouf, President of the District Fish and Wildlife Association said that the project coincides with British Columbia’s Universal Trails strategy and the Vancouver Island Tourism Plan. “Consequently, we are not only creating valuable local economic benefits but are also part of the bigger tourism infrastructure development strategy for the Island and BC”, said Renouf.

Baby Boomers flush with cash and a persistent wanderlust are flocking to recreational vehicle parks in record numbers.  That’s according to Mark Kros of News Press.  “For a crippled economy, the revival of the RV industry with the hundreds of millions of dollars it brings to Southwest Florida comes at a good time.”  In fact, RV/campground users in just Lee County increased 35% between 2008 and 2009 – pumping US$228 into the local economy.  The days of “trailer trash” are over, according to the National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds.  “That’s old, historic thinking. Today’s parks are upscale and filled with people who have been successful in life” said president and CEO, Linda Profaizer.  In fact, the industry now caters to an entirely new breed comprising high-end buyers, and the majority of motor homes now dominating parks fetch $500,000 and up.  Parks are now catering to wealthy Baby Boomers who no longer want to be tied to one vacation home.

Access Tourism NZ is pleased that efforts in Auckland around access for people with disabilities (PwDs) and Rugby World Cup 2011 are continuing.  We first noted on this website last month that Auckland is leading the way when it comes to this topic.  Now the latest Auckland’s Rugby World Cup 2011 Newsletter (May 2010) lists a discussion of disabilities and RWC as one of six newsworthy items.  The newsletter is aimed at tourism businesses and in the article – titled “Don’t miss out on a big part of your audience” – operators are given compelling reasons for catering for PwDs. 

Minnie Baragwanath, Auckland City Council’s disability programme advisor, says in the article “The Disability Resource Centre has been doing a lot of work looking at the facilities at the key venues and we’ve received a really positive response. People are keen to know what they can do to help.”  One of the first initiatives Minnie’s team is tackling is having mobility scooters available to visitors to the city.  Then she plans to study access implemented at other world-class events.  “Nick Morris from Melbourne is helping us put together an action plan of what we want to achieve. Nick’s worked on accessibility planning at the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, so he’ll be a great source of ideas.”

The next step is to communicate to businesses about what they can do to ensure people with a disability can access their business.  “It might be something as simple as whether a disabled person can actually get into your shop.”  To aid in this, an Event Ready kit for businesses – which will be available early next year – will include information on how to improve access.

This article from the Rolling Rains Report. 

All wheelchair users travelling through the ACSA Terminals of O.R. Tambo International, King Shaka International and Cape Town International airports during the 2010 World Cup will be greeted with a gift of a wheelchair repair toolkit and the Rolling Inspiration magazine.  Rolling Inspiration is Africa’s glossy, lifestyle magazine for people with mobility impairments.

The QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA), Rolling Inspiration magazine and CE Mobility have joined forces to provide this surprise package in order to keep wheelchair users mobile during the tournament. The football fans’ wheelchairs, which may not be used to the pace of life in South Africa, will probably require some small maintenance or adjustment as a result of whizzing around the country to support their favourite soccer team.

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Pacman jsut had its thirtieth anniversary.  According to a just-released report, the USA gaming industry is set to lose $3 billion in potential revenue along with more than 30 million customers as Americans who play video games continue to age and become disabled.  The report, “Gaming on a Collision Course: Averting significant revenue loss by making games accessible to older Americans,” points out that about 25% of the nation’s gamers are 50 and older, and gamers are getting older each year. Consequently, the authors (Stephanie Walker  of The AbleGamers Foundation and Eleanor Robinson of  7-128 Software) say the topic of accessibility will gain importance.  The report, with a forward by “the father of video games”, Ralph Baer, includes data on gaming and accessibility from Deloitte Internet Research, the Pew Internet and American Life Project, and the U.S. Census Bureau.  ”Many gamers started playing Atari in the ‘70s and ‘80s and are now 50 years and older. They may still want to be gamers, but, as they age, they may not be able to because of disability or health conditions. They’re essentially being shut out,” says Stephanie Walker.  “The time for making games accessible is now,” she says.  The same rationale could be applied to the tourism industry.

South African Disability Alliance (SADA) members burnt tyres at the South African Football Association House earleir in the year to protest lack of accessibility to 2010 World Cup stadia by people with disabilities.  The Nigerian Voice reports that they also demonstrated outside the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg to protest lack of amenities provided for them at host city stadia during the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in June. About 100 members of SADA also handed over a  memorandum of demands to FIFA local organising committee (LOC) CEO Danny Jordaan.  The Mail and Guardian reports that Jordaan, on accepting the memorandum, said only three stadia were not accessible to the disabled, and that while people in wheelchairs had to buy tickets, the people pushing the wheelchairs did not.  ”We care about you,” said Jordaan, explaining that there was a memorandum of understanding signed between SADA and the LOC. SADA has demanded that the LOC ensure a safe and equitable environment for all spectators with disabilities, including at fan park facilities.  It also wanted to see an accessible transport plan approved and implemented by all host cities.  The protests where held in March.  Since then, efforts to improve access have become news (see 3 May 2010)

Contributed by Veroniek Maat, Intern, NZ Tourism Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, and Masters Student, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

The USA National Centre on Accessibility, based at Indiana State University, promotes access and inclusion for people with disabilities in parks, recreation, and tourism.  The Centre was established in 1992 through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service (with some functions similar to NZ’s Department of Conservation).   The Centre carries out research, training, technical assistance, and consultation.  The Centre focuses on universal design and practical accessibility solutions creating inclusive recreation opportunities for people of all abilities. Accessibility guidelines for outdoor developed areas managed by federal agencies are one step closer to becoming standards in the U.S.  Recently, a Draft Final Accessibility Guidelines for Federal Outdoor Areas was released by the U.S. Access Board, bringing the adoption of accessibility guidelines for outdoor areas closer to finalization and implementation under the Architectural Barriers Act.  This Act requires access to facilities designed, built, altered, or leased with Federal funds. Passed by Congress in 1968, it marks one of the first efforts to ensure access to the built environment. The Access Board develops and maintains accessibility guidelines under this law. The guidelines will apply to sites developed or altered by Federal land management agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Army Corps of Engineers.  The Board intends to develop similar guidelines for outdoor developed areas controlled by non-Federal entities at a future date.

The Canadian Tourism Commission has been promoting Access Cruises in Canada for Paralympic Athletes.  The Commission’s website has a list of cruises on small and big boats suitable for people with disabilities (PwDs), including on the Radiance of the Seas which is high on the list of accessible cruise ships according to the Cruise Critic website.  Cruise Critic also gives a list of helpful hints for PwDs planning a cruise.  The list of Canadian trips includes accessible ferries and self-propelled trips (kayaking, for example) as well as regular cruise vessels.

In a press release today, Tourism Vancouver says it aims to have all businesses assessed and rated for access for people with disabilities soon.  The press release states:

 Thanks to a ground swell of interest and funding that followed Vancouver’s successful bid to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the BC travel industry began making many positive adjustments to ensure Vancouver’s accommodations, restaurants and attractions are accessible to people with disabilities.

“The Games are a catalyst for change of the very best kind” says Bruce Dewar, CEO of 2010 legacies now , a not-for-profit society that partners with organizations, businesses and governments to develop sustainable legacies in sport and recreation, healthy living, arts, literacy, volunteerism and accessibility. “We are using the Games as a driver to get people thinking about how to make this one of the most accessible places in the world.”

This is more than simply a feel-good proposition. One in eight people worldwide live with a disability. In North America alone, travellers with disabilities spend more than $13 billion each year on travel. Together they are one of the fastest growing market opportunities in the world.

In the years leading up to the 2010 Winter Games, Vancouver’s tourism businesses began positioning themselves to tap in to that market with the help of 2010 Legacies Now and its partners. Through the accessible tourism strategy , accommodations, restaurants and attractions in BC are assessed on their capacity to serve people with disabilities. Businesses that fulfill certain criteria in the accessibility assessment earn the right to display icons that address their wheelchair accessibility, visual accessibility, and hearing accessibility. The information is also compiled with the goal of providing clear and consistent information to disabled travelers.

Visitors searching for accommodation on Tourism Vancouver’s website can now specify to search specifically for accessible accomodation listings. In addition, a growing number of attractions, such as Vancouver Aquarium and the Museum of Vancouver, feature their accessibility icons and information on their Tourism Vancouver listing. The intent is to have all businesses assessed and rated soon.

“The part of this project that excites me the most is how tourism has embraced it,” says 2010 Legacies Now’s Bruce Dewar. “The Games are the tipping point and things will carry on from here.” According to Tourism Vancouver’s Walt Judas, “Thinking about how we can meet the needs of locals and travellers with disabilities – that’s now embedded in the way we do business.”

Reprinted from the Tourism Vancouver website

For some people with physical disabilities, a day at the beach can be unacheivable. Valerie Schuler of The Aucklander reports on the frustration felt by one young wheelie because of inaccessible beaches, and describes how inaccessible many Auckland beaches are.  Problems include lack of disabilities parking, barriers such as high kerbs, changing rooms inaccessible to wheelchairs, and stairs but no ramps to the beach.  “In some countries, ramps go all the way to the water.”

 The Lake District National Park (U.K.) is partnering in the delivery of Cumbria’s Rights of way Improvement Plan.  They are working to improve the rights of way network, including improving access to those with limited mobility.  A page on their website and links describe the access in outdoor areas already available.  They want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to experience the National Park’s special qualities. Their National Park Management Plan states that they will

‘provide, develop and promote access for all people who seek opportunities to enjoy the special qualities of the National Park’ 

In 1996 they published a booklet ‘Countryside Access for People with Limited Mobility’, which contained 21 routes.  In 2009, the booklet ‘Miles without Stiles’  was published  and contains  information on 39 routes, and new Miles without Stiles routes are being constructed every year.

 David Switzer, Access and Recreation Developer at the Lake District National Park Authority provided the following information about the development of access in the park……………………………………

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Leading up to, and beyond, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, 2010 Legacies Now has worked with the Province of BC, Tourism BC, and numerous other partners to help make BC a premier travel destination for people with disabilities.  2010 Legacies Now has created sustainable social and economic legacies around British Columbia in the lead up to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.  They strategically invested in programs, organizations and communities, and through their networks, leveraged existing relationships and facilitated new partnerships to create self-sustaining community legacies.  This includes in the arena of Access Tourism.

2010 Legacies Now has supported programs and community projects which will continue to live for many years, creating an even greater impact than could have ever been imagined through social change and social innovation.

As a result of this legacy development work, 2010 Legacies Now and a number of their programs have been awarded Vancouver 2010 Sustainably Stars.  The Sustainability Star program recognizes Games-related sustainability innovations, focusing on social, economic or environmental benefit, including in Access Tourism. 

2010 Legacies Now is recognized internationally as a leader and innovator in community legacy development and social change and they are very proud of the work they  have been able to accomplish together with their partners. The legacies from the work will continue in communities throughout BC well beyond 2010.

Intensely active older men and women who have the means and see the twilight years as just another stage of exploration are pushing further and harder, tossing aside presumed limitations. And the global travel and leisure industry, long focused on youth, is racing to keep up (Kirk Johnson, New York Times).

Companies specialising in older travellers are seeing both an increase in volume and an increase in age. Some older folk pursue challenges close to home, mastering a headstand or the perfect side crane balance on a yoga mat. Others go far afield, such as to the Rockies, Everest, or the South Pole, walking, biking, climbing, wing-walking – you name it.

“This is an emerging market phenomenon based on tens of millions of longer-lived men and women with more youth vitality than ever imagined,” said Ken Dychtwald, a psychologist and author who has written widely about ageing and economics.   And the so-called experiential marketplace — sensation, education, adventure and culture, estimated at $56 billion and growing, according to a new study from George Washington University — is where much of that new old-money is headed.

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In Brazil, Aventura Especial is a non-governmental organization which has worked with the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of adventure travel and ecotourism.  Adventura Especial offers consultancy to tour operators with an interest in inclusive travel. Almost 25 million people in Brazil – about 14.5% of the population – have some kind of permanent disability. Add people with temporary disabilities, and you have a market whose tremendous potential Aventura Especial strives to demonstrate. “There is a customer out there who needs to be reached,” says Founder and President Dadá Moreira.