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Between 5% and 20% of people worldwide are affected by disabilities – over 600 million. Moreover, the spending power of this market is estimated at £80 million per annum in the United Kingdom and $200 billion in the US, where $13.6 billion is spent annually on travel alone by this market.
This is according to Professor Dimitrios Buhalis of Bournemouth University.
Addressing members of the trade at a symposium hosted by the University of Pretoria, Buhalis said that while the industry would have to invest to make its product universal-access friendly, this investment would pay off. He emphasised that people with disabilities travelled in groups with friends and families, so that by not catering for this market, product owners lost out on the entire group, which would go elsewhere.
Opening the symposium, Tourism Minister, Derek Hanekom, said the sector strategy recognised the need to design new products with universal access in mind. He pointed out that many products had been designed in the past and therefore required retrofitting. However, he said product owners who had retrofitted their offerings were reaping the rewards. Moreover, he said, a subsidy for industry to retrofit their products would be introduced next year as part of the tourism incentive programme.
SANParks’ Chris Paton said that, in addition to the economic incentive to cater for this market, there was a societal obligation. For this reason, he said, SANParks had started retrofitting its facilities, with the ultimate goal of having 10% of its accommodation facilities universally accessible. Currently 6% of its accommodation is universally accessible. The authority has also developed sensory trails for the visually impaired and is training its staff in sign language.
Buhalis highlighted the need for better information when catering for this market. He said current grading criteria were not standardised and product owners should share information, including dimensions, so that people with disabilities could find out whether they would be able to use an elevator or a shower at a property.
Source: tourismupdate.co.za
