WHAT DISABLED TOURIST EXPECT TO FIND A HOLIDAY DESTINATION

Hartmut Smikac
Advisory Committee National Coordination Board Tourism for All Germany

It is important that all enquiries regarding disabled tourists' needs are answered by well and specially trained staff. Managers and staff members should know as much as possible about the needs of disabled and elderly people and about their requirements to get around well and to feel comfortable.

Spain is a popular destination for German holiday makers. More than 13 per cent of all Germans who travel abroad make their decision for Spain . In other words: every year more than six million Germans visit Spain during their most beautiful days of the year. Opinion polls teach us that holiday destinations in Spain are in a high rate in 2006 too: the Balearic Islands , the Canaries and Spanish towns obviously are the very most important destinations for Germans who intend to spend their holiday abroad.

In addition, many German seniors selected Spanish islands and southern parts of Spain to be their retirement home. To advertise among Germans for spending holidays in Spain really would be the same like carrying coals to Newcastle . Spain is well known in Germany as a destination for all kinds of holiday makers, being the most important destination for all German holiday makers who spend their holidays abroad.

Recently I was asked to tell about what disabled tourists and seniors would expect in order to make their decision for a special destination. In general this is a question easy to answer: disabled holiday makers certainly will expect to find conditions without barriers for them, circumstances to move around easily. In detail, this is a more difficult question to answer, actually it would be necessary to write a book about the topic to talk about the topic exhaustively in all its details and nuances.

With regard to disabled travellers the fact is to record that the number of disabled persons increase who want to spend a holiday abroad. After their stay in Spain some of them report about changing and better accessible conditions in services and premises in Tenerife , for instance. Still the number of German disabled holiday makers in Spain is not very great yet as most of them spend their holidays inside Germany . They obviously prefer destinations in Germany because the country is familiar to them, because they know how to cope with conditions and because they can get information about the chosen destination quite easily. Other ones make their choice for the Scandinavian countries or the Netherlands as these countries enjoy a good reputation among disabled holiday makers.

From many surveys we know that disabled people prefer to go to countries which enjoy a good reputation for disabled people or that are recommended by other disabled persons. This fact is confirmed by those enquiries regarding travel items in associations of disabled people. Consequently the first conclusion about aiming to receive more disabled visitors should be providing them more information as well as more detailed information about accessible offers.

It is decisive to give reliable information. This requires that circumstances are depicted accurately; assessments are orientated to measurable criteria and information finally is checked by persons affected by disability themselves.

At the same time it is important that all enquiries regarding disabled tourists' needs are answered by well trained staff. Managers and staff members should know as much as possible about the needs of disabled and elderly people and about their requirements to get around well and to feel comfortable. Every manager and each employee should know, for instance that a person in wheelchair needs a certain space to move around which must not be blocked by beautiful flowering pot plants or any trolley. They should know that blind persons need an exact description about physical conditions in the hotel and guestroom to be able to get along. Without completing this list I only want to add that they also should know that a fax machine in the guestroom is indispensable for deaf people to keep in touch with their family and friends, even for calling the room service (what requires that the room service can be called by fax too).

In my opinion managers and staff members must not only know about disabled people's requirements, they also must understand these needs. For this reason they should be experienced themselves by self-awareness or by accompanying disabled people.

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