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November 12, 2008
Special Issue of Design for All India on Inclusive Tourism
Design for All India is the journal of the Indian Institute for Technology Delhi on Universal Design. I have selected this graphic for the November 2008 special issue on Inclusive Tourism in India. In the foreground is Craig Grimes of Accessible Nicaragua and Accessible Everything
To subscribe to the free Design for All India e-zine ask Dr Sunil Bhatia to put you on the mailing list:
June 10, 2008
Summary: Alaskan Travelogue
"There is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." ~ Kenneth Grahame
Except maybe reflecting on it afterwards!
Below are links to each Rolling Rains post on exploring Glacier Bay, Alaska. Starting with:
Cruising in Alaska
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002267.html
It Would be Easier if…
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002269.html
Meet Annie Mae
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002270.html
Reporting from a Different Perspective
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002271.html
Journaling and Natural Beauty
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002272.html
Food – the Key to Nautical Tranquility!
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002273.html
Photos from Glacier Bay
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002274.html
My First Kayak Trip ( or Ode to the McKinnon Hugger and Crew of the Sea Wolf!)
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002283.html
Return from Kayaking Glacier Bay, Glacier Bay, Alaska
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002282.html
Sound Sketch – Multisensory Travel to a Glacier
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002287.html
Transfers – Aboard and Abroad
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002289.html
Resources on Glacier Bay, Alaska
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002288.html
Why Go?
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002231.html
After Tourism Alaska – Ripples of Inclusive Destination Development
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002276.html
“This I Believe” by Colin Bates ( A Man Who has Discovered the Core value of Disability Culture – Interdependency )
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002276.html
Co-Dependent Arising: Retrospective on Wheelchair-Accessible Cruising
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/002290.html
Co-Dependent Arising: Retrospective on Wheelchair-Accessible Adventure Cruising
"The glory of God is humankind fully alive." ~ St. Irenaeus
As I hurriedly prepared for this trip an expected theme formed in my mind around the word "transfers." I anticipated movement from wheelchair to plane, plane to ship, ship to kayak and through it all movement further from daily patterns. What remains with me are still life vignettes and moments outlined against the movement of time. The transfers I recall in retrospect are more substantial than the simply physical.
Awe is the healthy human response to the expansive beauty of wilderness such as Glacier Bay, Alaska. It was evident in my shipmates aboard Sea Wolf. Curiosity, joy, gratitude, resolve, and camaraderie further marked the voyage as a time outside the ordinary.
This trip was the co-creation of all who set up the conditions for it to unfold. The foresight of Sea Wolf owner Kimber Owen who adapted the ship for wheelchair access set up the equalizing environment. The selection of wildlife-viewing sites was expert. The skill of the crew and the humanity of all who shared the trip made it easier to feel fully alive.
Even with huge grizzlies and powerful mountain goats, fluking whales and racing Dahl's Porpoises I leave holding onto the image a pair of hands that look like mine -- thin, curled, weak -- helping me put on a borrowed pair of gloves. What in another place appears only to be weak is what revealed the invincible resiliency of interdependence. Weakness exposed to weakness.
Awe is a healthy human response to a human fully alive. Disability is a medium of revelation. Glory in paradox.
June 04, 2008
After Touring Alaska - Ripples of Inclusive Destination Development
If my travelogue did not make it clear already let me compliment the arrangements made by Sherri Backstrom of Waypoint Yacht Charter Services in Bellingham Washington and the foresight and commitment shown by Kimber Owen, owner of the wheelchair-friendly Sea Wolf. Articles will appear in various publications. One went off to Sandra Vassallo at ebility.com in Australia this morning and two more are in process.
Pioneers like Kimber and Sherri shift cultures.
To get to the Sea Wolf ported in Gustavus, Alaska we flew in a six-seater prop bush flight from Juneau on Air Excursions. Not quite adept at accommodating passengers with mobility limitations the pilot's brute-force solution to not having the proper equipment landed me on the floor as I noted on May 24. They won't make many more mistakes like that -- and accessibility will improve for those who will increasingly come for early-season cruises on the Sea Wolf (i.e. after June 1 Alaska Airlines flies jets into Gustavus with a more polished passenger loading protocol.)
The night before the cruise we stayed at Annie Mae Lodge. The meal was sumptuous and the welcome was like family. The owners have built a stylish Alaskan lodge and given great detail to accessibility. My room had a roll-in shower. I can recommend Anni Mae. As our community provides them with business we will see the trend to inclusion spread to other venues including the towns single - but inaccessible - grocery store.
Alaska is on the "Must Visit List" of many travelers. To take the trip yourself contact:
Sherri Backstrom
Waypoint Yacht Charter Services
contact@waypointcharter.com
www.waypointcharter.com/accessible_travel.htm
t 888-491-2949 or 360-656-5934
June 03, 2008
Why Go?
There is an inconspicuous daily service called "Why Go" that provides thought-starter quotes and photos related to travel. This one landed on my desk recently. Returning from cruising Glacier Bay, Alaska with short stays in Juneau and Seattle the reflection seemed appropriate. On this particular excursion it was as much the wonderful companions as the spectacular physical beauty that was transformative:
As you may know, I spent the last three months in Africa. A wondrous, magical place. But as shadows lengthen across the KBHR window, thoughts turn to homecoming. Journey’s end. Because in a sense it’s the coming back, the return, which gives meaning to the going forth. We really don’t know where we’ve been until we’ve come back to where we were. Only, where we were may not be as it was because of who we’ve become. Which, after all, is why we left.
- Bernard in “Northern Exposure,” Episode 3.21
contributed by Luci
June 02, 2008
Resources on Glacier Bay, Alaska
One of the disadvantages of traveling on short notice is the inability to research deeply into the history and offerings of a place before visiting it for the first time. For those are considering an accessible cruise in Glacier Bay here is a list of links on the natural history of the region:
Glacier Bay National Park
http://www.nps.gov/glba/
Explore-a-Park: Glacier Bay
http://www.glacierbay.org/
Alaska Magazine: Ancient Ice
http://www.alaskamagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=36
June 01, 2008
Transfers -- Aboard and Abroad
All the activities, food, and conversation delayed me from exploring the two upper decks of Sea Wolf. The lift from the first to second deck is short -- just enough for me to fit.
The lift was definitely higher tech than the Alaskan Elevator in Elfin Cove!
And then sometimes the whole point was to not go anywhere at all!
May 31, 2008
Sound Sketch -- Multisensory Travel to a Glacier
The diesel motor rumbles vibrating the ship until we anchor. Even so, this expansive wildness is never silent.
At night we drop anchor. No silence here either. We are at the confluence of the three chutes of the 65 mile long "Y" that is Glacier Bay. The long narrow spaces surrounding us pulse with the sound of living glacier.
The sound signature of glacial motion comes with startling clarity and frequency to where we roll on the sea swells. Sound travels to us down three geologic auditory canals. Sounds are guided down every unobstructed valley and inlet to this place. They roll along the water's surface and sheer rock mountain corridors.
Night falls. We listen to the conversations of mountains from this centerpoint of a world disappearing.
Appropriate, perhaps, that glaciers retreating at a lightning pace -- the fastest glacial retreat in the world -- would produce the sound of thunder. "Sumdum" in Tlingit.
May 29, 2008
My First Kayak Trip (or Ode to the McKinnon Hugger and Crew of the Sea Wolf!)
After years of trepidation about the stability of kayaks I finally got in one using this theatrical "high seas" entry method.
The Sea Wolf is out fitted with a surprisingly comfortable and secure device called the McKinnon Hugger. It uses an ingenious caliper action and, when attached to the ship's davot (arm & winch) becomes a surprisingly effectives way for quads like me to kayak.
May 28, 2008
Photos from Glacier Bay
Aboard the Sea Wolf cruising near the world's fastest-receding glaciers on Glacier Bay, Alaska:
Find more photos like this on Tour Watch
Waypoint Yacht Charter Services books the wheelchair-adapted wood-hulled yacht the Sea Wolf. Small enough to be intimate (six cabins/ three wheelchair usable) and retrofitted with wheelchair lifts to each of the three main decks cruises in Glacier Bay, Alaska on the Sea Wolf include sea kayaking because the owner has installed a unique lift system. I was out of my wheelchair and into my kayak with the splash skirt fitted down in 60 seconds thanks to a skilled and attentive crew.
To take the trip yourself contact:
Sherri Backstrom
Waypoint Yacht Charter Services
contact@waypointcharter.com
www.waypointcharter.com/accessible_travel.htm
t 888-491-2949 or 360-656-5934
May 27, 2008
Food - The Key to Nautical Tranquility!
Aboard a small ship or yacht a good crew works hard. The crew of the Sea Wolf is a great crew.
Kimber Owen, owner of Sea Wolf, took me on a ship inspection to examine in detail the retrofitting done to make this World War II minesweeper into a wheelchair-accessible outdoor adventure platform. Boarding in Gustavus in my wheelchair was easy with the long ramp that captain Mike and engineer Wayne had waiting. This sort of attention to detail went far to making me comfortable with a potentially very awkward transfer. Ultimately, it established a baseline sense of the accessibility of the boat, the competence of the crew, and the safety of the upcoming cruise. So many impressions are established in the first four minutes!
Naturalist Sarah is a fountain of information on the natural environment. Quick to share and eager to communicate effectively she gives the voyage depth along with Kimber through their natural history duets as we pass or approach items of interest. An ample library of books and videos adds to the resources and, reportedly, the crew has developed several activities for when kids are aboard.
I will try my hand at bringing in some fish for the table to see what magic chef Heidi can work on it. Fresh dill, cilantro, ginger, as well as salsas, chutneys, and sauces that I have never experienced before show up at every meal -- except for cookie breaks! The 12-foot table stretched across the enclosed stern of Sea Wolf is becoming a warm and friendly gathering place. The addition of an iceberg flake ("bergie bit") as a table decoration reveals just the tip of the thought and preparation that went into planning this cruise.
May 26, 2008
Journaling and Natural Beauty
Boo is the ship's dog. She is mix Portuguese Water Dog and Australian Sheep Dog. Besides being genetically outfitted for everything from desert Outback to the rainforest she has the unmistakable habit of circumnavigating the Sea Wolf to watch over her human flock.
At first I was told that she greeted me with such enthusiasm because she mistook this newcomer-in-a-wheelchair for Mike Passo of Elakah Expeditions who provided technical assistance in the skillful redesign of the boat. Eventually I realized that Boo's perpetual motion was just a canine equivalent of my incessant photo taking -- a personal obsession for for making order out of the ever-changing surroundings.
Cruising so close to the geological drama and kayaking within feet of this normally inaccessible wildlife provides so much sensory input that journaling, silence, shutter-snapping, and experience-sharing over family-style meals or late into the night will not be sufficient for holding onto this encounter with beauty. Chaining these impressions into narrative already takes as much mental agility as a dog working her flock. Maybe Boo's moves will give me some insight into herding wild thoughts until they are all heading in the same direction.
May 25, 2008
Reporting from a Different Perspective
Ranger Randy stands impressively tall at six-feet-and-change even without his hiking boots on.
This afternoon, however, he is wearing them. From here up close I judge their vintage to be about 1988 - the same year as the Toyota pickup he drives around Gustavus, Alaska.
I know these facts because, contrary to what it looks like and not following logically from our conversation seconds ago about traveling through India in the 1960's, I am not doing darshan at his feet. Although, had abject obeisance brought me to my currently prone position I probably would be experiencing a greater sense of dignity than at this moment.
The small towns of Alaska and the era or Paul Bunyan both nurture the "tall-tale" instinct. I will nurture that impulse aboard the Sea Wolf in coming days. At that point I will explain how I came to be folded into a quadriplegic heap here in front of the ticket counter and on the floor somewhere to the left of the wheelchair provided to me by Excursion Air.
For the moment I must sign off and catch a boat from here in Somewhere- Beyond- the Border-of-Litigation-Territory, Alaska, USA.
Meet Annie Mae
Alaksa tests the language of comparatives and scrambles metaphors: "Land of the Midnight Sun," "the No-See-Ums are so big you can see them."
Even the wildlife seems a bit confused as Spring breaks out at the foot of hills (typically called "mountains" in places less topographically-endowed than Macchu Picchu, Nepal, or Tibet) that received more than 360 inches of snow in 2006 according to local yarn spinners and similarly trustworthy chaps.
Here at the Annie Mae Lodge hummingbirds line up like jetliners on approach to O'Hare Airport waiting their turn at a bird feeder while similarly unsuited species of swallows occupy the perches and ponder what theyy can do with the feast arrayed or cousins more genetically suited to hulling millet and cracking open sunflower seeds. The Lodge's mascot is a mix of Newfoundland and Australian sheep dog. Besides looking remarkable like a brown bear cub with dreadlocks it seems to have established a niche for itself in the locl tourism industry. At dinner a couple from the Netherlands recount how they were shepherded across a field earlier in the day by this fuzzy brown-black who turned what they began as a directonless amble through a meadow into a
guided tour of the property's more canine-memorable sights and smells ending at the beach.
Any late-summer Alaska-grown vegetable not suitable to comparison to the image "larger-than-a-dinner plate" is eligible for the Catch & Release Program of Alaskan Hyperbole.
As I enter Glacier Bay on the Sea Wolf and pass beyond Internet, cell phone, and process-server contact I will collect notes for further posts on a state whose northern reaches cross the Artic Circle but, down here in its balmy Southeast, has me shedding the clothing I put on this morning to keep me warm in San Jose, California four hours to the south.
It Would be Easier if...
"Can you walk?" asked the TSA inspector as I came through the line in my wheelchair.
No.
"Can you lift up your foot?"
No.
"Can you take off your belt?"
"Yes, but you will have to put it back on me."
So, I was swabbed five different times with those mini TSA coffee filters. This turned up nothing more interesting than sandy loam, pollen, and ash from the fire storming through the Santa Cruz Mountains for the past 24 hours. After a pat-down that caused me to have serious questions about the agent's short-term memory I was freed to repack the pile of rubble resulting from the recent TSA scavenger hunt through my personal belongings.
Fortunately, on the tarmac the gentleman assigned to assist me with the transfer into the aisle chair, up the loading ramp, and into my bulkhead seat was charming. Ace Castro, really seemed to be an ace at what he did - all the more impressive when he thanked me for being so specific in how best to assist me. Maybe he has developed his customer service skills by listening and questioning to be certain that he understands correctly.
The typical fumbling with carry-ons and wheelchair parts was made painless by Bonnie and others on Alaska flight 333.
The quality continued at the jetway in SeaTac as a competent and congenial team did the Disembarkation Schlepp with grace.
Seattle to Juneau began under typically blue-mottled Seattle skies. As we say in Seattle, "The mountains are out today." Mount Rainier to the south through the concourse window and the snow-covered Olympic Mountains west toward the pacific Ocean gave a taste of what lay ahead in Juneau and beyond
May 24, 2008
Cruising in Alaska
I travel a lot and I travel on word-of-mouth recommendation.
Excuse my obvious bias but I have a pretty good idea just by looking at somebody how reliable their their recommendation is likely to be.
Skin color, age, gender, nationality don't matter. What catches my attention is when somebody else in a wheelchair tells me that a destination, transportation system, or tour operator is good.
So I listened to my fellow four-wheeler Sherri Backstrom when she told me about the Sea Wolf. Captain Kimber Owen had it redesigned to be wheelchair accessible. She should know about that. She used to run a ranch that specialized in horse therapy for people with disabilities and, just to check her instincts, she works with Mike Passo of Elkah Expeditions -- another wheelchair-using outdoor outfitter.
If this works out, I'll have more business for Sherri and her specialty services renting accessible yachts at Waypoint Yacht Charter Services. Of course, first she has wager against me that she will catch the biggest halibut so I either need to practice telling fish stories about "the one that got away" or deliver on my side of the bargain too!
Right now I'm packing (and getting TripWolf.com wizards do do some real magic like haul Sea Wolf's home port town of Gustavus to the right latitude and longitude so I can add some favorite places once I discover them.) Then it's out the door at 4 am tomorrow to catch ann Alaska airlines flight that will get us to Juneau and our bush flight to Gustavus at the entrance to Glacier Bay.
February 13, 2008
Rolling Rains Report on SlideShare.net
SlideShare.net began as an archive for posting and sharing digital slide shows. It quickly expanded into a social network with the capability to add sound to slide shows as SlideCasts. SlideShare is a valuable tool for virtualizing participation in conferences before, during, and after the event.
For example, I upload a slide show that I will use in a conference presentation so that I can either play it from the server or download it at the other end. I also extend the discussion from an event by forming a group such as the one to the right entitled "Universal Design."
Rolling Rains Report readers with slide shows invited to share them and join the group.
January 21, 2008
Interview with Scott Rains on Xable.com
Here is a link to a conversation I had with Elio Navarro of Xable.com on Inclusive Tourism:
http://www.xable.com/videos/100370
January 07, 2008
Hotel Dunas Canteras: Inclusive Destination Development Nests in the Canary Islands
Reprinted from 2005:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - or ends with one.
It seems merely simple wisdom but turning it into a business model that is transforming the hotel industry required uncommon insight.
Ángel Luis Tadeo is a man who knows that a single step--or a single curb, raised threshold, or a doorway that is too narrow for a wheelchair--can prevent a journey. He had the wisdom, and business sense, to understand that this means that somebody (500 million somebodies worldwide by his calculation) is not receiving the product they need.
Sr. Tadeo is a philanthropist as well as a successful businessman. He knows that business does well when it does good. By making a radical commitment to Universal Design in the development of his newest Canary Islands hotel, Hotel Dunas Canteras in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria Island, he is betting that he has created a sustainable business model that allows him to be both.
The Hotel Dunas Canteras promises a very appealing array of services when it opens in late September 2005.
Operating as the first of a series of hotels catering to comfortably affluent seniors, Dunas Canteras launches the Dunas Salud network of hotels. Combining best practices of inclusive design and the amenities of a spa and clinic it will bring to the Paseo de Las Canteras in Las Palmas:
* Barrier free architecture throughout
* Personalized attention to dietary needs
* Environmental enhancements for those with sensory loss
* Universally designed spa facilities
* Accessible Piano Bar
* Relief for those who provide respite care
* Attendant care or occupational therapy for guests requiring it
* Educational, social, and artistic opportunities
The Dunas Canteras is sited where the Palacio Sansofé once stood making the project also a model of sustainable reuse.
Cristóbal del Rosario serves as advisor to the project. He explains that this new addition to the Las Palmas beachfront offers short vacation stays, longer visits, and even residential accommodations. As in so many other parts of the world where Inclusive Tourism business models are taking root the Dunas Canteras is having positive ripple effect--"positive externalities"--on the surrounding area. In fact, one of the projected social benefits is the informal implementation of Inclusive Destination Development as neighboring businesses adapt to the influx of economic resources brought by an underserved market niche. Other regions of the world have begun experimenting with this model:
* Dubai
* Tasmania
* Japan
* Crete
The Dunas Group has an extra edge. Situated in the home territory of one of the world's earliest pioneers of Inclusive Travel, José Ignácio Delgado Redondo , the company has the resources to replicate its hotel outside Tenerife.
In fact, I would love to see one spring up in the US Gulf Coast area that is being reconstructed following Hurricane Katrina, setting an unmistakable example for the future direction of the hotel industry in the United States.
This article originally appeared at Suite101.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/118152
December 10, 2007
DN49: Pack your Bags for Accessible Travel
Recently, Larry Wagner and I spoke on his radio program Disability Nation. We recorded a two-part interview on Inclusive Travel. Part one aired December 6 and is available as a podcast (show DN 49). You will find the show available in various formats at this page at Disability Nation.
Posted: 06 Dec 2007 07:02 PM CST
Each year, people with disabilities in the United States and around the world spend billions on travel and tourism. Insuring that the journey and destination are accessible and meet your needs is a big part of planning for people with disabilities. In this, the first of two episodes examining travel and disability, we will learn more about ways you can make your next trip a better experience.
Hotel rooms that wind up not being accessible, cruise ships without relieving areas for service animals, rental car companies that forget to include the hand controls that you ordered…sometimes, the list of things people with disabilities need to worry about when traveling can seem never ending. Yet, those of us with disabilities spend billions each year on flights, hotel reservations, trips to the resort and on other travel and tourism related expenses.
This episode is the first in a two part series examining issues related to travel and disability. Whether you're traveling to visit family and friends this holiday season or venturing to warmer climates on a much needed vacation, this two-part series will give you the information you need to make your trip a great experience. The shows feature practical tips and advice that you will find helpful as you plan your adventure.
This episode features an interview with Scott Rains. Scott is a seasoned traveler and publishes the Rolling Rains Report, a blog examining issues related to travel, disability and universal design. The blog covers these issues from an international perspective and is published on a daily basis. Scott joins me to discuss how to research accessibility at your destination, how best to make travel arrangements, issues to consider even before you book your trip, and how to resolve problems that you might encounter while traveling. He also shares some of his personal experiences and tricks for increasing the likelihood that your trip will be a success.
DisabilityNation features the latest news from the disability community provided by Dave Reynolds of Inclusion Daily Express. Check out Inclusion Daily to receive email updates featuring news related to disability issues.
Do you have a comment or suggestion for DisabilityNation? To contact DisabilityNation just call 480-302-9300. You can leave a voice message or listen to episodes of the show. You can also contact DisabilityNation by email. Send email to contact@disabilitynation.net
November 27, 2007
Inclusive Tourism: A New Strategic Alliance for the Disability Rights Movement
Below is the text of the opening keynote of Presentation to ICAT 2007 held at the UN in Bangkok, Thailand. My appreciation to the various ministries of the Thai government, UNESCAP, and several disabled peoples' organizations (DPOs) including Disabled Peoples International - Asia Pacific (DPI-AP) and the Asia Pacific Disability Forum (APDF).
Dedication
Before I begin I would like to dedicate my comments today to my friend Topong Kulkanchit. I met Topong in 2005. We decided to work together to see that a conference was held in 2007. Mostly through his hard work early preparations were made so that Saowalak Thongkuay and Sawang Srisom their team could make this event a success. Thank you. I look forward to our next gathering in Singapore in 2009. I challenge everyone here to continue the work that Topong poured his life into.
Inclusive Tourism: A New Strategic Alliance for the Disability Rights Movement
by Dr. Scott Rains
srains@oco.net
Models of Disability
We are here to do some thinking on a global scale. That’s a big task.
Big thinkers like to give names to the boundaries they put around ideas – handles to make them easier to grasp. When we talk about disability we usually talk about these “idea packages” as models of disability. The Charity Model, the Medical Model, and the Social Model are the names we usually use.
The first two present people with disabilities as recipients rather than as sources of action. The Charity Model places people with disabilities as recipients of the moral responsibility of others to care for them. The Medical Model further limits responsibility to those with professional medical knowledge. Both models define the limits of the world that a person with a disability “really” belongs to: The world of family or its extensions of church or service organizations in the Charity Model and the world of the doctor or their delegate in the Medical Model on the assumption that the disabled person’s highest and constant concern in life is to be “cured.” Both models prevent people with disabilities from political expression and economic participation as adults because both models assume worlds that are too small for real people.
After an introduction like that it is obvious that I am going to endorse the Social Model. It claims that the world where people with disabilities “really” belong is the real world, the whole world – like everybody else! That’s a big world.
Universal Design is what lets us live at home in this world. Wheelchair user and architect Ron Mace, with his colleagues, set the foundation for everything we do at this conference by creating Universal Design more than 30 years ago. These thinkers in the Disability Rights Movement understood that our desire to be full participants in society required us to develop a simple elegant solution to achieve accessibility.
The seven principles defining Universal Design start from the reality that not every individual has the same stature, strength, or range of abilities. Diversity between individuals is the “normal” in any collection of human beings – change in ability is the defining characteristic of each individual over time. Accessibility in tourism improves quality for the growing senior population too. Universal Design is a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication and policy to be usable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special or separate design. Most simply, Universal Design is human-centered design of everything with everyone in mind.
Trend 1: Creation of a Market
I said we’re here to think but to be more complete I should add that we’re here also to dream. Imagination becomes alive in every person’s life when the limits of their world go from family to some larger institution and finally on to the limitlessness of free participation in the whole world. Dreaming is the first step in thinking on that global scale – and everyone who works in the global travel industry knows what we do. We sell dreams and we make them real. As the disability community around the world acts on this dream of global participation the travel industry is here providing for them as what they have become – a market.
I have been invited here to talk about global trends in accessible travel. I have just told you the first trend. A group of people with disabilities have gathered. They are the actors. They are the political and economic force. They, we, came here to say that we have a dream. That dream is the freedom to travel. They have become a market and they have their own voice.
As we gather for two days in Asia another group of people from all over Europe are going home. They have just finished two days of meeting on accessible travel at the European Network for Accessible Tourism – ENAT run by Ivor Ambrose. This trend – this dream – is global among people with disabilities.
Now let’s think together.
Trend Two: The Rights-Based and Profit-Based Approach to Disability
the second trend we see is that a “profit-based approach to disability” is inseparable from our conference theme of “a rights-based approach to disability.” Aiko Akiyama of UNESCAP will speak to us later about the Biwako Millennium Goals where rights and development converge in tourism. Is there a profit-based approach to disability for the travel industry?
Research done by Eric Lipp and Laurel van Horn of the Open Doors Organization have taught us that American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility currently spend an average of $13.6 billion U.S. a year on tourism. In 2002, these individuals made 32 million trips and spent $4.2 billion on hotels, $3.3 billion on airline tickets, and $2.7 billion on food and beverages while traveling.
In the UK 10 million adults with disabilities have an annual purchasing power of 80 billion pounds sterling. In 2001 economically active Canadians with disabilities had $25 billion Canadian dollars available. Americans with disabilities or reduced mobility have $175 billion in purchasing/consumer power.
Cruise lines know from research that people with disabilities favor cruise vacations at 12% compared to 8% of the general population. Studies also show that people with disabilities are loyal customers: 59% report that they plan to take another cruise. Creating accessible cruise ships, accessible ship terminals, accessible ground transportation, and accessible tourist destinations in port cities is not charity. It is good business! In a few minutes I will tell you how stakeholders in North & South America are working together to build that business.
Trend Three: Standardization in the Years Ahead
Two years ago a group of us got together in Taipei and began to plan for today. Then it was easy to report on trends in accessible tourism. The pattern was clear. The trend in 2005 was experimentation and local standardization in controlled regional environments.
New "islands of innovation" were evident around the world. In fact, in most cases they were either actual islands like Crete, Hawai'i, Tenerife, Japan, St. John's Virgin Islands, and Tasmania or they were geographically isolated regions like Western Australia.
The trend in 2007 is less about new invention and more about standardization across larger areas and on an international level. It is a new stage of maturity but it will be over in about two years when we meet next in Singapore – this time with our European friends. For these next two years the main trend around the world will continue to be establishing common practices and agreeing on standards.
Sometimes it will feel like a tug-of-war; pulling in two opposite directions: one direction pulls toward a rights-based approach to standards and the other a profit-based approach. The first starts with persons with disabilities as citizens; the second as customers. The first approach speaks in the language of governments; the second the language of business. Effective standards result when people with disabilities are active in defining both approaches.
In fact, that is what this organization is about. It is a voice of people with disabilities in conversation with government and business to serve the interests of all three groups regarding travel and hospitality.
Let me anticipate 2009 with a grandiose statement about the historic importance of today: The tourism industry has become a vehicle for social good. Industry practices increasingly honor green design and ecologically responsible practices. With Universal Design tourism has also become a vehicle for what the Disability Rights Movement has fought so hard to articulate and to achieve for more than 30 years. So here today we set the Disability Rights Movement on a new path accompanied by partners from business and government. That path of promoting accessible travel will pass through every country in Asia.
The trend when we meet again in Singapore in 2009, this time with our colleagues in ENAT from Europe, will be the emergence of Centers of Excellence that strategically disseminate sustainable innovations, grounded in standards, and fluent in customer service respecting the rights and dignity of people with disabilities.
After ICAT 2007 I will spend time consulting with government and industry leaders in Pattaya to see if we can make Thailand one of the first of those Centers. I will assist UNESCAP create a set of guidelines
From my work around the world I have three cases that illustrate the current trend toward creating standards of good practice: one example in South America, one in North America, and one in Africa. South America brings four countries together with the cruise industry around accessibility. North American national park officials draw in a business partner and showcase accessible cultural tourism. Africa is shaping a continental accessible tourism market through the research and advocacy of an entrepreneur with a disability who promotes safaris.
Three Cases
Example 1: South America
The Inter-American Institute on Disability and Inclusive Development has formed a network to develop accessibility along the cruise corridor from northern Brazil to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of Argentina. In 2007 disability advocates and organizations, government, academics, cruise lines, and the land-based tourism industry joined together as stakeholders to begin to adopt standards, infrastructures, and practices that guarantee a consistent quality of travel experience between Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina for seniors and others with disabilities. The major activity at this stage is in Brazil which will host an international conference on Accessible Tourism in May 2008.
Individuals in the South American network have begun to appear in the media, speak at tourism conferences, and write articles on the value of this market of travelers with disabilities. Data is being collected on the number of people with disabilities and their purchasing power. One of the most rewarding things I do now is work with university students and young professionals in South America guiding their research, their career choices, and their businesses.
At the same time accomplished architects like Veronica Camisão are drawing up plans for improved ship terminals. Wheelchair-using Brazilian architect Silvana Cambiaghi has published Brazil's first full-length book on Universal Design. Museum specialists like Viviane Panelli Sarraf simultaneously provide attractions of interest to international and domestic tourists with disabilities by making museums and other cultural sites accessible. Dada Morreira, Ricardo Shimosakai, and others with disabilities sell accessible land-based excursions that include whitewater rafting, jungle off-road treks, multi-sensory walks, parasailing, and exhilarating treetop tours. In addition to this explosion of new businesses by people with disabilities, this group has written new regulation on maritime access to standardize accessibility in cruise ship terminals and on passenger ships serving Brazil. Industry and government, led by professionals, advocates, and business owners with disabilities have identified an underserved market and are building a strategy together to serve it.
Research shows that the more cruises a person takes the more likely he or she is to disembark in port and buy a land-based excursion. We know that more people with disabilities are cruising. We also know that they tend to take repeat cruises more often than the general public. They will grow disproportionately as a market inclined to take land excursions. Argentina has planned ahead for this trend. It is holding its first rural workshop on serving people with disabilities for the rural tourism industry that will see some of these cruise passengers on land excursions. Keep in mind that disability accompanies aging. The Open Doors Organization recorded that about 50% more of the existing group of Americans traveled between their 2002 and 2005 studies – even though it the travel industry had not done anything to make it significantly easier to do so. That group of people with disabilities and the leisure to travel is about to expand as the huge post-WWII generation ages. This market is big and travelers will reward those who build welcoming environments to accommodate them.
Take the example of the United States.
Example 2: North America
In the United States this global trend toward standardization on best practices by government, industry, and people with disabilities takes place on Alcatraz Island. Many people know this steep rocky island near from San Francisco from movies about its time as a maximum security prison. As the saying goes, "Break the rules and you go to prison. Break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz."
Today the island is a National Park run by some of the most passionate supporters of disability rights in the US Park Service. Early in November I had the opportunity to inspect the island with the National Accessibility Center from Indiana University. The park is a model for the entire world and continuously hosts international park and government officials. The practices used at Alcatraz are further disseminated because one out of four visitors comes from outside the US and brings their experience home.
The message of accessible tourism is not only coming from conference like our or ENAT in Europe or the one this May in Brazil. Every day people from Asia are seeing accessibility in action at Alcatraz.
Physical access for the mobility impaired was one of the first barriers to be addressed on the island. More than a decade ago National Park Rangers, including James Adams and Rich Weiderman, invented a tram system for the island that anticipated current trends calling for green and sustainable development in tourism. Using an electric motor designed for the tractors that pull jet airliners at airports they applied Universal Design principles to manufacture this uniquely powerful but non-polluting tram. It was estimated that it would serve 15,000 park visitors in its first year. Everyone was surprised to find that 30,000 used it. Today it averages 70,000 to 80,000 users annually. Keep in mind that about 25% of these users are people who bring the expectation of such accessible and eco-sensitive service back to their home park systems.
The island can only be reached by boat and only one company, Alcatraz Cruises, serves the island. Early in their contract the cruise line saw that they needed to invent a new type of dock and ramp system. Doing so made them the only cruise facility on the West Coast of the USA able to accommodate passengers 365 days a year in all extremes of weather and tides. I, for example, had no difficulty getting off the island the day 580,000 gallons of tanker fuel spilled in the Bay near the island and the park was systematically being shut down for the emergency.
Standardizing on the dock design and evacuation practices perfected at Alcatraz National Park disseminates good physical design and safety policy. It also affirms a profitable collaboration between business and government where innovation to achieve accessibility resulted in better service for those with no disability.
Program accessibility, or accessibility to all the services and benefits offered by the park beyond simple physical access, is another area where Alcatraz first set the standard and then became the living university teaching by example. Alcatraz was the first park to adopt audio walking tours narrated in the first person voices of rangers, former prisoners, and guards. The approach was so successful that the tiny recording company that produced the first tours became the largest in the world in that field and was just recently purchased by a television channel. Once again, accessibility proved to be profitable and trend-setting.
Example 3: Africa
The final example, Africa, represents something different. One of Africa's most popular forms of tourism is the safari. It operates in isolated areas. That isolation means the safari industry has less structure for formalizing best practices. In this case, the significant current trend is the result of the vision of a European entrepreneur who, with a vision and his sturdy wheelchair, has just completed visits to over 130 hotels and tourism destinations throughout the continent. Gordon Rattray runs Able Travel. On his research tours he is able to spread standards through his individual consultations.
Here neither government nor industry are in the lead. Leadership comes from within the disability community itself. The end result of Gordon’s accessibility audits throughout Africa will be a published tour guide, "African Safaris for People with Limited Mobility". In that way his work promotes adoption of standard practices much as US author Candy Harrington does through her magazine Emerging Horizons and her various books, "101 Accessible Vacations," "There is Room at the Inn," and "Barrier-Free Travels." Bruce Cameron has taken a similar approach to standards promotion through his book "Easy Access Australia" and frequently contributes to academic and policy work with Australian academics like Dr. Simon Darcy and Dr. Tanya Packer. Mary Chen in Malaysia will launch the disability lifestyle magazine, Challenges, in Malaysia in January where I will write on travel. I have been asked to edit a special issue on travel and disability for the academic journal, Review of Disability Studies published by the University of Hawaii. Dr. Sunil Bhatia has also invited academics to contribute articles specifically about Thailand to the journal of the Design for All Institute of India. I invite any of you here today who would like to submit an article or discuss an idea for an article to talk to me during the conference.
Gordon Rattray's work in Africa is a "profit-based approach to disability" where he establishes himself, a person with a disability, as the expert on an entire continent. As an individual consultant he brokers and disseminates standards in a region where only a sparse business and social network serves the accessible tourism market. In contrast, the Inter-American Institute on Disability and Inclusive Development takes a "rights-based approach to disability."
South America is a heavily networked environment that produced the important accessible tourism document in 2004 known as the Rio Charter: Universal Design for Sustainable and Inclusive Development. It is further linked by a flourishing route of cruise ship destinations sharing similar needs. The orientation to disability rights of the Institute emphasizes the experience of the organization's founder, Rosangela Berman-Bieler, who worked with Judy Heumann to establish the Disability & Development program of the World Bank. Both women are wheelchair users and professionals in international development.
In the United States with Alcatraz National Park we see yet another model. Here the key professionals working in the National Park System and the contracted cruise line do not have disabilities themselves. There has been a systemic adoption of disability rights values by this government agency and this business -- although only through the sustained pressure of these professionals from within and sometimes with the addition of pressure such as lawsuits from without. Here professionals lacking disabilities guide the institutions through their own sense of justice, legal obligation, and business opportunity. As a prominent international tourism destination what they have created becomes a school of Accessible Tourism for any visitor who cares to learn from it.
Tourism ministries, and the industry they support, have begun to apply results from studies about our travel behavior and purchasing power. Facility construction and business practices based on Universal Design that were once considered innovations and were known only locally are now better known and adopted worldwide. There is increasing consensus on what are proper - and profitable - ways to attract us as a market. The fact that this conference takes place today through the generous sponsorship of the Thai government with support from the tourism industry is one world-class demonstration that thoughtful leadership has recognized the value of the full participation of all its citizens and how concrete action to include citizens with disabilities creates the environment of hospitality that attracts tourists from around the world.
Review
Let me end by speaking in sequence to the three groups that will make accessible tourism possible: governments, businesses, and the disability community.
Government
Governments, when we promote a rights-based approach to disability we commit ourselves to a tradition that affirms the dignity and worth of every individual human being. We raise the individual beyond the context of the body and its functions or limits; beyond, family, race, or nationality. We state that we support the rule of law and hold our governments accountable for protecting the freedoms that we believe are due to all human beings.
By promoting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities we are actually holding more than our own national government to this standard. We are claiming that all governments of all nations must unequivocally promote and protect the right to full social inclusion of all people with disabilities throughout their lifespan. A rights-based approach to tourism claims that there must be equal opportunity of access for people with disabilities allowing them to enjoy the benefits of travel and hospitality whether for business or for leisure. That access must be physical as with the design and construction of buildings or transportation systems. That access must also be to the non-physical benefits available to travelers without disabilities. This could be as simple as receiving the same respect offered to other customers during a transaction. It could be as complex as comprehensively planning safety and evacuation procedures appropriate to people with various sensory, intellectual, and mobility capacities.
Business
Businesses, when we promote a profit-based approach to disability we acknowledge that a business must pay attention to its profitability - once it has met the minimum standards set by law and by best practices. We expect to see variation between the products offered by different businesses. We expect to see accessible tourism products both inexpensive and extravagant because our community includes members who can afford both. In fact, we count on businesses to take the lead in innovation. We trust them to do their work so well that, like moths to flame, we will want to experience the products that they have developed to entice us. So let me offer to the industry this cheeky invitation from Jesús Hernández, accessibility director of Spain's ONCE Foundation, first in its original Spanish:
"No te preocupes de mis derechos, preocúpate de mi cartera"! [Spanish]
"Don't overly concern yourself about my rights, pay attention to my wallet!"
Businesses do what you do well! We want to spend our money!
Studies show that people with disabilities have that legendary trio of characteristics that all travel agents look for: the desire to travel, the means, to travel, and the freedom to travel. In fact, the study I quoted earlier from the Open Doors Organization predicted that those billions of dollars spent on travel by Americans with disabilities could easily double with the creation of appropriate travel products. Now that’s a bold prediction!
People with Disabilities
People with Disabilities, when we travel we represent more than ourselves because we are part of a community. As a person with a disability you carry two items of unusual value -- especially in combination. Both tend to surprise those you meet as you travel. The two items are money and pride. By money I mean more than the change in your pocket. By pride I mean that confident self-determination of knowing who you are beyond any economic measures of worth.
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. It demonstrates more importantly that you have the ability to make decisions about the course of your life for yourself. That combination of means and dignity are potent tools of social transformation.
Travel the world today and you will find that there is a hunger for community and solidarity among people with disabilities. As an exchange student, backpacker, business or vacation traveler, your identity as a person with a disability gives you access to faces of the tourism industry that others may not have. Some are positive. Some need improvement.
The next two years will be a surprise to those in the industry who have not yet prepared their profit-based approach to disability. Some will be asking you to help. You have an opportunity to contribute and to shape the travel industry. That may be with the rights-based emphasis through government, education, or policy. It may on the profit-based side through invention, construction, marketing, or business creation.
Whatever opportunity you choose, take your pride - and your money - on the road. Travel. Teach the industry and level the path for the ones who come after you!
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Scott Rains, D. Min. writes daily on travel and issues of interest to people with disabilities occurring in the tourism industry at www.RollingRains.com His research on the topic of Universal Design and the travel and hospitality industry has included appointment as Resident Scholar at the Center for Cultural Studies of the University of California Santa Cruz (2004-05). He consultants globally on accessible travel & hospitality. He can be reached at srains@oco.net
October 20, 2007
Tips for the T-List: A Rolling Rains Article in a New Book
Here's how Jens Thraenhart explains this collaboration at his site Tourism Internet Marketing Bog:
Stephen Joyce (who had the idea of the book) as publisher, as well as Mathieu Ouellet and I as editors are spearheading the initiative to publish this book for the Canada-e-Connect Conference on November 7-9 in Vancouver. The book will be a collection of 100 (or so) of the best posts from T-List bloggers who are the actual authors of the book. The audience for the book is executives, marketers, and decision makers from the travel and tourism industry. Topics will include customer trends, emerging technologies, e-marketing tips, social media, new and ground breaking website reviews, etc. The book is a promotional piece and will not be sold, but attendees at the Canada-e-Connect Conference in Vancouver will get an exclusive print copy as part of their attendance. Additional copies will be made available at the contributing T-List bloggers website as an e-book download.
Full article at:
http://jensthraenhart.com/cblog/archives/297-Ground-breaking-new-book-in-online-travel-and-tourism....html
A short excerpt from the book - Download file
October 12, 2007
Update on the [with]TV Blog
The travel column that I write at [with]TV has a new URL:
http://withtv.typepad.com/weblog/travel/index.html
The entire [with]TV blog has moved over to the Typepad blog engine to make life much easier for Blogmaster Connie Kuusisto.
September 27, 2007
Inclusive Destination Development: Getting the Design Right
The tourism industry can be a vehicle for disability rights.This is the fundamental assertion of the Rolling Rains Report. The Report gleans evidence daily from around the world to fulfill its tag line, "Precipitating dialogue on travel, disability, and Universal Design." Universal Design, as applied to policy and services - as well as to place, publication, and product - is the primary strategy it promotes.
Universal Design is a design philosophy with its roots in the disability rights movement but its impact - and core constituency - is considerably broader than those with what are commonly recognized as specific disabilities.The point of departure for the various national and regional dialogues on Universal Design differs. In Japan, for example, the aging of the population is of crucial concern while in Australia or Germany the emphasis is on disability. Language tends to vary also. Universal Design in one region may be "design for all," "human-centered design," "lifespan design," or "inclusive design" depending on the region.
There are seven principles that make up Universal Design. They will be discussed in the article, "Inclusive Travel: Some Definitions," that will appear here on May 1, 2005. The central unifying point is that this is an approach to accommodating users as they are - in all their variability of capacity.
A design approach differs from a "repair" approach in that it seeks to create something from the outset that will "work for the widest possible spectrum of users without adaptation or specialized design." * That is, because care is taken to insure ease of use by the young, the old, the tall, the wide, the short - and all the other authentic varieties of humans.
Stylishness, not stigmatization, becomes possible for all. Real choice becomes available allowing consumers-on-the-sidelines to jump into the game. Consider the fashion industry and how it has embraced ample sized customers or transported eyeglasses from prosthetics to an art form.
This movement from sterile to style is influencing the hospitality industry. Studies find that people want convenience, comfort, and service as they travel. Then they want a sense of home where they stay.
Hotels chains have begun to hire world-renowned designers to create their luxury rooms. At the same time, designers have begun to create their own hotel chains. "It took Michelangelo four years to complete the Sistine Chapel. Your room took five," proclaims Steve Wynn of Wynn Resort & Country Club in Las Vegas.
As long as Universal Design, and its near cousin, Visitability, are in the repertoire of the likes of Bulgari, Armani, Ferragamo, and Versace, the designer-hotel trend enriches life for all of us. But beds - designer beds included - with mattresses several inches higher than the tops of wheelchair armrests are equally problematic for the rambunctious young and the arthritic old. And even the best chefs produce something unpalatable if they fail to serve menus in Braille.
In the United States, "home" is being redefined. Universal design has moved squarely into the mainstream in new home construction. Visitability, the practice of building homes with at least one ground floor zero-step entry and a ground floor bathroom with a doorway wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through, is not only gaining popularity, it is the law in a growing number of communities. As home becomes synonymous with universally designed hotels, retreats, and resorts will follow the trend. Cherished traditions of shipbuilding that obstruct easy access will be cast aside to accommodate the aging Baby Boomer generation on cruise ships.
As Universal Design continues its path into the core values of the travel and hospitality industry it will carry its democratizing civil rights philosophy to the farthest corners of the world.
What multinationals in the industry model as ethical best practice - even as they demonstrate that Universal Design is also profitable practice - puts added pressure on local governments to build accessible infrastructure for citizens. In a self-enforcing cycle, the outside money brought in by tourists and invested in regional development that works "work for the widest possible spectrum of users without adaptation or specialized design" creates destinations of choice for travelers with disabilities.
We call that "Inclusive Destination Development."
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Related Reading:
Integrated Quality Management (principle # 7 is Inclusiveness)
http://www.irs.aber.ac.uk/rsw/integrated_quality_management.htm
This article first appeared at Suite101.
The Global Reach of InclusiveTourism: IATC 2005 Keynote Address
We will discuss Inclusive Tourism within a rights-based framework at Asia's second international conference promoting Inclusive Tourism in Bangkok November 21-24, 2007. The following was the Opening Keynote for the 2005 International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Taipei, Taiwan.
Below is the text of my opening keynote presentation at the 2005 International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Taipei, Taiwan.
In March of this year Steve Fossett made history when he took off from Salina, Kansas in the USA and flew his airplane, the GlobalFlyer, for 67 hours nonstop in a solo around-the-world flight. I have only one half hour to take you all the way around the world and tell you about accessible tourism. Fasten your seatbelts. This will be a very quick flight!The story of accessible tourism as a growing part of the tourism industry could begin at many different points. Soon the first history of accessible tourism will be published in the Review of Disability Studies. The authors Laurel van Horn and Jose Isola explain how improvements in medicine have allowed disabled people to live longer; improvements in equipment such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, or computers that speak for us allow us to be more active; entrepreneurs and other risk-takers with disabilities have started travel agencies, sports leagues, and outdoor expeditions expanding our imaginations and challenging us to ever larger goals.
And always, there is the fact that year-by-year the Baby Boomers � who love to travel � become older and more become disabled. They will become the main characters in the next chapter of the history of accessible travel. Even before that, even now, this story about how we got to where we are today is full of enough heroes and villains for me to entertain you for a long time.
But we are taking the quick tour. I will let you read the article for yourselves when we publish it.
For today, let's start this tour of accessible tourism by looking a moment more at commercial aviation.
The airline industry now has mature airplane technology, well-tested airport design and a very large and growing customer base. It was not always that way.
Taiwan has two international airports served by numerous airlines and receiving thousands of passengers annually. Air links to the world are essential to Taiwan's economic health. For many people, air travel has become as common as travel by bus, subway, or taxi. This is because the transition from propeller to jet engine airplanes made it possible for these large numbers of people to move across great distances rapidly and in comfort. Comfort may include pressurized cabins with oxygenated air for someone with compromised lungs, attendants to assist with boarding for those unstable on their legs, and space for equipment like a wheelchair or a companion animal for someone who is blind. Unfortunately, sometimes, the airlines are tempted to define comfort so that it serves only the few.
How does an industry innovate to survive once it becomes as large and taken for granted as the airlines? It looks ways to increase income from its current customers and looks to attract new ones.
When businesses realized that they must compete for our business or lose us - that is when the story got interesting to me.
I believe that the travel industry, not governments or social entrepreneurial agencies will make the next revolutionary contribution to the rights of people with disabilities.
The travel industry will become promoters of our human rights because we have spent more than 30 years tirelessly forcing governments to treat us as real human beings and have created social and non-profit agencies to work for us. These laws and educational resources make it possible for something new to happen. The travel industry will find partners in government because tourism by people with disabilities can partially pay for the infrastructure changes needed to treat disabled citizens justly - and meet the coming challenge of our aging populations. The travel industry will do this - and is already doing this - because it can profit from us.
As air travel expanded in the last 15 - 20 years there were also strong movements for the rights of people with disabilities around the world. You probably have all heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA. It protects the civil rights of people with disabilities in the USA and allows them to participate freely in society. In the air however it is the Air Carrier Access Act, the ACAA, that regulates the industry and makes accessible tourism possible. In the airport and in hotels it is the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (ADAAG). These regulations are made concrete through the work of designers like Coco Raynes and researchers like Kate Hunter-Zaworski who evaluates airline seating or Harry Wolfe who advises airport managers on the needs of older travelers. These pioneers use a design philosophy called Universal Design that seeks to include people with the broadest range of capacities and abilities in everything that it built.
So, what history teaches us when we start the story of accessible tourism from the airline industry, is that at a certain point the industry needed new customers. It was pressured by law to allow people with disabilities to become customers and it found technically competent individuals who understood the physical needs of people with disabilities. These technically competent individuals used Universal Design to make human rights real in our day-to-day life. They opened up new parts of the world to travelers with disabilities. Finally, we became treated as customers not patients or obstacles.
Today excellent studies exist on the tourism potential of people with disabilities. Some studies were done by the United Nations UNESCAP, by Keroul of Canada, and by the European Union but it was pioneers like Simon Darcy in Australia and Eric Lipp in the USA who gave tourism professionals the business tools they could use to act - and to make money.
I encourage you to read "From Anxiety to Access" by Simon and the "Travel Behavior Surveys" by Eric. In fact, I would even suggest that someone here today take on the task of translating them into Chinese. I say this, not only because they are historic documents that launched the current phase of accessible tourism, but because we would all like to see similar studies on Taiwan shape the future of accessible travel in the Asia Pacific region.
Eric's study found that:
The 42 million disabled travelers in the USA take 31.7 million trips per year, and spend $13.6 billion annually. Major areas of spending include $3.3 billion on airfare, $4.2 billion on hotel accommodations, and $2.7 billion on food and beverage. In addition, adults with disabilities patronize restaurants about once a week, and they account for $35 billion in annual revenue for restaurants.
Simon's study found that:
On average 80-90% of all travel by people with a physical disability is with a partner/caregiver, family or friends who do not have a disability. Of those who undertook travel with other people with a disability most traveled with 1-2 other people with a disability.
That is a lot of people with a lot of money to spend - and those are only consumer numbers from the USA.
It was the ocean cruise ship industry, not the airlines, who first learned how to turn those words into profit. When they created their successful business models they made accessible tourism sustainable. Part of their success came from understanding a simple concept that people with mobility difficulties know as "the path of travel."
Cruise ships are compact universes. If you can conveniently locate a tourist's necessities - and guarantee that the tourist can get to them with minimal effort - then you have a formula for success. In other words, do not just make a table in a restaurant accessible. Make a destination, like a restaurant, accessible from every possible starting point in the ship, or resort, or city. Create an accessible "path of travel" to an accessible destination and then you have an accessible product not just one special accessible item. You have a reason for tourists not only to pass through but to stay.
Today, whole regions, states, and countries are learning these simple facts. I want to tell you about some on our quick trip around the world. I hope that you will tell me about many more while we are together here.
To the south of us, Australia takes accessible tourism quite seriously for both domestic and international tourists. The Convention Bureau there in Perth, Western Australia has a program called "Beyond Accessibility." It requires the hotels to use from 10% to 15% of the profit they make from the conventions brought to them by the Convention Bureau for upgrading the hotel's accerssibility.
In Australia's state of Tasmania, the Devil's Playground does something unique in the entire world with the concept of "paths of travel." Kerry & Jane Winberg have purchased several properties throughout the seven tourist regions of the island. Each location is fully wheelchair accessible. In addition, they have purchased their own bus with a lift. Thus, any place in the entire state can be visited in a comfortable day trip. As a result, the entire island is open to travelers with disabilities. I traveled around Tasmania as one of their first guests last September. We taught shopkeepers and tourist site managers about the potential of this market and what they could do to improve their appeal to travelers with disabilities. Now, my colleague Neil Robinson is doing an economic feasibility study to see if this model can be applied in Western Australia.
In the Atlantic Ocean, one of the Canary Islands known as Tenerife lies sixty miles off the coast of North Africa. There lives one of the pioneers of the European Tourism for All movement, Jose Ignacio Delgado. His work has strengthened the legal rights of Europeans with disabilities. He has promoted the civil rights and improved access to services for Canary Island residents with disabilities. He consults with the tourism industry and his accessibility directory for Tenerife is a model sophisticated online resource offering tourism information for travelers with disabilities.
Farther north in the Atlantic, the United Kingdom is developing accessible tourism very rapidly since their anti- discrimination act has come into force. One especially well-done project is the online travel agency and accessible destination datable known as the "Good Access Guide" by Richard Thompson. Richard is one of the 92 colleagues from around the world who I asked to help me research this talk and who have contributed to the online discussions we have going in Brazil, Canada, and the United States on the five themes we will discuss in our Breakout Sessions at this conference.
Also at this conference, we will learn about Japan's leadership in accessible travel. Takayama city is only one example of the way Japan is teaching the rest of the world how to live with a spirit of inclusion. Their unique contribution is to recognize that older citizens benefit from the accessibility that makes a place livable and attractive to tourists with disabilities.
Architects, and their students, from the Rhode Island School of Design take a different approach. They are linking environmentally sensitive -"green" - construction methods and building materials with accessibility. They are creating an accessible eco-lodge at St. John's in the US Virgin Islands This resort, known as Concordia Estates, allows people with disabilities close access to unspoiled nature.
The tourist hotels in Hawai'i have gone beyond simple compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. They can provide guests with comfortable accessible rooms, advise them on accessible places for food and entertainment, or arrange for things such as a specialized beach wheelchair to rent that will set mobility disabled visitors loose on the beach.
All these tourist destinations have learned the cruise ship secret of success. Disabled tourists will come when they find variety, value, service, and accessibility woven together seamlessly. They are learning to include people with disabilities as free and equal participants in leisure activities.
Now, notice something about these examples. Hawai'i, St. John's, Japan, te United Kingdom, Tenerife, and Tasmania are all islands. It seems that innovation in accessible tourism, at this point in history, is flourishing in places that are manageably small and administratively unified. Is it possible that an island like Taiwan will become a world-class example of accessible tourism? The fact that we are all gathered here for this conference makes me think that Taiwan plans to become just such a leader.
We have a name for the model that is developing in the areas that I just mentioned. We call it "Inclusive Destination Development." The phrase combines two other phrases "Inclusive Development" from economic development practice and "Destination Development" from the tourism industry.
The World Bank promotes "Inclusive Development" as economic and regional development that allows for full social participation of people with disabilities.
"Destination Development" is the phrase used by the tourism industry to describe the strategic application of planning, development, and marketing resources to enhance a location as a desired destination for travelers. Inclusive Destination Development uses the word "Inclusive", in the sense it is used by the World Bank, to mean "allowing for the full social participation of people with disabilities."
Thus, Inclusive Destination Development is "the systematic and strategic application of resources to make a location become a destination of choice for persons with disabilities."
The goal of Inclusive Tourism is to accommodate the broadest range of tourists possible without stigma or the need for special accommodation. Inclusive Destination Development is the primary means of establishing Inclusive, or as we will be calling it at this conference, "Accessible" Tourism.
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 these human rights to be extended to local residents. 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.
Earlier I mentioned the concept "path of travel." When we design places so that people with disabilities can enter, participate in, and leave freely we also allow access for economic resources and the very concept of freedom.
At this conference we commit ourselves to building the Asian portion of this path. I look forward to building it with you. So do the millions of people around the world who will also come here to travel it.
This presentation also appeared as an article at Suiote 101.
August 05, 2007
In Writing Mode
This professional hiatus has been quite productive. It seems about time to hit the lecture circuit.
Recently you saw announcement of my new column at [with]tv on Travel & Disability. Today I provided Korea's Cowalk magazine with a piece entitled, "Get Out and Discover Korea – Then Tell the Global Disability Community." Yesterday I completed "Inclusive Destination Development: Tourism as a Tool in Peace Building” for the 25th anniversary edition of ECOT's Contours magazine.
Deborah Kaplan has passed along, for my embellishment, an article we are co-authoring for National Council on Aging about the natural affinities between the aging and disability movements - especially as our leadership ages. Work proceeds apace (meaning, in this case, with large doses of procrastination) on a piece for a special edition of Dr. Sunil Bhatia's emerging journal, Design for All. Up next, a proposal to the Abe fellowship to bring some academic closure to the inclusive Tourism work of Ichiro Kusanagi and Topong Kulkanchit hopefully in association with professor Takeo Ogawa's foundation in Fukuoka.
May 12, 2007
Random Acts of Kindness on the Road: Embracing the Korean "Peace Zone"
Technically, so they tell me, peace has never been declared with North Korea. So, as I struggle with Asiana Airlines to provide me with even a modicum of service, images of conflict and war come easily to mind. Add to that the fact that after a brief rest in Seoul tomorrow I will be off to Imjingak with a reporter from Chosun Ilbo and the chair of DPI's sub-committee on Imjingak accessibility.
Reading the independent, pro-unification newspaper Hankyoreh set my thinking down a more peaceful path.
There is Free Hugs campaign in Korea. Virally transmitted by an online video of some Australians doing the same these random acts of human contact seem to be just the cure for disability aversion. As the Hankyoreh article reports on the video of this April 20, National Disabled Persons' Day event:
In many cases, it seemed like it was people’s first experience to hug a person in a wheelchair, as they tried to figure out how to bend their knees and lower their heads in the right way so that they could look their hugging partner in the eyes. After the hugs, both parties always wear bright smiles.
March 15, 2007
DSQ Forum on Disability Blogs Goes Live Today
As mentioned on March 13 the latest issue of Disability Studies Quarterly contains a forum on disability blogs. It has gone live today here:
http://www.dsq-sds.org/_articles_html/2007/winter/2007_winter_toc.html
From Stephen Kuusisto's Introduction:
With this issue of Disability Studies Quarterly we want to introduce the blog as a new forum for disability advocacy and public engagement . Writing online is simultaneously brash, phlegmatic, idealistic, dogmatic, creative, reasoned, and vituperative. The blog is at once a forum for seasoned writers even as it offers entrance to public discourse by those who are new to publishing. It is not too optimistic to characterize the blog as an equalizing force when one considers how infrequently disability is discussed as a social construction by the traditional press. In his recent collection of essays Bending Over Backwards, Lennard J. Davis notes that even progressive political journals like The Nation will often refuse to publish editorials or articles that are concerned with disability. Progressive opinion journals are, it would seem, no better at claiming disability than their conservative counterparts.
March 13, 2007
In Disability Studies Quarterly
Watch next month's Disability Studies Quarterly for A Roundtable on Disability Blogging. In it you will find some of my favorites:
Ruth Harrigan
Wheelie Catholic
The Goldfish
Diary of a Goldfish
Darren Hillock
Get Around Guide
Kay Olson / Blue
The Gimp Parade
Alicia "Kestrell" Verlager
The Blind Bookworm Blog
Wheelchair Dancer
The Wheelchair Dancer
Emma Crees
The Life and Times of Emma
Stephen Kuusisto
Planet of the Blind
March 01, 2007
Accessing Downunder
At some point during my groggy gaze out the cabin window I recalled that I was in New Zealand this morning. Maybe it was the fact that Spring-green hillsides rose up on three sides of me in one of the North Island’s typical steep valleys. Or maybe it was the ocean cove defining the fourth side. But I think it was the clowning Kea birds that clinched it for me.
Coming from the falling autumn leaves of Northern California at first I thought I was seeing a particularly odd bundle of green-brown sycamore and toyon tree leaves rolling down the hillside outside the kitchen window. With a few squawks and a flutter the mirage resolved into two quite contented Keas waddling their separate ways -- only to do an about face and have at it again.
I recalled watching sea otters back home in California, platypus’ last week in Tasmania, and now these two rambunctious earth-colored parrots reminding me that there was a time for work and a time for play. Today was for play.
The past two weeks I had traveled across Australia from Sydney to Perth as a guest of Tourism Australia to study best practices in tourism for people with disabilities. Invited also by Tourism Tasmania to participate in their Visiting Journalist Programme, I explored firsthand the compact diversity of that charming piece of Australia sitting offshore “under Down Under.” In Tasmania I found a unique circuit of 100% accessible lodgings under construction – The Devil’s Playground – and was hosted there thanks to the generosity of owners Kerry and Jane Winberg. But back to that later.
Northern New Zealand was to be a two-night stopover on the way home. It was a “reconnaissance flight” with my sister, Pamela, to prepare for a longer stay in a year.
Flying into Auckland International Airport the traveler with a disability is met with more than the usual number of pleasant surprises – not the least of which can be friendly New Zealanders (“Kiwis”).
The airport is manageable in size. Luggage carts are free (a particularly civilized accommodation for international visitors who don’t happen to be carrying pocket change in the local currency.) Restaurants and shops are fairly accessible although not one of the Internet kiosks were usable due to a seat affixed to the floor in front of each and a keyboard mounted to the eye-level desktop. A roll-in shower is available in the international travelers section. And, in this traveler’s experience, the competence and quality of customer service available at the Auckland International Airport Visitor Centre rivals the best I have encountered anywhere. The agent who worked with us helped us narrow down options and did all the work to research and book accessible accommodations and activities.
We chose to stay in Tutukaka south of the more well-known Bay of Islands. We discovered that rental cars came only with right-hand mounted hand control and required a three to six day wait (I believe that under current deregulation I can now purchase a semi-automatic weapon in the USA with less hassle) and up to $245 NZ installation fee. My sister drove. I called cadence from the backseat driver position, “Left, left, left. They drive on the left down here!” (On my return home I have resolved to be less smug as navigator next time. I caught myself driving on the left side of the road in San Jose!)
Arriving after dark at the small resort we had selected, I was disappointed to note the four-inch threshold to the front door from the well-constructed, extra-wide ramp and landing. My disappointment grew as I met the charming owners, who brought us some of their own dinner when they realized we had not eaten, because I saw their obvious pride-in-ownership for their newly-constructed resort. It is a particularly painful experience for me to point out where, accessible construction codes faithfully followed, a small business owner is still left with an inaccessible product. So painful, in fact, that I have undertaken a project to publish and disseminate a resource that addresses the gaps in legislation and imagination which lead to this all-too-common experience. As consumers with disabilities we cannot afford to fail to assist those who have made the good faith commitment to serve us with appropriate products.
The next morning my sister and I drove the winding ridge top road to the marina and checked in with Dive! Tutukaka.
Although the staff and crew are not Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA) certified it did not take long before they had won my confidence. Transfer into Dive! Tutukaka’s purple and gold boats was a standard fireman’s carry. The folded manual wheelchair was stowed forward. For those preferring to remain in their wheelchair on the exposed section of the deck during the wild 23 kilometer ride out to the dive destination – the Poor Knights Islands – I would recommend suiting up beforehand and donning the biggest poncho you can find. The wash breaking over the bow inundates the roof and deck as these speedy boats race to be first to the best spots!
And what spots they are!
The islands were reportedly named by Captain James Cook who thought the flower bedecked islands looked like the jam on his “Poor Knight’s Pudding” (which is better known today as “French Toast.”)
This cluster of sheer-walled islands preserves species that are extinct or endangered on the two main islands. Underwater the cliffs continue downward creating what Jacques Cousteau rated as one of the ten best diving locations in the world.
Aquatic life at the Poor Knights Islands' dive. Photograph by Dr Geoff Green of Auckland, NZ.
Since 1820 the islands have been left uninhabited as sacred (tapu) following an invasion and massacre of one Maori group (hapu) by a competitor. In 1977 the islands became a nature reserve and now enjoy the highest degree of protection available under New Zealand law. Local plants and animals flourish in this environment. Marine life has learned that divers pose no threat and have adjusted to their occasional visitors.
After watching the non-disabled divers surface at the first dive site – a sheltered cove with cliffs rising 240 meters straight up and continuing down below the surface of the clear water, I chose not to dive. While the water surrounding the Poor Knights is moderated by a warm current from the Coral Sea, I knew that my body did not have the hypothermia recovering resiliency that my dive buddies were exhibiting. Instead I checked out their photos of the fascinating world below and took in the unique plant and bird life around us. This is definitely a place to return to for a dive in a warmer season.
Exotic sea life seen on the Poor Knights Islands' dive. Photograph by Dr Geoff Green of Auckland, NZ.
My purpose in traveling Down Under was to examine the implementation of universal design by the tourism industry and speak on inclusive destination development strategies at a conference on travel and disability. The NICAN conference, “Out of the Blue, Valuing the Disability Market in Tourism,” brought experts from around the country to Perth for four days of discussion, networking, and innovation.
Highlights of the event included launch of the state of Western Australia’s “Guestability” resource on good design and quality customer service for travelers with disabilities. The Perth Convention Bureau introduced a promising model called, “Beyond Compliance,” where venues receiving referrals from the Bureau to host conferences are required to reinvest 5% to 10% of their profits into facilities accessibility.
The state Conservation and Land Management Department exhibited their best designs incorporating universal design into outdoor access. Speakers addressed many other topics. These included results of an international study on the development of travel confidence by individuals with disabilities, regional studies of accessible Australian venues, strategies involving a whole government approach to destination development and a universal management approach to customer service.
Everywhere the facts and figures were laid out to underscore the sustainability of addressing the travel needs of persons with disabilities. Even now, before the aging of the Boomer generation dramatically increases the figures, there are 40 million Europeans, 42 million Americans, and 9.5 million Australians with disabilities. According to a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by The Open Door Organization in 2000 the purchasing power of the American travelers-with-disabilities market is $13.5.
Wherever I traveled throughout Australia, I found evidence of a heightened awareness of the needs of travelers with disabilities. More so than in the US and Canada, the word is getting out to businesses Down Under that inclusive tourism is a profitable, growth-oriented market approach. Interest in Universal Design is high.
Following the conference I spent two nights in the southeast of the state of Western Australia. Access features were the first thing we heard about from our Aboriginal guide and musician, Josh “Kumal” Whiteland of the Wardani people, as we took a bush walk around the Wardan Aboriginal Cultural Center. Afterward he treated us to two jam sessions on the didgeridoo (“Didjie” in the typical Australian slang that shortens and adds “ie” to almost everything. “Wheelie” for “wheelchair user”, etc.)
Lodging nearby at Wyadup Brook Cabins was comfortable and accessible. Hospitality was splendid as Judy Fisher introduced us to the amenities of the cabin she herself had designed as a master project to incorporate best practices in accessibility. I even found references to universal design and the participation of disabled athletes in the upcoming Iron Man triathlon in the 32 page local newspaper that was left by the fireplace with the kindling.
Before the conference I was treated to an escorted, four-day whirlwind sampler of Tasmania by the staff at The Devil’s Playground.
In Hobart, down at the southern tip of the island, I stayed at the still-under construction Henry Jones Art Hotel. Except for a unique toilet that recalled some gymnastic equipment I have seen (it had no grab rails and the bowl stood at least two feet in front of the wall, for example) the room was comfortable. The mix of ultra-modern and loft-style exposed 100 year-old masonry and beams was quite appealing. Staff were eager to learn where they could improve the facility and their service to guests with disabilities.
Back up north in the Launceston region, we watched three captive platypus and strolled through an indoor butterfly garden – all wheelchair accessible – at Platypus House on a day trip through the Tamar Valley wine region. I heard Kookaburras. I listened to Tasmanian frogs with voices deep enough to compete with James Earl Jones for the voice of Darth Vader. I saw Black Swans, Native Hens, endangered fish species, and sprawling wetlands brought into reach through a network of boardwalks and bird blinds. Next trip I’ll build in time for the wine-tasting tour once I try all the wine I brought home with me and strategically pick my wineries.
On another excursion, we climbed the mountains beyond Sheffield’s mural-covered buildings in the Devil’s Playground’s lift-equipped van. Stopping at Dove Lake below Cradle Mountain there was both an asphalt path and a wooden boardwalk extending for several miles. Further east we spent the night in Tullah where an ambitious transformation is taking place. The Tullah Chalet is being retrofitted for accessibility. Accessible cabins and RV park are in the design phase. Local outfitters have adapted saddles for trips around Tullah Lake while a pontoon boat (Barbie – as in barbeque – Boat) is on order to further enhance fishing options. The resources available through the Devil’s Playground circuit of barrier free lodges around Tasmania is unique in y experience of inclusive travel options. In fact, I was so impressed that I will be leading an international gathering of outdoors-oriented people with disabilities who will converge on the site for Thanksgiving 2005. We’re calling it “Day in the Bush” after a similar program of more than ten years known as “Day on the Beach” in Santa Cruz, California.
Australia and New Zealand have a well-developed tourism industry. Both countries demonstrate in policy and in practice a positive orientation toward the needs and preferences of travelers with disabilities. General information is readily available on both destinations and accessibility information is available for those willing to research – or who have chosen a good travel agent. It appears that, for the near future at least, Australia in particular is casting itself in a light that is designed to attract and satisfy travelers with disabilities.
My advice? Take advantage of the hospitality, mate!
Links:
Kea
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/001~Plants-and-Animals/001~Native-Animals/Kea.asp
Tamar Valley
http://www.tamarvalley.com.au/
Dive! Tutukaka
http://www.diving.co.nz/poorknights.htm
The Devil’s Playground
http://www.thedevilsplayground.com.au/tasmania.html
Wayadup Brook Cabins
www.iinet.net.au/~wyadup
Wardan Cultural Centre
http://www.wardan.com.au/pages/edprog.html
http://www.waitoc.com/noongar-region/wardan/default.htm
Cradle Mountain
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/natparks/cradle/
Henry Jones Art Hotel
http://www.thehenryjones.com/
NICAN
http://www.nican.com.au
Auckland Airport
http://www.auckland-airport.co.nz/
Global Access Disabled Travel Network
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1502/
clearpath@cox.net
Originally published in Global Access Disabled Travel Network
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1502/aunzrains04.htm
February 24, 2007
Bootstrapping: with SlideShare.net: An Accessible Web 2.0 Tool for Promoting ... Accessibility!
SlideShare transforms PowerPoint slide shows into Flash. That makes them small and fast for Web deployment but Flash is not screenreader friendly.
That's why the developer of SlideShare is to be congratulated for going the extra step. SlideShare generates a text file that while not visible on the page is accessible to programs like Jaws for Windows. The text file can then be read out loud by text-to-speech engines.
Here is a sample:
It is possible for the author to upload the original (non-Flash) slideshow for others to download and modify as was done in this case.
Here is the Portuguese version of the slideshow:
December 03, 2006
Reflections on Rambling the Globe: International Day of Disabled Persons 2006
It is a well-published secret that I travel a lot. After 35 years doing so in a wheelchair has become so second nature that sometimes it takes running headlong into an obstacle to remember how "special" simply living one's life can seem to those designing travel products.
This Fall marks one of those metalic milestone wedding anniversaries for my spouse and I. Not surprisingly, we want to celebrate it with "The Grand Tour." Transitioning from the dreaming to the planning stage I recently discovered that we won't be spending the happy occassion on a Smithsonian tour. Specifically, we won't be there for the Vanishing Cultures Around the World: An Epic Journey by Private Jet because Smithsonian Journeys tours are quite explicit:
Physical and Medical ConsiderationsPlease note that these tours require that participants be in good physical condition: you must be capable, without assistance, of walking a minimum of one mile over uneven terrain and of climbing stairs that may not have handrails. Participants should have sufficient stamina to keep pace with an active group of travelers on long days of touring. If you have any questions about your ability to participate in a tour, please call us at 1-877-338-8687.
Some tours require medical certification from your doctor. This requirement is noted on the individual itineraries. On these tours, a medical form will be sent to you.
Source:
http://smithsonianjourneys.org//International/intl-info.htm#physical
Certainly not all itineraries are suitable for slow walkers or wheelchair users. I have no quibble with the realities of topography. I can accept the historic construction patterns of other communities. Medical technologies have become more successful in prolonging the lives all. With a larger disabled population there is simply more demand for inclusion in society and the built environment. Older buildings and infrastructure reflect earlier demographics. Older attitudes served as blinders to imaginative solutions.
What seems unimaginable to me is that a contemporary American institution as prominent as the Smthsonian would make no attempt at inclusion substituting instead a Jim Crow blanket policy.
We chuckle at the absurd phrase, "You can't get there from here" because, of course you can! You may have to backtrack, you may have to use alternate means, you may have to do what differently-abled people 24/7/365 -- adapt.
There is no reason why Smithsonian Journeys should not have a product line that is inclusive of slow walkers and people with disabilities. Not all itineraries may be accessible but the destinations themselves may be. Sometimes (not always) what is lacking is imagination. The itinerary can be changed to accommodate an alternate way to enjoy the same destination.
To quote Michael Graves in the current issue of Metropolis magazine:
"People who become disabled have to radically redesign their outlook about the physical world," Graves says, remembering the first days after he was out of danger and learning to live with paralysis. "They redesign their sense of privacy and their sense of independence. Yet in the products they have to use, design has abandoned them."
To clarify, if this tour, which sounds spectacular, is truly and irreconcilably inaccessible then so be it.
My point is that an attitude, instutionalized by a policy, that excludes travelers with disabilities from the outset is an insurmountable handicap that deadens the imaginations of those who plan travel package itineraries -- and, yes the recurring Rolling Rains argument -- a shortsighted business decision when the market of travelers with disabilities consistently reports that it would travel more if options were available and surveys show it has the three-part prerequisite to travel: time, desire, and disposable income.
In the case of Smithsonian Journey's policy-behind-the-itinerary we have an excellent business school or disability studies department case study validating the insights of the Social Theory of Disability. The Smithsonian has manufactured handicaps that burden people with disabilities.
To emphasize the irony of it all, it is the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that hosts the Disability Rights Movement Exhibition.
Further Reading on the Demand for Inclusive Travel:
Toward a Global History of Inclusive Travel
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/001093.html
The Open Doors Organization Disabled Traveler Market Report 2006
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000936.html
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000599.html
The Seven Principles of Universal Design
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/001011.html
Rick Steves on Accessible European Travel
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000204.html
Theories of Disability
http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/demographics-identity/dkaplanpaper.htm
2005 International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000480.htm
lnclusive Tourism: Some Definitions
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/18423/114773
Travel With a Disability
http://www.flickr.com/groups/rollingrains/
November 27, 2006
Accessing Downunder
A travelogue on a trip to Australia and New Zealand.
September 25, 2006
Six Degrees of Separation -- from Yourself
When you have lived in or traveled to enough places this vast globe begins to feel like a Mobius Strip.
Once a chance ride home from church by someone I new only through her ministry at the parish revealed that she was the daughter of the housekeeper who served the family I lived with in Guatemala in high school. We had probably met several decades earlier and a continent away.
More recently, my interest in lilies (lilium species) has me virtually revisiting Tasmania and Taiwan. Taiwan, formerly Formosa ("Beautiful" in Portuguese), is home to the endangered Lilium formosanum.
For those of us interested in preserving Lilium species and hybridizing them to create new lilies for the garden there is a desire to make common cause with local green and ecology movement advocates.
Perhaps the indigenous people of Taiwan such as the Bunun can supplement their existing sustainable enterprise projects with a project to retain and restore Lilium formosanum -- a unique lily suited, unlike most, to warmer climates and as yet underutilized by commercial breeders. The Bunun have already shown extraordinary foresight in adopting Universal Design in their village and tourist facilities. Perhaps there is convergence of the best of First and Third World vaues taking place?
The critical reader may finish reading this post, look at the Rolling Rains tagline, "Travel, Disability, and Universal Design" and ask, "How many more travelers with disabilities are this passionately involved in "normal" activities of leisure or social benefit but remain an untapped market to the degree that Universal Design is not thoroughly embraced throughout the travel industry?
August 07, 2006
Australia's e-Bility.com with Some Hot News on Travel & Disability!
Well, you know that you have arrived when somebody else beats you to getting your own publicity out the door!
Thank you Sandra Vassallo for launching the Rolling Rains - Travel with a Disability Flickr group from your excellent site downunder, e-bility.com
Here's the scoop:
http://www.e-bility.com/disability-news/travel-photos.php
June 14, 2006
Can You Squidoo?
Somebody already snapped up the URL "23 Squidoo" at the new Squidoo Web 2.0 portal widget. I had to make do with Travel Access at Squidoo:
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/workshop/travelaccess
Building this aggregator site on Universal Design and travel site was a quick diversion during a slow spell one day but I've watched it rise from site number ten thousand and something up around #70. Self publishing made easy.
May 08, 2006
Multi-Sensory Travel
The article "Multi-Sensory Travel" (reprinted below) appeared on March 12, 2005 at the Travel & Disability section of Suite 101.com. For a complete list of articles see the column to the left or go to the welcome page at http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/travel_with_disabilities
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
Gary enjoys the sounds and smells of the destinations. He thoroughly enjoys experiences - things like riding in a Cable Car in San Francisco, the streetcars in New Orleans and the double-decker buses of London. We have one particular story - it's funny now, but at the time it was a very horrific experience.
We had transportation passes for the buses and trains in London. We had an extremely busy day and were pretty tired so we decided to take a double-decker bus several blocks rather than walk. I was assisting Gary onto the bus when the bus took off. He was on the platform; I was on the curb. I was too tired to walk the distance, but adrenaline allowed me to run after the bus until its next stop. Meanwhile, I was scared that I would lose him. I realized that I never told him the name of the hotel or its address. A passenger assisted Gary at the next stop and we clung to each other sobbing uncontrollably.
The travel industry has changed recently but you seem to have discovered a way to fill an unmet need and thrive.
After 9-11, the travel industry took a major hit.
Less than two months after, Gary went to Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto, Florida where he was teamed up with Dr. John, a beautiful yellow Labrador retriever. Our travel experiences started to take on a new twist.
Shortly after this, the brick and mortar agency that I was affiliated with for many years closed, and we started OUTTASIGHT Travel. This is when we realized that in the United States we, as service animal users, are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. We are allowed to travel with a guide dog virtually anywhere we would like to - as long as we're in the US. However, once we leave the country, the protection of the ADA does not go along with us as an umbrella. This is when we realized that different countries have different laws and we started to research the requirements to enter other countries.
Give us a sense of the things you look for as you plan an itinerary and select suppliers.
Many major companies have been extremely proactive in adhering to accessibility standards. Cruise lines are providing Braille signage and many have departments that deal exclusively with accessibility issues. It is important to find destinations that go beyond sightseeing. When selecting a motor coach tour, you may want to stay away from companies that drive by and see. You want to select a company that will stop so that the traveler can experience the destination. When selecting a cruise, you want to make sure that a service animal team is allowed into the country and what documentation may be necessary in order to get there. Why would you choose an itinerary that won't allow you to disembark when you get there?
In the three years that Outtasight has been in business, we have gotten very active with the Society of Accessible Travel and Hospitality - aka SATH - and have continued to use resources available to us through the American Council of the Blind and Guide Dog Users, Inc. All three organizations assisted us when we were told by a (now defunct) cruise line that we could not bring our dog with us on the cruise - it was to leave from a US port and its destination was not a guide dog friendly port of call. We had to threaten them with the Department of Justice, and just days before our expected date of departure, they stated that they would allow us on the cruise.
Some destinations require specific paperwork, which will verify that the animal is disease and parasite free. Others have quarantine periods. Jamaica has a six-month quarantine; personally I wouldn't recommend Jamaica as a cruise ship port of call since the guide dog team can't leave the ship together. Even in some countries that allow the animals with no quarantine or restrictions, not all public places will allow them. We were denied a reservation at a Best Western hotel in the Bahamas even though a guide dog is allowed to go into the country with proper documentation.
I am sure you have the opportunity to put together dream travel packages for your blind clients. Can you tell us about that?
Everyone's dream vacation is different. Some may like beach; some may like mountains. Some may be active; others may be restful. Just as you would with a sighted client, you need to qualify your potential traveler. We have a blind friend who runs a minimum of five miles a day with her guide dog. She wouldn't be happy vegging out - and I know Gary would not be at all happy if we did a hiking, white water rafting vacation.
The dream vacation that has been the most rewarding has been cruising.
Not only does a cruise give you excellent value, but it includes, several destinations, super cuisine, sensational entertainment, a friendly and safe environment and familiarity. Once on board, everything is there for you.
You don't have to hail a cab to take you to the theatre or restaurant. You don't have to pack and unpack every time you get to a new destination. I have a few suggestions when selecting a cruise. To be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, it would be wise to choose an itinerary that embarks and disembarks in an American port. Your itinerary should include destinations that are accessible to the service animal team - suggestions would be an Eastern Caribbean itinerary, Canada and New England, Mexico or Alaska.
If cruising is not your cup of tea, my other recommendation would be to travel to a destination, base yourself there, then branch out. By doing this, you don't have to re-acclimatize yourself to a new hotel every day and the staff gets to know who you are.
What services or resources can you suggest that are especially helpful to blind travelers?
We have the great fortune of being able to provide information to our clients in "accessible format." Gary is a certified access technology specialist and has the ability to translate print into electronic format, large print and even Braille. Gary can be seen in the Cruise Line International Association video - "Selling Strategies" where he is shown using his Braille embosser.
There is an excellent resource tool, called Globetrotting Pets, a book written by Dr. David Forsythe, which lists almost every country in the world and what they require for a person to enter with their pets. This is a great reference because even though a service animal is not a "pet," it gives contact information for the government agencies in charge of importation of animals.
The Travel Institute has just added a course on Accessible Travel to their curriculum. This excellently presented material was prepared by Roberta Schwartz, CTC, the Director of Accreditation and Professional Studies of SATH. I would highly recommend any travel professional to take advantage of this educational opportunity.
Support can come from your local chapters of the American Council of the Blind or the National Federation of the Blind. These consumer groups know the market you are questioning and are a most valuable resource. The Guide Dog Users, Inc. is another group that specializes in issues that their members experience.
In my personal opinion, the best source of information available to the consumer, the travel provider, and the hospitality industry is the Society of Accessible Travel and Hospitality. SATH is a group comprised of well-traveled, educated, and caring professionals. If they don't have an answer, they will use their extensive networking system to try to find one. You can visit SATH at www.sath.org. In January of every year, SATH holds its annual Congress in Miami. This is the most dynamic travel industry event because not only are the participants eager to share - they are also a group who cares. Their motto, "Disability is Not Inability," says it all.
You make travel sound challenging � but worth the effort.
Why would a blind person want to travel when they can't "sightsee?" Once again, we go back to the multi-sensory approach to travel.
When you think of some of your favorite vacations, what are some of the things that come to your mind? Was it that great comedian that entertained you at a comedy club in Las Vegas? Could it have been that absolutely sumptuous meal that you experienced at Fisherman's Wharf, or the fish 'n chips in Londontown? Do you remember slipping into those down duvets and nesting into the heavenly beds? How about the thrill of Space Mountain? These are all experiences that have become fond memories, and none of them require sight.
December 14, 2005
Travel Trends and the Boletin Polibea Turismo in Spain
The following article appeared in the most recent issue of the Boletin Polibea Turismo in English as as "A Travel Trend on the Horizon" and, in Spanish, as "Una Tendencia en el Horizonte."
A Travel Trend on the Horizon
The goal of Universal Design is to create all products and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation.
I am quadriplegic and I have a dream.
It is a dream as noble as the impetus behind the Pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela; as insistent as the beckoning of Mecca to the haji; as deep as the desire to journey to Jerusalem; as all-encompassing as the attraction of Kumba Mela in India. It is the dream of travel.
Travel, even the dream of travel, speaks to the imagination. This past year demonstrated once again that imagination drives the engines of commerce even as it fuels the spirits of pilgrims, artists, and designers. Travel for people with disabilities, a long-deferred dream, now receives global attention at a level that promises to make it economically sustainable. One rediscovered philosophy of design is making this transformation possible.
Sheikh Mohammed has announced a goal of attracting three million travelers with disabilities to ultra-modern Dubailand even while Japan has quietly transformed Takayama City into a barrier-free destination of choice that retains the charm of this city steeped in tradition. Tasmania saw the launch of an island-encompassing circuit of fully accessible lodgings known as the Devil's Playground. Sun City International Community takes the trend even further. They offer residents of their residences for seniors in China the opportunity to travel to their senior properties outside the country on a time-share basis.
In the past year, as business gave voice to the dream that travel would be barrier-free and set in motion a renaissance of design, I have been carried along on a pilgrimage to destinations not of my own choosing but still deeply satisfying and beneficial.
Conferences on travel and disability sprung up simultaneously over the past twelve months on every continent but Antarctica . In fact, the popularity of the topic created several dilemmas in my personal travel itinerary that might seem familiar to the frequent traveler.
By choosing to work with students from Rhode Island School of Design to evaluate their human-centered design for a wheelchair-accessible eco-resort in the Caribbean I was unable to accept an invitation to speak at Brazil 's first national conference on barrier free tourism and hospitality outside Porto Alegre . While launching the Asia Pacific Accessible Travel League at the First International Conference on Accessible Travel in Taipei , Taiwan I was able to attend neither the European Union's conference on universally usable travel information sponsored by the One-Stop Shop for Accessible Tourism in Europe (OSSATE) in London nor the Culture for All conference in Berlin . As Mexico held a national conference on tourism without barriers in Mazatlan , I was on the schedule at the Third International Conference on Peace Through Tourism in Pattaya , Thailand as a panelist on travel and Universal Design.
It is that final concept Universal Design that runs like a grand protagonist through this global drama of the emergence of barrier-free travel as a business objective. Businesses have rediscovered a secret of Universal Design's utility as a roadmap to lifelong social participation by children, people with disabilities, and seniors. It creates as well as satisfies a new customer base. It allows for business models that are at once economically sustainable and socially beneficial.
Continue reading "A Travel Trend on the Horizon"
La meta del Diseo Universal consiste en crear todos los productos y recursos tan usables como sea posible por tantas personas como sea posible, independientemente de su edad, capacidad o situacin.
Soy tetrapljico y tengo un sueo.
Es un sueo tan noble como la fuerza que empuja a realizar el Camino de Santiago, tan insistente como la llamada de La Meca para el Hayyi, tan profundo como el deseo de viajar a Jerusaln, tan vital como la atraccin de Kumba Mela en India. Es el sueo de viajar.
Viajar, incluso el sueo de viajar, le habla a la imaginacin. El ao pasado ha puesto de manifiesto, una vez ms, que la imaginacin mueve los engranajes del comercio en la misma medida que alimenta el espritu de peregrinos, artistas y diseadores. El viaje, un sueo largamente pospuesto para las personas con discapacidad, recibe ahora atencin global a un nivel que promete convertirlo en econmicamente sostenible. Una redescubierta filosofa del diseo est haciendo posible esta transformacin.
El Jeque Mohammed ha anunciado que la meta de su pas, Dubai, es atraer a tres millones de viajeros con alguna discapacidad, mientras Japn ha convertido la ciudad de Takayama en un destino sin barreras que conserva el atractivo de una ciudad impregnada por la tradicin. Tasmania contempl el lanzamiento de un circuito de alojamientos completamente accesibles a lo largo de toda la isla, conocido como Devil's Playground (Patio de recreo del diablo). Muchas han sido las novedades y actuaciones en este sentido, incluso en sistemas como el time-sharing.
A lo largo del ao pasado, mientras la industria se haca eco del sueo de viajar sin barreras y pona en marcha un renacimiento del diseo, he seguido una especie de peregrinacin a destinos que, aunque no fueran de mi propia eleccin, han probado ser profundamente satisfactorios y beneficiosos.
Congresos sobre viaje y discapacidad han brotado simultneamente durante los ltimos doce meses en todos los continentes excepto en la Antrtida. De hecho, la popularidad del tema propici varios dilemas en el itinerario de mi periplo, que pueden resultar familiares al viajero habitual.
Al elegir trabajar con los alumnos de la Rhode Island School of Design (Escuela de Diseo de Rhode Island) con objeto de evaluar su diseo para un eco-centro turstico accesible para usuarios de silla de ruedas en el Caribe, no pude aceptar la invitacin para tomar parte como ponente en el primer Congreso sobre Turismo Accesible en Brasil, en Porto Alegre. Asistir al lanzamiento de Liga Asia-Pacfico para el Viaje Accesible en el "Primer Congreso sobre Viajes Accesibles" en Taipei, Taiwn, me impidi acudir tanto al Congreso de la Unin Europea sobre Informacin de Viajes universalmente usable, patrocinada por OSSATE (One-Stop Shop for Accessible Tourism in Europe) en Londres, como al congreso "Cultura para Todos" de Berln. Mientras Mxico albergaba un congreso nacional sobre Turismo sin Barreras en Mazatln, yo estaba programado como miembro del jurado de Viajes y Diseo Universal en el "Tercer Congreso Internacional Paz a travs del Turismo", en Pattaya, Tahilandia.
Es este ltimo concepto Diseo Universal- el que fluye como mayor protagonista a lo largo de esta puesta en escena global del turismo sin barreras como objetivo comercial. Los empresarios han redescubierto una utilidad oculta del Diseo Universal como gua de la participacin social a lo largo de la vida por parte de nios, personas con discapacidad y personas de la tercera edad. Crea, en igual medida que satisface, un nuevo segmento de clientes, potenciando modelos de negocio que son, a la vez, econmicamente sostenibles y socialmente beneficiosos.
El Diseo Universal es un compendio de siete principios producidos desde un sueo compartido en una poca anterior. Durante los movimientos pro-derechos ciudadanos de los 50, 60 y '70, el concepto de Diseo Universal evolucion hasta expresar los legtimos objetivos polticos de las personas con discapacidad en los mbitos del diseo, fabricacin de productos y construccin.
Continue con "Una Tendencia en el Horizonte."
November 02, 2005
To the Slovak Republic - Via Rio
Susanne Pacher at Travel & Transitions has reprinted an article that I did for "Slovakia" magazine. Accessibility is a project they are still working on but it a country with heart. Read To Slovakia - Via Rio - from the Seated Position.
October 14, 2005
Manifest Accessibility
The article "Manifest Accessibility" (reprinted below) appeared on March 7, 2005 at the Travel & Disability section of Suite 101.com. For a complete list of articles see the column to the left or go to the welcome page at http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/travel_with_disabilities
An excerpt from, "TOWARD A GLOBAL HISTORY OF INCLUSIVE TRAVEL"
While the history of accessible travel and tourism is intertwined with that of the disability rights and independent living movements, sharing their triumphs and setbacks, it has its own landmark events, advocacy organizations, heroes and villains. Initially a beneficiary of the struggle for accessible transportation and public facilities and services in North America and Western Europe, tourism that accommodates the needs of travelers with disabilities has by now, in the words of the World Tourism Organization, become a �motor of accessibility� worldwide (1997). This opinion was echoed by UN ESCAP at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Tourism for People with Disabilities (2000):In view of the changing consumer demand, tourism for all is an increasingly important sales argument in a competitive market. At the same time, it can serve as an effective tool in furthering the human rights of people with disabilities in the destination communities.
The extent to which inclusive travel has become big business has been documented in nationwide surveys by Open Doors Organization (2002) in the United States and K�roul (2001) in Canada. This does not, however, mean that this market is now viewed uniformly through the lens of �economic opportunity.� The medical or charity model of disability still holds sway in whole regions of the globe...
From: "TOWARD A GLOBAL HISTORY OF INCLUSIVE TRAVEL" By Laurel Van Horn and Jos� Isola, the Review of Disability Studies, Spring 2005
Harry Wolfe advises governments on population trends and transportation systems. As his mother aged before she passed away, they were able to enjoy several trips together. In the process he learned a great deal. Since then, he has developed a professional expertise in airport design for seniors.
Personal experience with the disablement of aging can re-orient one's career and even lead an entire profession in new directions.
Jeanette Cosentino is an Occupational Therapist. She has long been an advocate of ubiquitous good design such as zero-step shower entries (roll-in showers) in homes and hotels. Recently she has become an advocate for inclusion through design on a regional planning scale. Using a line that echoes Dr. Martin Luther King: �I have a dream,� she says, as she introduces herself to local leaders in Santa Cruz, CA. �I have a dream that all those seniors clambering to retire there in Monterey will look across the Bay and choose Santa Cruz.�
Persistent application of practical thinking toward a vision of barrier-free living by even one person can revitalize the economic well-being of an entire community.
Flora Hazelton (not her real name) did the math and liked the bottom line. She calculated the daily cost of staying in a nursing home. Then she calculated the cost of a cabin on a cruise ship. With the extra she saves, she has a bit of pocket change at each port they stop at. She has no complaints at all about the food!
Given choices, some consumers will choose what is best for them � and push the envelope in novel ways.
A case is currently before the Supreme Court. It deals with apparent discrimination against cruise ship passengers with disabilities. Spector et. al vs. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. recounts a tale that need not have occurred in today's world.
The incident makes several things clear.
Disability accompanies aging, and seniors have two of the three things the cruise industry craves: time and money. Whether they have the third, the desire to cruise, depends on the behavior of those suppliers, agents, and ports-of-call who accept their money but not their needs.
What is also clear, with this �shot across the bow,� is that a struggle has been engaged by a community that, to be blunt as well as historically accurate, simply never gives up.
I will not pretend to have the legal knowledge necessary to judge the case on its legal merits.
I do not have the ability to predict the unintended consequences of demanding that foreign-flagged vessels doing business in the US adhere to the minimal standards of human rights preserved in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It is not yet clear whether this litigation approach can scrape away years of accumulated prejudice in business practice or whether it is too blunt an instrument to chart a new, inclusive course for the travel and hospitality industry.
However, cruising is popular. It is disproportionately popular among seniors and those with disabilities. Travel decisions made through word-of-mouth recommendations by peers are also disproportionately characteristic of this group of travelers.
Business decisions to embrace discriminatory practice � under �flags of convenience� or otherwise � will not only redirect cruise customers toward land-based vacations employing Universal Design strategies of inclusive destination development but they will coalesce a perfect storm: customer dissatisfaction and the mobilization of senior and disability advocates at just the moment when the traveling Boomer Tsunami is about to crest.
Heed the early warnings.
Informed consumers in a globalized world exhibit travel behavior that is not indifferent to questions of equality and justice. They will not be satisfied with business strategies that allow adherence to outmoded ethical behavior or inadequate design responses to passengers.
Cherished shipbuilding traditions of seaworthiness � based on the hale and hearty young lads of yore � must give way to new formulations that adequately address passenger safety and respect their differences. Service that perpetuates prejudice will end up in consumer mutiny.
As one passenger commented on my last cruise:
"It's only in the movies that the villains aboard ship have the 'peg leg' or a hook prosthesis... We're your loyal customers, Captain. So remember, when you drop anchor on these shores, inclusion is the price of doing business."
Monitoring the Mississippi Redesign Initiative
The possibility exists for some truly remarkable livability and Universal Design advances to be made in southern Mississippi - but they will not occurr automatically.
These items on Biloxi, Mississippi's post-Katrina plans appeared yesterday:
Five minutes for a more accessible rebuilt Biloxi
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/blogs/edgecentric/index.html
Rebuilding Biloxi with Local Wisdom and Universal Design
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/18423/118643
http://www.prleap.com/pr/16815/>http://www.prleap.com/pr/16815/
October 05, 2005
Using Web 2.0 for the Benefit of Universal Design and Inclusive Travel
As the Web 2.0 Conference gets underway in San Francisco my contribution is an article at Suite 101.com exploring Common Times as one answer to the question, "What does Web 2.0 offer for the development of Inclusive Travel & Tourism?"
"Using Web 2.0 for the Benefit of Universal Design and Inclusive Travel"
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/18423/118524
September 27, 2005
Scott Rains @ Travel and Transitions
I am very pleased to announce a new collaboration with the author of Travel and Transitions, Susanne Pacher. I will be contributing articles and providing expertise on disability and travel to this promising web site. Note especially the interviews of travelers-with-heart belonging to Servas.
Current articles I have contributed to Travel and Transitions:
Interview with Scott Rains on Inclusive Travel
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/interviews/scott_rains.htm
Rights of Travelers with Disabilities
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/travel_tips/sr_rights_disabled_travellers.htm
Preparing to Travel
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/travel_tips/sr_disabled_travel_tips.htm
Adventure Travel
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/travel_tips/disabled_travellers.htm
Multi-Sensory Travel
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/travel_tips/sr_canine_companion.htm
Visiting Monterey, California
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/sr_monterey_aquarium.htm
Enjoying Pseudo-Travel
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/sr_2004_travel_expo.htm
An Unusual Travel Companion
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/sr_beans_around_world.htm
Slovakia: Going Home to a Place I'e Never Been Before
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/sr_slovakia.htm
From the Travel and Transitions web site:
The motto of this site is "Life is a Journey - Explore New Horizons". Over the last couple of years I realized that there is more to life than work. And I finally figured out that travel is one of my true passions in life.
So I decided to pursue my dream and create a website about travel, travel in a broader sense. Travel in the sense of exploration, learning and life experiences, abroad and at home. So while the majority of this website deals with travel to foreign countries and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers etc. you will also find stories about life and transitions that we face as we go through our life-long journey.
As far as travel is concerned, the focus will be on "travelling with a twist": any sort of travel that has a unique, often unconventional angle to it, travel that involves interesting discoveries, insights, connections and learning experiences. Cross-cultural connections and insights are of particular interest to me, and one of my goals is to help build more tolerance and understanding between people from different places and different cultures.
The purpose of this site is to inspire and give you the resources to explore new horizons, to get out there and discover the world - locally and abroad, connect with people from other cultures and open yourself up to new experiences
September 24, 2005
Press Release on Katrina Reconstruction and the Disability Community
Occassionally, when the news isn't getting out there, it is helpful to issue your own press release. See "Hope from an Unexpected Quarter in Post-Katrina Reconstruction: Thought Leadership from the Disability Community."
Hope from an Unexpected Quarter in Post-Katrina Reconstruction: Leadership from the Disability CommunitySan Jose, CA
September 23, 2005
Contact:
Scott Rains
srains@oco.netLeadership after Hurricane Katrina is emerging from one community hard hit by the disaster the disability community.
Responses range from the issue of safety to the practicalities of economic redevelopment.
Marcie Roth, CEO of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association notes, "It is nothing short of a crime that people like wheelchair user Benilda Caixeta were trapped in their homes, unable to escape," said. "We must build every new home with basic features that let people get in and out." (Contact: 301-717-7447, mroth@spinalcord.org)
Lodging and accessibility are key to economic recovery as well.
In 2003 tourism to New Orleans alone brought 8.5 million people, and $4.5 billion into the local economy, explains Dr. Scott Rains, travel researcher and publisher of the Rolling Rains Report (http://www.RollingRains.com). What Katrina has done, amid great tragedy, is faced us with a stark choice. In rebuilding will we literally exclude some people by design?
An increasing number of experts familiar with the concept of Universal Design want that answer to be a resounding No!
Universal Design is a set of seven principles (http://tinyurl.com/9s4sj) outlining an approach to the design of all products and environments. The outcome is to make them as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation. Increasingly common in the home construction and remodeling industry, Universal Design has spawned a new trend in the hotel industry among innovators such as the Dunas Canteras Hotel in the Canary Islands, the Devils Playground in Tasmania, Eria Resort in Crete, and Estate Concordia in the US Virgin Islands. People with disabilities have become a sought after market.
Solid business reasons exist for this approach argues Eric Lipp one of the sponsors of the Universal Access in Travel Symposium & Exposition scheduled for Baltimore, MD December 12-14, 2005. Lipps 2002 study on the travel behavior of the then 46 million Americans with disabilities revealed that they spent $13.6 billion on travel annually. With the Baby Boomer generation aging and the general population living longer these numbers are due to rise.
But the adoption of Universal Design is not a foregone conclusion in reconstruction following Katrina. Universal Design in new homes and home remodel projects is common in many parts of the US and the experts point to the human costs of failure to apply it to hurricane reconstruction.
"Current housing stock is woefully deficient in meeting the needs of people with mobility impairments," says architect Dr. Edward Steinfeld, Director of the IDEA Center at the State University of New York at Buffalo (716-829-3485, x329, rced@buffalo.edu).
"Inaccessible houses keep us from entering or leaving on our own," says Eleanor Smith of Concrete Change. "It's illogical to scramble to retrofit existing homes for access and then build new homes with new barriers after the hurricane." (404-378-7455.)
There is an approach to economic development and disaster reconstruction that addresses these issues in areas where tourism is important, continues Rains. It is known as Inclusive Destination Development.
The World Bank promotes Inclusive Development" as economic and regional development that allows for full social participation of people with disabilities. "Destination Development" is the phrase used by the tourism industry to describe the strategic application of planning, development, and marketing resources to enhance a location as a desired destination for travelers."Inclusive Destination Development" means "allowing for the full social participation of people, including those with disabilities." Inclusive Destination Development is "the systematic and strategic application of resources to render a location a destination of choice for persons with disabilities.
Numerous organizations ranging from the Paralyzed Veterans of America, The IDEA Center at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Concrete Change, the National Council on Disability, ADAPT, and the National Spinal Cord Injury Association have publicly urged officials to integrate Universal Design into post-Katrina planning and reconstruction even as they continue to apply their own resources to the task of recovery.
###
Contact:
Scott Rains
The Rolling Rains Report
http://www.RollingRains.com
srains@oco.net
Background and Further ResourcesBackground:
Katrina as a Tipping Point for Universal Design Acceptance in the US
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000649.htmlWill FEMA-funded Post-Katrina Homes be Universally Designed? Visitable?
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000663.htmlCarnival Cruise Lines & Hurricane Katrina Relief
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000639.htmlMore on Katrina
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000641.htmlWelcome to California, Katrina Evacuees!
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000662.htmlWill We Learn From Our Mistakes?
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000678.htmlPost-Katrina the Paralyzed Veterans of America Call for Inclusive Reconstruction
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000669.htmlNational Council on Disability Advises Bush: Mandate Universal Design
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000670.htmlUniversal Access in Travel Symposium & Exposition
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000679.htmlExperts on Disaster Recovery Focus on Long Term Recovery
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000671.htmlAnne Finger Reflects on Hurricane Katrina
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000644.htmlWhat is Sustainable in Destination Development?
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000654.htmlFurther Reading:
Inclusive Tourism: Some Definitions
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/18423/114773Architectural Literacy
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/117512Getting the Design Right - Inclusive Destination Development
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/115176
Posted by rollingrains at 06:56 PM
July 06, 2005
Accessible Cruises, Fair Housing, and the Americans With Disabilities Act
The article, "Accessible Cruises, Fair Housing, and the Americans With Disabilities Act", was published in the "Travel & Disability" section of Suite101.com
See it at:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/18423/116434
inclusive destination development
June 27, 2005
Appreciative Inquiry
Return to the very first posting in the Rolling Rains Report and you will find that this site is about "seeing-that-transforms." Until now I have not made explicit, although some have guessed, that this quality of seeing encompasses the practice known as "Appreciate Inquiry:"
From Pilgrimage: Mindfulness on the Journey January 1, 2004
This site is about seeing. The topic may be travel but the "revolve" is the-seeing-that-transforms.Not literal sightedness, of course. In fact, I expect active interest by readers using Jaws for Windows or other tools that accommodate visual impairments and make their participation possible.
The seeing I mean here is the seeing of mindfulness.
The discussion will frequently be about business. Specifically, it will be about the business of travel and hospitality. It will look at the economic sustainability of doing busness with the ageing and/or disabled sector of the traveling public. It will look at profit, product development, marketing, competition.
But if this site ever loses grounding in persons - substituting statitistics or truisms for real travelers - then it will have betrayed the author's purpose.
That purpose is pilgrimage.
A pilgrim moves through time and space with an enlarged capacity for "seeing beyond." It may be seeing beyond the daily inconveniences or seeing into an actively imagined alternate present or promised future.
With this capacity comes the ability to hold a gaze of reverence; to appreciate.
Organizations can choose a path of self-definition that involves aligning themselves around the unconditional positive question. Design for People: Multi exemplifies this approach -- and the resulting creativity not only in design and implementation but in their innovative crafting of language and at the level of conceptualization of their mission and potential.
As post-tsunami work evolves in the Indian Ocean basin, can it adopt the "Opportunity Audit" approach to reconstruction that Appreciative Inquiry allows?
I am hopeful that the gathering of the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) ,/a> in Thailand this October will, through the efforts of people like Topong Kulkhanchit, Regional Development Officer for Disabled Peoples' International Asia Pacific Region, allow the tourism industry such an opportunity.
Some Resources on Appreciative Inquiry:
http://www.new-paradigm.co.uk/Appreciative.htm
The approach is based on the premise that organisations change in the direction in which they inquire. So an organisation which inquires into problems will keep finding problems but an organisation which attempts to appreciate what is best in itself will discover more and more that is good. It can then to use these discoveries to build a new future where the best becomes more common.
http://appreciativeinquiry.cwru.edu/intro/whatisai.cfm
Appreciative Inquiry is about the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them. In its broadest focus, it involves systematic discovery of what gives life to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a systems capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential. It centrally involves the mobilization of inquiry through the crafting of the unconditional positive question often-involving hundreds or sometimes thousands of people. In AI the arduous task of intervention gives way to the speed of imagination and innovation; instead of negation, criticism, and spiraling diagnosis, there is discovery, dream, and design. AI seeks, fundamentally, to build a constructive union between a whole people and the massive entirety of what people talk about as past and present capacities.
http://www.appreciative-inquiry.org/
In the words of its primary originator, Dr. David L. Cooperrider of Case Western Reserve University, AI asks us to pay special attention to "the best of the past and present" -- in order to "ignite the collective imagination of what might be."
Key Articles:
Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life
http://www.appreciative-inquiry.org/AI-Life.htm
Abstract
This chapter presents a conceptual refiguration of action-research based on a "sociorationalist" view of science. The position that is developed can be summarized as follows: For action-research to reach its potential as a vehicle for social innovation it needs to begin advancing theoretical knowledge of consequence; that good theory may be one of the best means human beings have for affecting change in a postindustrial world; that the discipline's steadfast commitment to a problem-solving view of the world acts as a primary constraint on its imagination and contribution to knowledge; that appreciative inquiry represents a viable complement to conventional forms of action-research; and finally, that through our assumptions and choice of method we largely create the world we later discover.
Positive Image, Positive Action: The Affirmative Basis of Organizing
http://www.stipes.com/aichap2.htm
Appreciative Management and Leadership: The Power of Positive Thought and Action in Organization
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1893435059/newparadigmconsu/102-3474482-6904959
June 21, 2005
Inclusive Destination Development Goals: Dubai, UAE
The following article on Inclusive Destination Development in Dubai was submitted to WheelMeOn.org.
Dubai Desert a Far Cry from a Cruise Ship but Seems to Get the Message
by Scott Rains
Dubai knows what travelers with disabilities need. It also knows what they want and builds it. If that is not unusual enough for a travel destination, consider this. Dubai makes a point of letting the world know that it wants tourists with disabilities.
In April 1999 Dubais Sheikh Mohammed announced his bold vision for Dubai to be the worlds finest hub for finance, business, and tourism. In 2003 the vision was elaborated with the announcement of plans for Dubailand a massive commerce, recreation, and tourism center. And this year, 2005, Dubai revealed a public goal of attracting 3 million travelers with disabilities to what it intends to be its fully inclusive tourism infrastructure. Dubailand is a major project designed to meet that goal.
Dubailand is slated as a 2 billion sq.ft project composed of 45 mega projects and 200 sub-projects. The first phase will open in 2007 with the entire project completed between 2015 and 2018. Dubailand is predicted to attract 15 million tourists to Dubai by the year 2010. The projects six themed elements include:
- Attractions and Experience World 145 million sq.ft
- Themed Leisure and Vacation World 311 million sq.ft
- Retail & Entertainment World 45 million sq.ft
- Eco Tourism World 806 million sq.ft
- Sports and Outdoor World - 206 million sq.ft
- Downtown 5.66 million sq.ft
"Tourism For All" (Turismus Para Todos) is the phrase, with historical roots in European campaigns for human rights, being used in the Middle East to mean Inclusive Tourism. Dubais unique leadership role in the region was evident at the First International Tourism Development Forum for People with Special Needs in the Middle East that took place during Arabian Travel Mart 2005.
Organisers cited figures estimating that the Arab world has about 30 million disabled people, mostly victims of traffic accidents, health problems and old age. They felt that the value of missed opportunities lost by Arab tourism reaches $3 billion a year if only 10%, i.e. 3 million spent approximately $1,000 per person on travel, the total spending would create tens of thousands of jobs.
There is an important lesson to be drawn from this market-savvy logic. What began as a human and civil rights campaign in one part of the world is taking root as an economic reality in a part of the world where there are no civil rights equivalents of an Anti-Discrimination Act, Disability Discrimination Act, or Americans with Disabilities Act. While consultants advise travel & hospitality industry executives to stonewall or even challenge in court disability-friendly legislation in the name of risk management, other countries embrace seniors, slow walkers, wheelchair users, those who are blind, and other demographic groups as their competitive advantage.
According to a report compiled by the World Bank, disabled people represent 10-20% of the total population in each country, or about 610 million worldwide. This number is expected to rise due to wars, poverty, insufficient health care, low birth rates and increasing senility. The report pointed out that the number of people with special needs is estimated at 40 million in Europe, over 54 million in US and 11 million in Russia.
No tourist destination in the world on land or on the sea - can adopt a complacent build it and they will come attitude. Universal Design in the built environment must be complimented by what Australian Peter Rice refers to as its natural consequence, Universal Management. Current European visitors to Dubai sometimes comment that the marketplace atmosphere threatens to reduce every experience to a transaction and every visitor to a consumer. Customer service that does not deliver the dignity of persons enshrined in civil rights legislation will leave even the most disabled-friendly architecture feeling sterile.
This element compliments the message delivered by architect Yasmin Mahmoudieh at Arabian Travel Mart 2005 when she said:
there can be 'no shortcuts' when it comes to designing hotels for the disabled. Architects have to focus "more on the emotional factor and atmosphere" and involve a lot of research for suitable materials, lighting and colours. She said such hotels have to have proper furniture and also cater to the fact that many people with special needs travel with families who use the normal [sic] facilities.
Ms Mahoudieh has received awards for designing of a number of disabled-friendly hotels in Switzerland, Germany and throughout Europe. She promises a 'spectacular project' in Dubai.
The very fact that Dubai get the message on Inclusive Destination Development that consumers with disabilities expect quality and are willing to pay for it is spectacular enough for the time being. Just wait until 2007!
Where will you go for vacation that year? On a cruise ship built around the same old inaccessible plans rejected by the US Supreme Court or somewhere that is being custom-built just for you?
>>>>>>>>>>.
Sources:
Dubai Makes a Move Toward Inclusion
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000529.html
Why Dubai?
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000531.html
DubaiLand: But will it be UD?
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000492.html
Dubai, the United Arab Emirates
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000462.html
Further Reading:
Accessible Cruises, Fair Housing, and the Americans With Disabilities Act
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/116434
Theme Parks, Imaginary Worlds, and Real Access
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/112537
Inclusive Tourism: Some Definitions
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/114773
Getting the Design Right - Inclusive Destination Development
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/115176
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dr. Scott Rains is editor of the web site on travel and disability The Rolling Rains Report (http://www.RollingRains.com)
This month he is completing a one year appointment as Resident Scholar at the Center for Cultural Studies of UC Santa Cruz and has joined the Advisory Board of People with Disabilities Broadcasting Corporation (PWDBC), a production company "for, by, and about people with disabilities...and everybody else."
inclusive destination development
June 03, 2005
Travel & Disability at Suite 101
The newest article at Travel & Disability at Suite 101 is a review of one of the categories in the link collection. Sites by Travelers with Disabilities: Links at Suite101.com reviews the links found listed as "Sites by Travelers with Disabilities."
Link:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/travel_with_disabilities/116308
May 22, 2005
New Organization on Horizon in Asia for Travel by People with Disabilities
The following appeared in the China Post on May 4, 2005.
For most of my 50 years I have been able to look out my window and watch the sun bring a close to the day and the start of a new day in Asia. It is with this same serene hopefulness that I approach the 2005 International Accessible Tourism Conference that will be held from May 5-8 in Taipei. On the horizon is something new. From this conference a new organization will arise, the Asia Pacific Accessible Tourism League (APATL).
The phenomenon of people with disabilities traveling is not new. Author Maria Antonia Lopez-Burgos del Barrio has recently completed an article on this topic that draws from the travel journals of visitors to Spain during the Industrial Revolution, which was the era when tourism as we now know it came into existence.
What is new is the response to travelers with disabilities.
At the 2005 International Accessible Tourism Conference, Ms. Etsuko Ueno will deliver a paper on the Inclusive Destination Development project in Takayama city, Japan. As the human centered principles of Universal Design become the standard measure in construction and a synonym for �good design,� it is becoming more common to discover the strategy of comprehensive planning for accessibility as a central technique in tourist sites (Inclusive Destination Development).
Japan is not the only example, the barrier-free circuit of lodgings known as "The Devil's Playground" in Tasmania is unique in combining the concept of total access to an entire island with low-cost innovative approaches to building and a private accessible transportation system.
In the U.S. Virgin Island, Estate Concordia is under development by Multi: Design for People. Estate Concordia features inclusive design rendering the hill terrain accessible while offering visitors with disabilities an eco-lodge experience. In Brazil, an Inclusive Destination project is underway through a tour operator specializing in accessible tourism, Aventura Especial. The Inclusive Cities Canada project pursues Inclusive Destination on an even larger scale and offers promising models for Asian metropolitan areas.
These examples deal with receptive tourism, an economic sector of importance throughout Asia. An agenda for accessible receptive tourism in Asia was laid out in the United Nations report (UNESCAP) subtitled, �Promotion of Barrier-free Tourism for People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region.
The Biwako Millennial Framework addressed the first need presented in the report which was Disability Rights in Asia. The Asia-Pacific Conference on Tourism for People with Disabilities, held at Bali in Indonesia, in September 2000 took further practical steps and mobilized persons with disabilities to speak on their own behalf. The 2005 International Accessible Tourism Conference and the Asia Pacific Accessible Tourism League (APATL) hope to consolidate the progress made to date.
But another question remains, "Where do these travelers with such a broad range of needs come from?" Is this a temporary fad or a permanent feature for the travel industry?
It is often reported that the percentage of citizens with disabilities is around 10%. The figure may be double, 20%, outside those regions.
However, a significant portion of the world�s population is aging.
In 2020, it is estimated that about 18% of population will be older than 65 in the developed countries. Here again it is Asia, Japan specifically, that is demonstrating foresight by planning for this change.
Dr. Satoshi Kose of Shizuoka University of Art and Culture in Japan is a renowned promoter of the concept of Universal Design at the level of basic social infrastructure in order to accommodate this transformation. This inversion from a larger a youth population to a larger senior population requires the combined resources of all stakeholders; governments, business, seniors, and people with disability. What is significant is that this represents a significant business opportunity for the tourism industry.
In September and October of 2002 the Open Doors Organization commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct a quantitative study among Americans with disabilities (aged 18 and older) to identify the basic travel habits and patterns of adults with disabilities. Open Doors reports that, The 2002 study revealed disabled travelers take 31.7 million trips per year in the U.S., and spend US$13.6 billion annually.
Major areas of spending include US$3.3 billion on airfare, US$4.2 billion on hotel accommodations, and US$2.7 billion on food and beverage. In addition, adults with disabilities patronize restaurants about once a week, and they account for US$35 billion in annual revenue for restaurants.
These travel behaviors confirm studies done by Simon Darcy in Australia such as, "From Anxiety to Access" and by Keroul in Canada, "A Growth Market : Behaviors of Tourists with Restricted Physical Abilities in Canada," and "Best Practices in Tourism Accessibility for Travelers with Restricted Physical Ability."
And these figures may be added together with those related to senior travelers who will benefit from accessible accommodations adhering to the principles of Universal Design.
Following the Taipei Conference, the Asia Pacific Accessible Tourism League will be ready to replicate travel behavior studies on the Asian market for travelers with disabilities, promote and provide technical assistance on Universal Design and Inclusive Destination Development, and provide training � both academic and professional � throughout Asia.
Source:
New organization on horizon in Asia for travel by people with disabilities
2005/05/04
by Dr. Scott Rains
Resident scholar, UC Santa Cruz, USA
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/opinion/letter.htm
April 25, 2005
Bo Beolens' Style Accessible Birding
The article "Bo Beolens' Style Accessible Birding" (reprinted below) appeared on March 12, 2005 at the Travel & Disability section of Suite 101.com. For a complete list of articles see the column to the left or go to the welcome page at http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/travel_with_disabilities
Inclusive adventure travel opportunities are expanding in various directions. Pioneers like Dada Moreira of Aventura Especial in Brazil feature rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and various adrenaline-enhanced experiences. Meanwhile, Bo Beolens, in the UK, quietly opens the outdoors to a more sedentary crowd birdwatchers or preferably, birders. Here he speaks to Travel & Disability Editor, Scott Rains:
Question: The Disabled Birders Association (dba) is something unique. You rooted it firmly in the birding world but you lead it to speak articulately for disability culture. How did DBA come about?
Answer: I am a birder. I have a mobility problem (Ankylosing Spondylitis) which at times makes walking painful and certainly limits the distance I can walk. On a good day I can manage 300 yards, on a bad day I have trouble walking to the office and I work from home!
I found myself getting frustrated with the way in which what we in the UK call nature reserves are designed for fit and able six-feet tall young men. It occurred to me this is because the majority of people who work as wardens of reserves are six-feet tall, fit and able young men! There were few concessions to the average person let alone those with any restrictions on their mobility. So my prime motivation was selfishness I wanted nature to be more accessible for me. Dont get me wrong, I never want any of the needs of wildlife compromised to meet my needs. I just wanted the designers to go back to the drawing board and make sure that the provisions they make for human access more friendly to all. The watchword is, of course, barrier-free access. Providers should be asking why a gate is needed and would a cattle grid be better, are steps the only way to enter a hide (blind) or could a ramp be used and so forth.
I always liken such provision to the shoe trade. Its as if the only shoes made were size 10 all-weather boots those wanting size five pink stilettos would be sadly disappointed and have to try and make do. Most of us are not fit and able six-footers so viewing slots need to be at variable heights; not everyone can walk a mile non-stop so we, just like the birds need a perch every 150 yards or so; most of us cannot hear clearly as we age so loop-systems are needed in interpretation centers and so forth.
I soon found that my selfishness would help out a lot of other people too so I used my website www.fatbirder.com and various mailing groups to invite others to join me to campaign for more sensitive provision.
Question: This genteel sport of birding has a profound economic impact. According to the 2001 US report, "Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis," birders account for $32 Billion dollars in annual retail spending items like field guides, binoculars, bird food, houses, boats, transportation, guide costs and other direct birding expenses. Has the Disabled Birders Association had any success convincing governments or industry to reinvest some of that income into site accessibility and appropriate products?
Answer: You will have to ask the dba-usa chapter about whats happening in the US but I can report progress in the UK.
Birding here is still seen as a minority, not to say weirdo, pursuit. Twitchers as we all tend to get labeled, are on a par with train-spotters sad, anorak-wearing, bespectacled, border-line Aspergers, spotty youths without the physiques to be footballers nor the brains to be nerds. I dont know why its still the butt of tabloid fun-poking but it is. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has over 1 million members making it the biggest membership conservation body in Europe, 20 million households (out of 25, million) feed wild birds in their gardens yet birding still has this rather silly image.
Nevertheless, the dba has begun to have an impact on the direct service providers and is helped with its costs by commerce in the birding field. Our sponsors include birdfeed companies, optics retailers and bird book-sellers and in the UK virtually all companies that have interests in birding equipment or supplies do donate a percentage of their profits to conservation in general.
As to nature reserves, changes are happening. When I set up the dba in 2000 and went along to the British Bird Fair (BBF ; the biggest of its kind with around 20,000 participants) I spent half my time there badgering the RSPB to think about disabled access to its reserves. Last year at the BBF their Director of Operations came to me and asked what they could do to improve things - so changes are afoot.
In my local area there have been improvements at nearly all reserves, observatories and parks. This coincides with a recent bit of legislation making disability access a requirement of all premises and all types of provision. I feel most encouraged.
Question: At your web site, FatBirder.com, you wrote, The Disabled Birders Association was set up to combat poor attitudes and provision across the board. It exists to encourage everyone to think about what can be achieved with sensitivity and good design. What have you found to be the most effective strategies that birders can use to reach those goals and make birding more inclusive?
Answer: I think that the onus really does lie with those of us who have a disability. We should not wait for others to make provision for us but get off our proverbial backsides and make things happen. The first thing we need to do is admit to our disability. Daft as it may seem nearly everyone I have met who has a disability doesnt want to be thought of as disabled. Someone might say Yes, I only have one leg, am blind and have heart failure; bit Im NOT disabled! I have no idea why we are so unwilling to admit to our limitations, as if it is something to be ashamed of.
We need the equivalent of Black is Beautiful or Glad to be Gay to own our disabilities and flaunt them, not hide them away. Only this way will people see that they are actually in the majority. Most people are either young and small, elderly and frail, disabled and sick etc.
I like the Crips with a Chips (cripples with a chip on their shoulder) movement. But most people will never be part of that radical wing, they still need to be part of a positive movement that rejoices in our diversity rather than trying to make do with average provision.
Question: In the October 2004 issue of Birdwatching Magazine you wrote, Our trips overseas have taught me that simplicity of design is king we had far fewer problems in Kenya or India than we did Canada and Australia because all facilities were more basic and simple and so much easier to use. Can you elaborate, perhaps with a story?
Answer: In Kenya one of our party, Brian who is the dba treasurer, had a puncture in his wheelchair tire on the way into lunch. One of the waiters asked if he could transfer Brian into an ordinary seat whilst he sussed out a solution. He returned before the meal was over with the puncture repaired. As people cannot afford cars but lots have bikes, repairing punctures happens all the time. In the West such a problem might have taken days to fix.
At another lodge we arrived to find steps into Brians room. We pointed this out and, also whilst we were lunching, a wooden ramp had been built and put in place. In Africa people make do and mend because they do not live in our throw-away culture.
Another thing were shower rooms. The did not have fancy power showers in bathrooms with lips and sills around the shower unit - just a shower head in the middle of the room over a small drain with the floors sloping imperceptibly to the drain. So showers were accessible where they rarely are in Europe or North America.
Question: Accurate destination information that details features of interest and necessity to travellers with disabilities is a need that is often difficult, sometimes impossible, to fulfil. In a review of Best Birdwatching Sites in Norfolk by Neil Glenn you commented:
This book sets the standard and all other writers and publishers should follow it there are no excuses now as the book does it and tells you how... The author not only includes notes on disability access for each site and uses an appropriate symbol for quick reference, he also has a couple of pages listing sites that are fully accessible and those that have some disability access.
Have you run across other books, web sites, or other resources that set a high standard worthy of imitation? How about travel agents, tour operators, or managers of birding sites that provide exemplary service?
Answer: One of our oldest Observatories, at Sandwich Bay, has really tried hard to make provision for disabled people. As the best birding site can never be made accessible because the land is privately owned where access trails run.
The Obs has created a new scrape (definition below*) put in a disabled accessible hide, and a special car park. What is more, the accommodation block for volunteers is fully accessible and they continue to look for ways to improve. The dba has run several overseas trips and some of these were organized by Sarus Bird Tours www.sarusbirdtours.com which has accumulated access knowledge and always given their help at cost.
Question: Birding is a set of skills that requires knowledge, persistence, and patience to acquire. Some describe birding as a lifestyle; a discipline. It occurs to me that the same can be said about learning how to provide quality service to those with abilities that differ from ones own. Each type of disability is different. What advice do you have for those working in the fields that make birding possible designing or managing parks, hotels, restaurants, transportation systems, or birding products? Regulating natural resources or access to them? Working in travel agencies or as tour guides?
Answer:
First- It really aint rocket science! Think outside of the box make sure that, before any project is undertaken, you have asked local disabled organizations to discuss the plans not just one group.
Second Remember the dictum of barrier-free access start by questioning ANYTHING that might cause someone a problem is it really necessary?
Third Remember disability is NOT just about the use of wheelchairs.
Lastly Remember that a very large percentage of the population has some sort of physical impairment and that their dollars, pounds and euros are vital for your revenue!
Question: From your point of view what would be the top priority changes that the travel and hospitality industry could do to further open birding to people with disabilities?
In the UK commerce has cottoned on to the idea of the grey pound and the pink pound that is the buying power of the elderly and the gay community its time they realized that there is also a disability dollar that they can only get their share of if they offer accessible trips.
Question: Are there any final thoughts you would like to leave with our readers?
Answer: When I was a youngster an accident prevented me from walking for six months. My father, wanting me to have an interest started taking me to a local lake to fish which I could do without having to run around. Through this, with his shared knowledge, I started to take an interest in the natural world. Now it is my sanctuary and as close as I get to spirituality. Being in the wild yet tranquil world is necessary for my sanity. Just like me the vast majority of birders feel this way about wild places and free flying beauties.
Such beauty deserves its widest possible audience. I feel about birding the same way I do about a good film or a stand-up comic half the pleasure comes from sharing it.
Its not just our duty to make sure that everyone can enjoy what we enjoy, it should be our pleasure too.
* Scrape: A very shallow lake - created by scraping topsoil away so that a wetfield/marsh becomes like a very large puddle - ideal for wading birds to feed on. Often these are enhanced with tiny islands that are great for roosting or ground nesting as they are not too easy for predators to get to.
April 07, 2005
eTur -The Brazilian Tourism Community on the Web
The Rolling Rains Report entry "Analise da Programa de Roteirizao" has been published at eTur.com.br.
ETUR is a vibrant portal frequented by Brazilian tourism students featuring articles, reference works, and interactive tools serving the Brazilan tourism sector. Many members will attend the Salo de Turismo 2005 - Programa de Roteirizao, in So Paulo this June.
See:
http://www.etur.com.br/conteudocompleto.asp?idconteudo=6123
April 06, 2005
Getting the Design Right - Inclusive Destination Development
I have published a new article at Suite 101.com in the Travel & Disability section, "Getting the Design Right - Inclusive Destination Development."
This, and many of the posts here at the Rolling Rains Report are either syndicated or reference the tag "inclusive destination development" at Technorati.
To view the feeds to this tag go to inclusive destination development
Note also the change to the Rolling Rains Report home page. You may subcribe to the free Rolling Rains Newsletter in the left column above the calendar. or simply by emailing
March 17, 2005
Accidental Tourism: Life Beyond Business Travel
Today, at Suite101.com, you will find the article, "Accidental Tourism: Life Beyond Business Travel."
Who says you can't mix business and pleasure?
Further Reading at Suite101.com:
Travel & Disability
http://www.suite101.com/articles.cfm/travel_with_disabilities
March 07, 2005
Manifest Accessibility -- A New Article at Suite 101.com
Manifest Accessibility is an editorial on the current US Supreme Court case, Spector et. al vs. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. posted today at Suite 101.com.
See:
Manifest Accessibility
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/18423/114545
Update: NCL Accessibility
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000350.html
US Supreme Court & Cruise Ships
http://www.rollingrains.com/archives/000336.html
February 15, 2005
Travel Planning Tips @ Suite 101.com
There is a new article in the Travel & Disability section at Suite 101.com about travel planning --- Tips for the Season in Between.
Note, the link may not work unless you have previously subscribed at Suite101.
November 19, 2004
Scott Rains @ Shizuoka Universal Design Exhibition in Hamamatsu, Japan
Rolling Rains editor, Scott Rains will be keynote speaker at the Shizuoka Universal Design Meeting and Exhibition in Hamamatsu, Japan on Friday 17th December, 2004.
The event is jointly hosted and organized by the Shizuoka Prefecture, the City of Hamamatsu, and the Shizuoka University of Art and Culture.
The keynote lecture will be followed by a presentation by Dr Satoshi Kose, one of Japan's foremost exponents of Universal Design.
Dr. Rains will speak from his expertise on accessible travel, and include a report on the third International Conference on UD in Rio de Janeiro (Designing for the 21st Century III), as well as highlight the most recent developments on UD in the States.
November 16, 2004
Theme Parks and Real Life
Brazil is the second nation to hold a conference on travel and disability. The Congresso Ibero-Americano de Acessibilidade no Turismo begins tomorrow.
Below is an essay on my topic for the Congresso, "Theme Parks and Accessibility."
Theme Parks and Real Access
How many theme parks can you name?
Disneyland, Six Flags, Marine World, and Great America are some better-known US theme parks. Tivoli in Denmark, Huis Ten Bosch in Japan, and GRS Fantasy Park in Mysore, India might turn up on your list if you are a theme park connoisseur. Cadbury World, Hershey Park and Hershey World might also come to mind if chocolate is your passion.
Now, turn the question around. How do those theme parks name you? That is, who are you allowed to be once you enter the magic of a theme park?
What is a theme park?
It is first a park. Extent and boundaries define a park. A park occupies space in a particular location. Unlike a nomadic circus or a traveling carnival it has permanence of place. We go to a park.
A park is a physical space that can be marked. Parks create frontiers -- the contrast between "inside" and "outside".
The frontier is also a psychological and social space, as anyone who lives near a national border, knows. Reality changes somehow when we cross a frontier or when we pass into a park.
The tension between inside and outside creates anticipation for the traveler - a spirit of pilgrimage that can only be satisfied by arrival at the goal. For the traveler with a disability arrival may not be easy � and it is most likely only the start of new kind of tension.
This fact is captured in the title of the very first study in English on the travel behavior of consumers with disabilities. The article, "From Anxiety to Access" by Simon Darcy of Australia, launched the field of inclusive travel as a topic for academic study in the English-speaking world.
Simon revealed to the travel industry what those of us with disabilities who travel want as consumers. We want exactly the same thing that other travelers want! That is not a difficult concept � �exactly the same thing.� As visitors to a theme park we want to be �inside.� We want the magic to work on us.
The psychological-social definition of "inside" changes depending on the type of park. So, let's consider the varieties of park -- park typology.
Kinds of Parks
One type of park may be offer nothing more than the features of its location.
These parks exist to guarantee access to some location that is often entirely natural. The site may be only slightly modified for human use if at all. Once inside the park boundary we move in order to observe nature. Examples include:
� Grand Canyon, or Yellowstone National Parks in the US
� Ngongoro, Kilimanjaro, or Serengeti in Tanzania.
Another type of park may exist to preserve a place that is entirely manmade because of its historical or cultural purpose. In this sort of park observation is secondary to preservation. In fact, entry into some buildings may be entirely prohibited � or the preserved architectural features, such as stairways for example, may make entry difficult or impossible for someone with a mobility disability.
A third type of park may obliterate the original local features that were either built or natural. This is often the strategy taken by theme parks. Theme parks create a coherent artificial space. By doing so theme parks acquire a degree of ethical responsibility not shared by the previous types of park.
Degrees of Responsibility
Theme parks have a responsibility to be 100% accessible.
Why? Because they can be 100% accessible in the way that the natural environment of a national park or the historically authentic environment of an enclave of the past cannot. Theme parks have a responsibility to be accessible because of the definitions of disability and of discrimination.
Some individuals carry a certain deficit in capacity. In English we call the lack of capacity a �disability.� Some modifications change the environment making it useable only to those with that capacity. To build a system, building, product, or ideology that does not allow for the participation of persons with differing capacities is to discriminate, to isolate, to leave �outside.�
We call the lack of access through design �a handicap.� A handicap is a socially constructed reality that prevents social participation on the basis of difference in capacity.
Medicine may have something to say about improving capacity. Universal Design is the solution to the lack of access.
Universal Design
Universal Design starts with the fundamental assertion that people with disabilities are consumers. Universal Design is about engineering the full inclusion of the widest range of consumers � offering them appropriate choices in the marketplace and the dignity of participation.
In the end, the meaning of inclusion is social participation. Social participation is the second psychological meaning of �inside.�
A theme park that �names� a visitor as anything but a full participant in every activity that it offers names the visitor an �outsider.� It breaks the magic.
Magic by Design
Theme parks tell a story. Their magic comes from allowing visitors to participate in their story.
The measure of theme park accessibility is not simply physical accommodation for those with ambulatory disabilities; Braille signage for the blind; or auditory amplification for the deaf. The park must arrange all those things toward the goal of full participation by carriers of those differences in capacity; those disabilities. The architecture, the paths, the music, the signs, the staff and the returning visitors all work together to teach the visitor how to be an actor �inside� the theme park.
The key question is, do all those elements work together to allow visitors of every degree of capacity to play every available role in the theme park story?
Can a child with a developmental disability be the protagonist? The princess? The clown? Can the visitor with a mobility impairment be he adventurer conquering ride after ride? Facing wild animals like a hero? Can the person who does not take in information visually or auditorially find their stage cues as they play out the park�s fantasy?
The next time you visit a theme park � or build one � think beyond the minimum requirements set out by the Americans with Disabilities Act in the US or the relevant building and safety codes in your country. Imagineer an environment where the differences in capacity between children and seniors are bridged. Stage a world where those with disabilities and those enjoying those temporary phases of life where they are not experiencing one can recreate side by side. Name yourself as hero.
Bring home a memento of a place that still might only exist in fantasy � but can still come true by design if the right story is told.
Further Information:
Disneyland
disneyland.disney.go.com/
Six Flags
www.sixflags.com/index.asp
Marine World
http://www.sixflags.com/parks/marineworld/index.asp
Huis Ten Bosch
http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:uDQ70CT18_IJ:english.huistenbosch.co.jp/attractions/amusement/carrousel/+Huis+Ten+Bosch+wheelchair&hl=en
GRS Fantasy Park
http://www.grsfantasypark.com/default.asp
Cadbury World
http://www.cadburyworld.co.uk/EN/CWORLD/visit/plan/special_facilities.htm
Hershey Park and Hershey Chocolate World
http://www.hersheypa.com/attractions/hersheypark/
http://www.hersheypa.com/attractions/in_hershey/chocolate_world.html
From Anxiety to Access by Simon Darcy
http://tinyurl.com/27ap6
Universal Design
http://tinyurl.com/39hss
November 15, 2004
Scott Rains @ Global Access E-zine
The January issue of Global Access published by Ms. Marti Gacioch of the Global Access Disabled Travel Network will include "Accessing Downunder." The article chronicles various fauna, flora, and faux pauxs encountered downunder by the sometimes-travel-writer, Scott Rains.
November 09, 2004
Scott Rains @ Suite 101.com
Dr. Scott Rains has published a new article, Trekking Through the 2004 Adventures in Travel Expo in the Travel and Disability section of Suite 101.com.
October 21, 2004
RISD & a Barrier Free Eco-Lodge
I have just returned home from the Rhode Island School of Design and a day with the remarkable students of the advanced inter-disciplinary Fall 04 design studio, An Inclusive 21st Century Resort, offered through the Industrial Design Department at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and co-taught by Kat Darula and Rosanne Ramos.
As Advisor to the course I delivered a lecture "Univeral Design 2005: Inventing inclusive Travel." But the highlight of the day was critiquing the design studio where students reported on their recent visit to Estate Concordia -- the barrier free eco-resort mentioned in a previous post.
Watch for future announcement of the participation of Kat Darula and Rosanne Ramos in the Rio de Janeiro Conference , "Universal Design and the International Travel & Hospitality Industry."
October 01, 2004
Dr. Scott Rains Selected for Zero Divide Fellowship
Scott Rains, publisher of The Rolling Rains Report, has been elected as a member of the 2005-2007 class of the ZeroDivide Fellowship.
The ZeroDivide Fellowship is the inaugural program of the ZeroDivide Leadership and Advocacy Institute, designed to build a network of community leaders who promote and effectively engage in community technology, telecommunications, and technology policy. The ZFellows engage in a three-year program of leadership development, policy advocacy and technology training, complete a community advocacy project, and share their knowledge and experiences through mentoring activities.
The ZeroDivide Fellowship focuses on strengthening the critical individuals that are the vital links between organizations and communities. The goal is to cultivate leaders who will shape the field of community technology, pioneer schools of thought and impact a community technology movement that benefits underserved communities and improves their quality of life.
The Fellowship emphasizes creative and on-going learning with a strong emphasis on experiential learning, small group work, strategic thinking and dialogues that accommodate diverse needs both in technology and culture. The curriculum follows this ouline: http://zerodivide.org/initiatives/overview
ZeroDivide Goals
September 21, 2004
Waking Up to a Changed Travel Market
I have published a new article at Suite 101.com, Waking Up to a New Travel Market.
While Downunder -- and "Under Downunder" in Tasmania -- I have come to know some fine and talented people. Several have accepted my invitation to write about what they know for Suite 101 or teach it at Suite University. I am very much looking forward to working in an ongoing way with the extraordinary people I have met!
From Suite 101.com:
Waking Up to A New Travel Market
Where I come from, there's a perky grey bird that flies up from the southern states each year and sets up summer camp just outside my bedroom window.
Now, if you're like me, you enjoy that woozy half-awake feeling where dreams finish lazily. That fog when the coming day's work is so busy multiplying itself that it hasn't noticed that you�re awake yet and come to bother you.
That's the time of day when this ambitious little bird, in some parts it's called the Catbird - I'll tell you why in a minute - launches into its morning routine.
You see, the Catbird is a great mimic.
I can lay in bed and recognize the calls of a whole brightly-feathered bird symphony beyond the curtain. The serenade is like a mini-vacation since the bird travels the length and breadth of the North America picking up the calls and cadences of species after species of songbird.
Of course, imitation has its limits, doesn't it? I've never heard one bark but the little fellers do have an annoying habit of replaying last night's catfight. Thus the name - "Catbird."
One morning I noticed a new song.
It sounded like "Catbird-sings-Crow" or maybe the screechy beep-beep-beep sound that commercial trucks make in California as they back up.
Then I recognized it.
Here we call Catbirds �Mockingbirds.� I think that name better captures the annoying, almost insulting, feel of their excess exuberance. The bird outside my window was imitating the sound of a crosswalk signal. We use this sound to alert visually impaired pedestrians that the light is about to change.
I wonder how many people have mistaken the Mockingbird�s advertising for the real thing as they stood at a crosswalk.
It was morning. My thinking was hazy. Leftover dreams, impractical goals, and the emerging day's urgencies all mixed together as I gained focus. But I got up that morning with a sense of purpose.
I thought, �Yes, the traffic signal is changing. But are we paying attention?"
Is the travel and hospitality industry following when it should be leading? Leading when it should be listening? Listening to the ones who really have the answers to give travelers with disabilities, seniors, and families?
And are they aware of what their current practices, some of them innocent imitation, are signaling to those around us. Those who might experience the world differently?
You see, travel and hospitality professionals, it's time to move beyond imitation. Take what wisdom you can from what has worked so far. It's a new game. Travelers with disabilities are upping the stakes.
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. Just two days ago Ann O'Brien released her study on accessibility in Western Australia - "Guestability." The Perth Convention Bureau is having success with a program called "Beyond Compliance" that financially rewards businesses that include accessibility features.
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.
Additional Reading:
"Anxiety to Access" - Study of Travel Behavior http://tinyurl.com/27ap6
"Market Study" - Open Doors Organization http://tinyurl.com/2t2mw
The Rolling Rains Report http://www.RollingRains.com
September 19, 2004
Book Review
I am looking forward to the opportunity to review a new book by Michael Kanouff. For a preview of the first chapter see "Born of the Water" at http://www.from-the-edge.net/bornofthewater.htm.
http://www.from-the-edge.net/bornofthewater.htm
September 16, 2004
Defining the Market of Travelers With Disabilities
I have published a new article at Suite 101.com, Defining the Market of Travelers With Disabilities.
June 30, 2004
Talking Points on the Worldwide Rise of Inclusive Travel
Below is a brief outline of an upcoming talk Scott Rains will be giving on inclusive travel.
Talking Points on the Worldwide Rise of Inclusive Travel
Dr. Scott Rains, San Jose, CA, USA
Additional Resources:
The Rolling Rains Report
http://www.RollingRains.com
Definition of Universal Designhttp://tinyurl.com/2n5tz
Designing for the 21st Century III
http://www.designfor21st.org/
"Anxiety to Access" - Study of Travel Behavior
http://tinyurl.com/27ap6
History of the Concept of Universal Design
http://tinyurl.com/yt8bz
Adaptive Environments
http://www.adaptiveenvironments.org/
UN Definition of Disability
http://tinyurl.com/2gvg2
NICAN Conference
http://www.nican.com.au/education/conference.asp
Open Doors Organization Market Study
http://tinyurl.com/2t2mw
May 19, 2004
Scott Rains @ Designing for the 21st Century III - Rio de Janeiro, December, 7-12, 2004
The first international conference to systematically address inclusive travel will be Adaptive Environment's Designing for the 21st Century III.
Day 1 - December 7, 2004 - includes the day-long event, "Universal Design and the International Travel & Hospitality Industry."
Watch The Rolling Rains Report for regular updates on this event to be held at Hotel Sofitel, Rio de Janeiro.
Below is the day's agenda.
Scott Rains, D. Min., Resident Scholar, Center for Cultural Studies, University of California Santa Cruz, Manager, Computer-Assisted Education, Eden Housing, Inc. -- "Overview: Opportunities for Universal Design Specialists and Travel & Hospitality Professionals" Edward Steinfeld, Arch. D., AIA,Professor of Architecture,Director, IDEA Center,School of Architecture and Planning, University at Buffalo, State University of New York -- "The History of the Universal Design Movement and Its Potential in the Tourism Industry" Simon Darcy, BA (Leisure Studies), MEnvPlan, Senior Lecturer, School of Leisure, Sport & Tourism, University of Technology Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and Bruce Cameron BEc, Grad. Dip. DP, CPA, ACAA Publisher Easy Access Australia (www.easyaccessaustralia.com.au) -- "The Accessible Tourism Experience: Australia with Views to the Asia Pacific Region� Eric Lipp, Executive Director, Open Doors Organization, Chicago, IL -- "Statistical Study of the Travel Purchasing Power of Consumers with Disabilities: Results from the US 2002 Study, a Look at the US 2005 Study and a Call for International Replication" Regina Cohen, Uma Cidade para Todos!, Nucleo Pro-Acesso - UFRJ, Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo -- "An Urban Universal Design Makeover: The Rio City Project and It's Unfinished Agenda for Tourism"
Laurie Ringaert, Director, The Center for Universal Design, College of Design, NC State University -- "Manitoba, Canada: Is The Tourism Industry Ready for the Market of Seniors and Persons with Disabilities?" Jani Nayar, Executive Coordinator, SATH (Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality), New York, NY -- "Universal Design Best Practices Review: Case Studies from the Travel Industry" Luiza Helena Boueri Rebello, NPD - Centro Universit�rio da Cidade, "A Hands-on Field Experience: The Rio de Janeiro Green Map Project as a New Resource for Urban Tourism"
*******
May 18, 2004
Scott Rains @ the 5th National NICAN Conference, Perth Australia - September 20 -22, 2004
Dr. Scott Rains, editor of The Rolling Rains Report and 2004 - 2005 Resident Scholar at the Center for Cultural Studies - UCSC, will speak at the 5th National NICAN Conference, Perth Australia - September 20 -22, 2004
He will address the topic of destination development in tourism within the conference framework of "valuing persons with disabilities in the travel market." His talk draws examples from Santa Cruz County in Northern California.
Among them are highlights of the pioneering efforts of Shared Adventures including their bilingual resource the Santa Cruz Access Guide.
May 17, 2004
Scott Rains @ UCSC Center for Cultural Studies, Oakes College
The author of The Rolling Rains Report, Scott Rains, D. Min., has been appointed as Research Fellow of the University of California. He will serve as Resident Scholar at the Center for Cultural Studies at Oakes College at the University of California Santa Cruz from June 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005.
While serving in this position, Dr. Rains will be pursuing independent research into the travel and hositality industry using the principles of Universal Design and other tools from the field of Disability Studies
The Rolling Rains Report will continue to be the primary source of work-in-progress reports on his inclusive travel research.
Formal presentations currently scheduled for the coming year include:
"Universal Design and Destination Development" at the 5th National NICAN Conference, Perth, Australia, September 20 -22, 2004.
"Universal Design and the International Travel & Hospitality Industry" at the Designing for the 21st Century III Conference in Rio de Janeiro, December 8 - 12, 2004.
April 30, 2004
Critical Intersections in the Study of Tourism
"Movement" is a word that describes travel per se. But "circulation" - movement with return proceeding along definable pathways and with perceptible rhythm - captures travel and hospitality taken together.
The natural question is, "What circulates?"
The emphasis of the answer depends on who asks. Obviously, the traveler circulates. And the luggage, the transport system, the fees involved, etc.
Travel and hospitality is an industry. By one accounting it is the world's largest --certainly the most widespread. So the tools needed to study it are those of a business person.
Travel and hospitality is a service industry. It is one in which all the senses, values, and idiosyncrasies of the partcipant are involved. The recipient of the service is intimately affected. So other tools are needed as well.
Design, Engineering, Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology are some fields that have a role to play. A few lenses for critical analysis of the tourist experience include:
What fields remain to be drawn into the dialogue? Recent tourism promoters suggest that it has a role in peacemaking and international cooperation. See, for example, Tourism as a Force for Peace.
What metaphors and models can usefully be elaborated?
Others?
April 18, 2004
Editorial on the Rolling Rains Report
Sometimes running a Google search on your own name can be embarrassing - especially if you have a common name and you think someone else's ideas will be erroneously attributed to you. Fortunately my name is not all that common but coming across such a rousing endorsement of the Rolling Rains Report as Terry Welker has posted at The Code Connection was humbling.
From The Code Connection:
Here's some refreshing news. There are some progressive thinkers like Scott Rains who are on the forefront convincing the entire world that there are an ocean of buisness opportunities serving the travel and tourism industry. Go to his web log, the Rolling Rains Report, to see the latest dialogue on travel, disablity and universal design. You'll find news, ideas, conferences, examples, and commentary from around the world. Leaders like Rains are showing the travel industry that there is in fact a strong market serving those with disabilities. Now, Scott Rains is actually much broader in his approach than this. He uses a "full court press" that includes legal avenues, research, political activism, economics, etc. He's a "change agent" working to make the world a better place to live. In this respect, I fully subscribe to his mission and only hope I can help in some way.While it is necessary to have laws like the ADA and the ADAAG standards in the U.S. it is enlightening to see how Universal Design in other countries is gaining acceptance in such a positive fashion. Maybe we're comming close to a "tipping point" where Universal Design starts to become a preference rather than a requirement.
Lately, I've had conversations with owners of two story buildings who are seriously considering adding elevators in order to make them more accessible. Do they have a passion for the ADA? Nope. They simply recognize that the culture is changing and that tenants are starting to demand accessibility. Tenants are demanding it because their customers are demanding it. A prime example of market demands at work.
February 15, 2004
The Six Knows of Preparing to Travel
This article, The Six Knows of Preparing to Travel, is the first in a series at Suite 101. It was picked up by e-bility.com, an Australian site on travel and disability, where it was awarded as article of the month for January 2004.
The Six Knows of Preparing to Travel
"Vacation" is a magic word. Use it in a conversation and people are likely to momentarily spirit off to their private bit of paradise; disappear to somewhere that exists between fantasy and the world-as-we-know-it. But even Harry Potter puts in long hours of preparation to work his magic. So, what's the magic formula for conjuring up a charmed vacation?
First, open up your own personal travel style for inspection. Add a pinch of experience from each of the Six Knows below and you will spice your formula with the wisdom of other travelers with disabilities. Stir it up with a friend or travel agent. Then get out there and see the world!
Know Yourself
Socrates said, The unexamined life is not worth living. Take it from me, it's not worth carting along on the road with you either.
First off, ask yourself: What would make this vacation a success for you? Try to answer that question even before you decide on a destination, a reservation, or a travel companion. Pare down to the nonnegotiables. Are you looking for quiet rejuvenation -- or exhilaration? Do you have strict budget limits -- or room to splurge? Does success mean having sun, snow, a tropical rainstorm -- or are you content with whatever comes along? Do you have must includes for your trip such as a food, an event -- or a language?
Secondly, review your physical health. Do it with your physician if necessary. How is your physical strength? Your stamina? Your immune system? Are you in physical pain that would influence your travel plans? Are your medications working correctly and do you have enough to bring on the trip?
What about your mental health? How is your emotional resilience? What's the recent pattern of your moods? Are your dreams or fantasy life telling you something about how you might react to travel right now?
Know Your Equipment
Take responsibility to know your own equipment. Know their equipment too!
Do you know it as well as, if not better than the people who sold it to you? Have you made a toolkit with everything you need for repairs? Do you pack it in carry-on, not checked luggage? Have you prepared an instruction sheet, with illustrations, on assembly and the disassembly of your equipment? How many languages is it in? Did you arrange for an equipment check-up before you left? Have you brought along replacements for items that frequently fail? Do you know of vendors at your destinations that can repair your equipment in an emergency? As preventative maintenance for yourself as well as looking out for others in the disabled community, do you know how to report equipment failures to your vendor and the manufacturer? How to pass along with any suggested solutions you may have?
There is a catch to this category. The line between your equipment and their equipment becomes fuzzy when your comfort and safety depends on the transportation company's vehicle.
Do you know how to troubleshoot a lift on a van for an inexperienced driver? Can you instruct the baggage crew on how to stow your wheelchair, walker, or scooter? Handle your respirator or oxygen bottle? Have you memorized the accessibility features of various airplanes by make and model of the aircraft? Can you show the flight attendant the location of the button to unlock movable airline seat arms?
Language teachers and travel gurus may tell you that the most important first words to learn in another language are "Please" or "Thank you." I tend to prefer to master words like "Nyet!" ("No!"; Russian), "Rollstuhl" ("wheelchair"; German), "Kaaga" ("mine; Somali), and useful phrases like "De jeito nenhum!" (roughly and in context, "Don't mess with that wheelchair!"; Portuguese).
Know Your Safety Net
Life is tough. (Thats probably why you want to go on vacation in the first place!) Traveling with a disability can be a test of skill. Expect the unexpected, what if around worst cases, and then strategize about how to deal with what you discover.
Did you leave a copy of your itinerary with friends and family back home? Have you established a schedule for periodically contacting people back home? Do they know what to do if they don't hear from you? If you have friends or contacts at your destination, have you double checked to see that all contact information is up to date and correct? Do you know how your travel companion responds in an emergency? Have you discussed various emergency scenarios with him or her?
Does your personal insurance cover you while out of the country? Do you have travel insurance to make up the difference between what the airline will pay if they damage of your equipment and the actual replacement cost? Do you have necessary vaccinations, medicine, prescriptions, and letters of medical necessity? Are your money and important documents kept in a secure place?
Do you have multiple copies of information such as contact names and addresses or what to do if your credit card is stolen? Are those copies distributed between various carry-on and checked-in items?
Know Your Rights And Responsibilities
Laws, policies, business practices, and cultural norms change from region to region and country to country. Dont be easily discouraged. Keeping track of the specifics merits an advanced degree in traveling with a disability. Be as knowledgeable as possible.
At what point in a trip involving air travel does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) jurisdiction end and the Air Carriers Access Act (ACAA) begin? What accessibility features are required by law if the airplane has more than 30 seats? If it is wide-body with more than two aisles? Can you advocate for the rights you have with a Canada carrier? A European airline?
What responsibility do you have for knowing your rights? For effectively communicating your needs? Are you able to advocate for your own rights in a way that leaves the person you are confronting better educated and more likely to assist the next passenger with a disability? Do you make use of the airlines Complaints Resolution Officer (CRO)? Do you share what you have learned about traveling with others in the disabled community?
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 others habits with smoking, drinking, drugs? Each others 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?
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.
Originally published at Suite101.com
February 13, 2004
Hospitality is a Benedictine Charism
Writing on the travel, hospitality and Universal Design is not a far reach for someone familiar with the Benedictine monastic wisdom tradition. Monasticism revolves around such universals as a sense of place, embodiment, the proper place of work, community, transformation and, of course, hospitality.
January 22, 2004
Holiday Giving With a Travel Theme
"Holiday Giving With a Travel Theme" appears at Suite 101.com where it was originally published with links.
Holiday Giving With a Travel Theme
We feasted on the kindness of strangers
The clear Guatemala night sky revealed an unfamiliar starscape. A rickety porch roof sheltered us from the expected summer thunderstorm. We shared a can of cold refried beans in silence. The silence, we told ourselves, was a courtesy to the peasant farmer who slept with his family one thin wall away. But all three of us knew better than that. Ours was the stunned silence of teens recovering from an encounter, at gunpoint, with a military patrol that had followed our progress on this weekend jungle trek. Somehow my companions had convinced them we were not guerrillas. Somehow we had telescoped the polarities of travel into one day - danger and the redeeming stranger. How would we pay forward that debt to the peasant farmer?
Practicing kindness on the road
I was drawn to the new book by Lonely Planet Press The Kindness of Strangers. The project began with a contest calling for people�s travel stories. The result is an offering more than 25 stories of kindness-on-the-road by professional and amateur travel writers. There is a preface by the Dalai Lama who epitomizes a kindness-on-the-road philosophy. You can find an online interview with the editor, Don George, that will give you the flavor of the book.
I spotted another travel book with a theme of generosity - Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others. And I discovered online one person�s reflections on volunteering with a disability. Watch for an article going into more depth on this topic in the Suite 101 Travel & Disability section in 2004. Also, check out Wheels for Humanity, an organization with a mission to place wheelchairs left unused or abandoned in the United States with the disabled poor in developing countries. They are looking for volunteers.
Travel as a gift - Returning the kindness
For years my father has wanted to take a small ship cruise to Alaska. Small ships are the best way to get in where the larger ships can't go. This year my wife and I are inviting him and a guest of his choosing to take the trip with us.
In planning this trip, as well as researching articles for Suite 101, I have found the staff at Small Ship Cruises to be responsive and knowledgeable. I recommend them if you plan a cruise to Alaska.
Random acts of kindness
In the coming year I intend to take time to give something back. There is a theme in my New Year's resolutions - generosity directed toward the disabled community at large.
- I will complete the survey for people with disabilities about their experiences in using different types of telecommunications products.
- When I set up an independent web site with my Web Log I will treat visitors to the timely news summaries I have been enjoying from Inclusion Daily Express. Their editor, David Reynolds, collects, reviews, and provides original writing on the current news affecting people with disabilities.
- I will participate in RERC Survey on the Use of Medical Equipment.
- In this column over the coming year I will introduce readers to several travelers with disabilities through a series of interviews.
Be kind to yourself, too
With the chilly weather I'm likely to settle in for vacation planning fantasies from the comfort of home. Wheelchair travel fades to armchair travel for the time being.
The classic magazine for active wheelchair users is Sports 'n Spokes. It doesn�t include travel articles per se' but you can still get a great rush imagining yourself water-skiing on the international circuit, playing professional wheelchair basketball, mastering wheelchair hockey, quad rugby, snow skiing or fencing. I like National Geographic's Adventure magazine for generating travel ideas but it doesn't quite let me �be there�. It lacks the information on accessibility that I expect from a quality travel magazine. So, for those with Multiple Sclerosis I recommend the quarterly magazine InsideMS, written entirely by people with MS. InsideMS has a format that is easy to read and has a regular travel section. For those with spinal cord injuries I recommend the monthly magazine New Mobility. New Mobility is the flagship publication when it comes to portraying people with mobility disabilities as actively engaged in living. Its occasional travel features bring me to places I never would have thought of visiting.
Music too can transport me back to places I've been - or feed my imagination about places I'm going to explore. CDs from places I've visited or plan to visit make up a whole subsection of my CD collection. But there�' one song in particular that has been playing in my imagination throughout this article. It evokes some of the themes that appeal to us travelers: freedom, memories, stories, and encounters that open define lives.
I thank you for the music
And your stories of the road
I thank you for the freedom
When it came my time to go
I thank you for the kindness
And the times when you got tough
And papa I don't think I said
" I love you" near enough.
LEADER OF THE BAND
By Dan Fogelberg
Come to think of it, I�m going to bring a copy of Dan Fogelberg�s The Innocent Age CD along on the Alaska cruise!
January 14, 2004
Travel & Disability Links @ Suite 101.com
The set of reviewed and rated links on travel & disability at Suite 101.com compliment some of the postings and links here at Rolling Rains Report.
January 10, 2004
Vexel Quovis?
This article, "All I Want for Christmas is a Vexel Quovis," originally appeared at Suite 101.com
All I Want for Christmas is a Vexel Quovis
Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Miles of holiday lights dripping from the eaves of homes. Acres of Christmas tree forests springing up in handicapped parking spaces across America.
In the spirit of economy-priming consumption I have decided to share my Wish List with you. Actually, this will come in two parts. Part 1 will be gifts for me. Part 2, so you dont think Ive completely forgotten the spiritual side, will combine a gift list for others with a set of New Years resolutions I intend to make.
Lets start with the practical gifts. Look at the weather. Its getting cold. I need a new jacket.
I grew up in Seattle. So, naturally, I go to REI (Recreational Equipment Incorporated)when I need something like this. After drifting over to the short course on outdoor clothing at Outside Away I think Id recognize a good jacket if one found its way under my tree.
Its the rainy season. My hands slip on the wheelchair push rims.
The best place Ive found for half finger gloves is Rolli-Moden. I found a lot of other tempting items there too. Guess I need a copy of Rolli-Modens catalog
.
And its going to get wetter as we spend the holidays in the Washington States Olympic Rainforest.
So Ive been eyeing the Access Liner and Shell boots at the Vulpine web site. But I think Ill also need a pair of these giant beach tires from the Tremor wheelchair to go mudding down the trail.
Im sure warmer days are coming.
Waterskiing was never my forte. Maybe Id do better sitting on Quickies Kanski . Even if I never master that watersport, I do want to spend a week at Clearwater House on Hat Creek when fishing season opens. Of course, thats provided somebody sees it on my wish list and gives it to me as a Christmas present. Guess Ill have to pull out the vise & hackle pliers and start tying more flies as a hint to Santa Claus.
When summer comes, Ill need to be ready for the sun and the beach.
What I want is a wheelchair that wont sink to its axles in the sand. So I went straight to Hank Weseman, Jr's Beach Cruzr site. Looks good! But then I made the mistake of looking at all the other choices in the Wheelchairs and Beach Access section of Don Krebs Access to Recreation site. Now I dont know which one I want.
At the Abilities Expo I saw the stair-climbing, gyroscope-toting iBot wheelchair. Impressive! Spinning around on a level floor, perched up on only two wheels, it looks as agile as something from the Nutcracker Suite. I tried out its little sibling, the iGlide wheelchair. Responsive, and a nice break from pushing my full weight around all day. Alas, I fell in love and these two had no chance. My macho heart was stolen by that HumVee of outdoor wheelchairs, Permobils Trax wheelchair.
No, I have never been the practical one in the family.
Of course to carry any of these chairs Id have to retire my hybrid gas/electric Toyota Prius before its time and buy a van. Ive never been practical but I am resourceful! So Ive contacted the Vexel Quovis manufacturer in Spain to see if I can be the first one on my block to have one in Banana Slug Yellow. On this unique little vehicle a ramp drops down from the rear allowing the driver to roll right in and drive from a wheelchair. This cute little vehicle can get 100 miles per gallon and it looks like it will fit in spaces even a Mini Cooper would pass up!
Thats my list for Santa. Coming in Part 2: a few gifts I hope to give to others and some resolutions worth keeping.
January 08, 2004
The "Rolling Rains" Literary Precedent: A Gift of the Scots
A Google on the phrase "Rolling Rains" will turn up these posts as well as many at Suite101.com where Rolling Rains edits the Travel and Disability section.
It will also lead you to this poem by Robert Burns, A Mauchline Wedding, rendered in contemporary English. See the first few lines for:
When Eighty-five was seven months auldAnd wearing thro' the aught,
When rolling rains and Boreas bauld
Gied farmer-folks a faught;
So, if you encounter occassional bluster here, the concatenation of Rolling Rains and the North Wind's howl are not without literary precedent.
May Boreas Bauld be with you!