Blog [with]tv

Inclusive Tourism: Some Definitions, Part 2

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

View Part 1 here.

Inclusive Tourism is one important means through which persons with disabilities participate in society at a distance from their homes. At the same time, the presence of these tourists provides a model - and source of funding - for the inclusive practices and infrastructure necessary for their presence. Inclusive Tourism partially funds Inclusive Destination Development. Inclusive tourism is an example of democratization and the dissemination of human rights through a market-driven mechanism.

Known by various names in various places such as, accessible tourism or tourism for all, inclusive tourism is made possible by the widespread adoption of the Seven Principles of Universal Design:

   1. Equitable Use: The design does not disadvantage or stigmatize any group of users.
   2. Flexibility in Use: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.
   3. Simple, Intuitive Use: Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.
   4. Perceptible Information: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities.
   5. Tolerance for Error: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
   6. Low Physical Effort: The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue.
   7. Size and Space for Approach & Use: Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of the user's body size, posture, or mobility.

Inclusive Tourism: Some Definitions, Part 1

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

When does travel - moving from point A to point B - become tourism?

Webster says that tourism is:

Function: noun

1 : the practice of traveling for recreation

2 : the guidance or management of tourists

3 a : the promotion or encouragement of touring

   b : the accommodation of tourists

Source: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?bo...

Wikipedia elaborates with:

Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. A tourist is someone who travels at least fifty miles from home, as defined by the World Tourism Organization (a United Nations body).

A more comprehensive definition would be that tourism is a service industry, comprising a number of tangible and intangible components. The tangible elements include transport systems - air, rail, road, water and now, space; hospitality services - accommodation, foods and beverages, tours, souvenirs; and related services such as banking, insurance and safety & security.

The intangible elements include: rest and relaxation, culture, escape, adventure, new and different experiences.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism)

Bottom line? Tourism is when you find yourself 50 miles or more away from home - for the right reasons.

Interview with Jackie Hull of Outta Sight Travel

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

Jackie Hull has hospitality in her veins. Since eighth grade, when her parents ran a little country inn in northern New Jersey and her favorite subject was geography, she has been a natural for the industry. Here she speaks with Travel & Disability editor, Scott Rains, on her experiences creating Outta Sight Travel - a unique resource pioneering multi-sensory travel.

Q: You have been involved in the travel industry for a long time but not always with a clientele of blind and visually impaired travelers. What inspired you to become an expert in inclusive travel?

A: In 1999, I met Gary Metzler through our mutual involvement in the local LIONS club. Gary is totally blind and also uses a hearing aid. The LIONS are noted for helping the blind and I felt it would be hypocritical for me to not help one of our own, so I offered him my assistance if needed. We started "seeing" each other and got married in September of 2000.

Shortly after we started going together, I was invited to the inaugural celebration of the Carnival Triumph. Our party was sitting in the theatre enjoying a beautifully orchestrated show - the costumes were magnificent, the choreography was fabulous, they featured lasers and pyrotechnic displays, and the stage set was phenomenal. All of a sudden it felt like I was slapped on the face and it dawned on me that Gary would not be able to appreciate any of this. That's when I realized that it would be necessary to start "looking" at things differently.

Q: Travel agents often have questions about serving clients with disabilities. I have heard from some who are genuinely puzzled why anyone who can't see would go "sightseeing." How do you educate travel agents and suppliers about the needs of your clients?

A: Gary started to travel more and more with me. One afternoon he was sharing his experiences with a counselor at the local blind resource center and she asked why he wanted to travel when he couldn't "sight-see." That's when we decided that it was necessary to go beyond "sight-seeing" and experience the world with a multi-sensory approach.

First published in Multi-Sensory Travel Specialists – Outta Sight Travel at Suite101.com

This link may be of interest: The Sightless Take to the High Seas

Achieving Excellence

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

To be excellent at attracting customers with disabilities you must be aware of their travel needs and behaviors - and meet or exceed them.

Simon Darcy, of NSW, has done a great service by publishing his study "Anxiety to Access" and a host of follow-up reports laying the groundwork for excellence in marketing. Bruce Cameron, also an Australian, has aggregated and developed the market of Australian travelers-with-disabilities using Simon's studies to write guidebooks and articles

In the United States, Eric Lipp of the Open Doors Organization has done the first study of the purchasing power of the travelers with disabilities market. Limited as it was to US travelers, many of us are busy encouraging the replication of this type of study in other parts of the world to give us better business planning data.

Bottom line? The market is out there. It is traveling. It is spending. And it has much, much more disposable income in reserve as it waits for the right products.

First published in “Waking Up to a Changed Travel Market” at Suite101.com

Defining the Market of Travelers with Disabilities

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

The market is out there. They are traveling. They are spending. And they have much, much more disposable income as they wait for the right products.

There are four fundamental points to consider when developing travel products for maximum appeal.

This article examines the first.

·  Visualize your market using the United Nations' definition of disability.
·  Evaluate your product against the Seven Principles of Universal Design.
·  Perfect your product locally.
·  Vary your product with modularity.

Start with in-depth knowledge of your market. Much of your homework on this market niche has been done for you.

Simon Darcy, Bruce Cameron, Eric Lipp, Canada's Keroul organization and the UN have produced some fundamental research that all travel writers, travel professionals, and hospitality managers ought to be familiar with. (See below.)

But you can misread the data if you start out with an anemic definition of the breadth of the market of travelers-with-disabilities.

Misunderstanding who you are serving, you can make unnecessary investments, overlook opportunities for low or no-cost solutions, fail to create collaborations, or not capitalize on what is called the "Curb-Cut Effect" - the unintended positive consequences of good design for temporarily able-bodied persons (all non-disabled persons are only temporarily able bodied.)

First published at Suite101.com in ”Defining the Market of Travelers With Disabilities”

Slovakia – via Rio - from the Seated Position

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

For most of us with Slovak roots, meeting family in Slovakia is like the coming together of two worlds – two lifetimes. It’s like filling a hole in a puzzle.

My puzzle had a few extra pieces. Once I discovered a living relative in Slovakia it took me about two years to arrange the trip. My puzzle includes getting around in a wheelchair. The solution came, oddly enough while I was in Brazil.

I was born among Chicago Slovaks (MAZALAN, JANOTA, KLIMCIK) who worked at Benet’s “Wiretown” Factory in Blue Island as tool and die makers and whose children took up insurance and flooring. Metalwork and floor tiles run for generations through our family story. In Slovakia I learned of chapters involving the Rockefellers importing Mazalan’s proprietary sharpening stones, family stoneworkers repairing the lintels in Trencin Castle, and Oravsky Podzamok’s display of the Mazalan quarry and the family’s master stoneworkers. I also learned that the family property, expropriated under the Communists, is now the seedy Medzibrodie nad Oravou grocery and pub. I laughed to learn that several of my grandfather’s “favorite nephews” never really existed! It turns out that one relative mastered both stoneworking and prevarication. For years he graciously accepted donations of clothing and money from my grandfather to support his fictitious children!

Wheeling Through the Monterey Bay Aquarium

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

The perfect "10-out-of-10" wheelchair accessible building may not exist. But after visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey California, I know where I'd send someone who asked me how to build - and staff - one. The first thing I'd ask them to do is get in a wheelchair and roll along beside me. Imagine yourself in that chair and take the tour with me.

Enter. Yes, the Aquarium has the usual awkwardly tall ticket booth, but, the staff person is quite accommodating. During this construction period everyone enters through the big, manually opened door at the Group Entrance. It swings easily - with no threshold at all. Onto the easy-rolling tile floor -- you're in! Spaciousness is the first impression.

Look up. The Marine Mammal display leaves you feeling dwarfed and awed. You can find a spot near the fixed benches to comfortably view the continuously playing movie on whales, seal lions and dolphins.

Look over your shoulder. The Sea Otter home can't help but make you feel playful. There's a ramp near the cafeteria to take you to the sunken viewing area right up against the glass. Close and dark, but not claustrophobic, as you sit face-to-face with an impressive wall of water. Otter antics and audience appreciation make the space entertaining. For a top-down view of these critters, look at the monitors on the wall.

Plan your path. Rule #1 is: Don't miss the feedings! A close second: Take in the movies.

First published in Wheeling Through the Monterey Bay Aquarium at Suite101.com

Travel for the Disabled Gaining Momentum

Posted with permission by Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, Bangkok Post

TRAVEL FOR THE DISABLED GAINING MOMENTUM

An International Conference on Accessible Tourism (ICAT 2007) for people with disabilities is to be held in Bangkok between November 22-24 to highlight the need for improved facilities and services for a growing but still largely neglected market segment. Says Scott Rains, one of the conference organisers and publisher of the Rolling Rains Report, a newsletter on travel for people with disabilities, "With a generation of permanently disabled people having experienced increasing degrees of employment, education, and leisure, those of us with the means to travel belong to a consumer group that is only starting to be noticed."

The conference is being backed by Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, UNESCAP and Disabled Peoples' International Asia Pacific (DPI-AP). It will be held at the UNESCAP convention centre.

There is no registration fee for participants with disability but they have to take care of their own personal expenses as well as of their personal assistant. Accessible bus will be provided for airport pick up and send off. Facilities such as accessible toilets, accessible water fountains, and accessible lifts are available in the convention center.

Essential sessions of the conference programme will be translated into Braille. A large-print programme will be prepared. English will be the official language, accompanied by a sign language interpreter during the conference.

Mr Rains says the conference will contribute to processes of change and development lines of tourism businesses to ensure a favorable environment for attracting tourists and travelers with disabilities and retired, ageing people, including access to built environments and public transport as well as training and employment.

Says Mr Rains, "Travel the world today and you will find that there is a hunger for community and solidarity among people with disabilities. Wherever you go you will find unique opportunities to learn from and contribute to local manifestations of disability culture. When we travel we represent more than ourselves because we are part of a community. The very fact that you have a disability and travel suggests something about your economic condition. It indicates that you have credit, savings, education, maybe a profession that requires travel, but most importantly the ability to make decisions about the course of your life for yourself. That combination of means and dignity are potent means of social transformation."

He adds, "Leisure travel means moving beyond mere survival mode. A small but growing percentage of us have made the transition to economic stability but we are not equally distributed around the world. Travel spreads us around which is to say that it spreads around living examples of an alternate lifestyle; ambassadors of choices still out of reach for some. How we chose to spend those resources - even through our leisure activities - has profound impact."

Mr Rains cited research showing American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility currently spend an average of US$ 13.6 billion a year on tourism. In 2002, these individuals made 32 million trips and spent US$ 4.2 billion on hotels, US$ 3.3 billion on airline tickets, US$ 2.7 billion on food and beverages, and US$ 3.4 billion on trade, transportation, and other activities.

Out of a total of 21 million persons, 69% had traveled at least once in the previous two years, including 3.9 million business trips, 20 million tourist trips, and 4.4 million business/tourist trips. In the previous 2 years, out of a total of 2 million adults with disabilities or reduced mobility, 7% had spent more than US$ 1,600 outside the continental United States. In addition, 20% had traveled at least 6 times every 2 years.

A study by the Open Doors Organization estimated that in the year 2003, persons with disabilities or reduced mobility spent US$ 35 billion in restaurants. According to the same study, more than 75% of these people eat out at restaurants at least once a week. The United States Department of Labor reported that a large and growing market of Americans with disabilities or reduced mobility have US $ 175 billion in purchasing/consumer power.

In the United Kingdom, the Employers' Forum on Disability estimated 10 million adults with disabilities or reduced mobility in the UK, with an annual purchasing power of 80 billion pounds sterling. The Canadian Conference Board reported that in 2001, the combined annual disposable income of economically active Canadians with disabilities or reduced mobility was 25 billion Canadian dollars. A UN survey also found that by year 2050, the numbers of ageing population will rise to 2,000 million and 54 percent of them live in Asia region.

The conference is supported by Pattaya City, Asia Pacific Disability Forum, The Redemtorist Foundation for People with Disabilities and the Council of Disabled People of Thailand. The conference website: http://www.dpiap.org

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Advertorial sponsorship messages cost 750 Euro per dispatch. Please contact: Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, 24 Soi Chidlom, Bangkok, Thailand 10330. T: (66-2) 2551480, 2537590. Fax: (66-2) 2544316. Email: [email protected]

The Six Knows of Preparing to Travel. Tips 6: Know Your Destination

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

Know Your Destination

Destination research is the least overlooked of the Six Knows. Common holiday spots can be very effective in communicating their image and appeal. The danger lies in being lulled into assuming that the specific accessibility information that you need is as easily available.

Can you read critically through marketing materials for the facts? Have you developed successful strategies for getting the accessibility information you need? Have you researched the accessibility of local hotels and resorts? What about theaters, restaurants, music and sport venues? Are local tourist attractions independently accessible or is accessibility available through prior arrangement? Will you be able to get what you need from car rental agencies? Bus and rail systems? Taxi companies? Have you taken the time to find, or train, a good travel agent? Can you identify agencies like tourist boards or chambers of commerce that might be of help? Have you located and used online bulletin boards serving people with disabilities?

Travel can be a time of self transformation. You can grow in confidence and self-esteem while gathering memories that will last a lifetime. One way to guarantee that the memories will be positive is to prepare with the six knows.

First published at Suite101.com

The Six Knows of Preparing to Travel. Tips 5: Know Your Travel Companion

By Scott Rains, Senior Advisor, [with]tv and editor of the Rolling Rains Report

Know Your Travel Companion

Be your own best companion first. Know what you expect out of a travel companion.

A travel companion, especially a good friend, can sometimes be a mirror. Don't burden them with the thankless job of reflecting back someone who you don't want to see.

There is never a shortage of legitimate reasons to squabble when traveling and in close quarters! What does he or she expect out of you? Can you honestly and clearly communicate your own limits? Do you know each other's habits with smoking, drinking, drugs? Each other's sleep patterns and pet peeves? Do you have an agreement about borrowing and lending items or money while traveling? Have you established rules for disagreeing? For fighting? Are you comfortable discussing your disability with your potential companion?

Have you done so already? Have you started getting to know your travel companion long enough before the trip to allow each of you to evolve a realistic set of expectations for your travel together?

Maybe your fellow traveler is a service or companion animal companion or a pet. Have you arranged for the necessary health exams and vaccinations? Do you know the companion animal policies relevant to transportation, lodging, or foreign travel? Have you prepared for the effect of a different climate or a different diet? Can you be certain that your companion will receive adequate exercise and have access to emergency medical care?

First published at Suite101.com