SPAIN: AN ACCESSIBLE TOURIST DESTINATION?

Richard Thompson
Tourism Access & Disability Consultant
www.goodaccessguide.co.uk

Addressing the needs of 50 million disabled people in Europe surely has to be an opportunity worth pursuing.

Throughout a long career in travel and tourism, one destination more than any other has influenced and inspired. That place is Spain.

Hedonistic summers as a youth market holiday Guide on the Costa's and the Islands, business interests in leisure and real estate and of course many, many precious friendships. Spain has delivered them all.

But rewarding as this has all been, my current liaison with Iberia is perhaps the most fulfilling of all. That project is El Valle Principado - a villa and apartment development on the Costa Blanca. By embracing universal design principals El Valle will set new standards in barrier-free leisure living - not just in Spain, but globally.

Of course, El Valle is exceptional, perhaps unique, but Spain has much else to be proud of in its achievements in the arena of disabled access - especially given its legacy of 1960's and 70's 'mass tourism'. For it was during this period of unconstrained high-rise development, that hotels were built in their thousands which offered virtually no consideration for the needs for anyone, except the fit and able holidaymaker.

Happily times have changed and accommodations built in recent years offer a much higher level of accessibility.
Although far from perfect, and driven largely by building regulations and legislation rather than a sudden popular awareness of disabled people's needs, this has to be welcomed as a move in the right direction.

But there is more to be achieved. Much more.

Addressing the physical access to buildings and amenities is one issue, but far more people will benefit from the provision of auxiliary aids and services which improve the experiences of those with sensory impairments, for example. And attention should be served on services such as vehicle rental. Locating a car with hand controls in Spain is extremely difficult. I know, I need them myself, which means that when I visit Spain, I am often handicapped, not through restricted mobility, but by the simple lack of independent transport. How many more people do not choose Spain as a destination for business or leisure for this reason alone? Spain is not unique in this 'failing' but it does highlight a real need and an enormous opportunity.

Often it is simply access to information which is the barrier - literature printed in a font which is too small or stylised may mean the difference to between a person buying a service or not. A website that has not been designed to recognised standards of accessibility will not only function less efficiently, but will also ensure that a significant number of people simply cannot see what it is you have to offer. And from a business perspective that simply does not make sense - especially at a time when Spain faces stiff competition from emerging tourist destinations in Eastern Europe and beyond.

In its search for competitive advantage, addressing the needs of 50 million disabled people in Europe surely has to be an opportunity worth pursuing? A few enlightened 'visionaries' have already recognised this. The Autonomous Government in the Valenciana region has done much already to attract visitors with the provision of 'accessible beach' facilities. Visitor attractions, such as Terra Mitica also deserve recognition for their efforts.

Principado, the company behind El Valle are successfully combining the principles of good access with hard-edged commercial strategies to deliver genuinely accessible environments.

Such activity has the potential to set Spain apart from its competitors. This, in tandem with campaigns to raise general disability awareness in corporate board rooms and everyone's living rooms will see the Iberian Peninsula and its islands leading the way in barrier-free travel, tourism and leisure. It is certainly well positioned to do so.

Failure to capitalise on achievements already made will be seen by future generations as a commercial and social opportunity missed. Spain can do it. Spain will do it. Of that I am sure.

Richard Thompson
Tourism Access & Disability Consultant
richard@goodaccessguide.co.uk
www.goodaccessguide.co.uk

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