Despite the success of the London
Paralympics, new research has revealed that 86 percent of persons with
disabilities who responded to a recent survey think the UK travel
industry is still not providing sufficient information about disability
access and facilities.
Source: Industry Today, GAATES
The survey, which was carried out by
Adapted Vehicle Hire, the UK’s largest supplier of rental vehicles for
drivers with disabilities and charity, Tourism For All UK, also revealed
that 87 percent of respondents had been prevented from travelling
because of their disability.
A further 77 percent consider disability access to be ‘very important’ when planning where to go on holiday.
London was identified as the part of UK
with the best access and facilities but despite improvements made in the
run up to the Paralympics, the Underground was singled out for
criticism.
The UK’s airports and train stations
also fared badly in the survey with respondents claiming more needed to
be done to make them accessible for all.
However there was some encouraging news
as over 92 percent of people thought that accessibility had improved
overall in the past ten years – 28 percent thought that access was
‘significantly better’.
Lorraine Farnon, Managing Director of Adapted Vehicle Hire, said:
“The results of this survey clearly
demonstrate that despite gradual progress, more needs to be done to make
the travel industry more accessible for persons with disabilities.
“Following the outstanding success of
the Paralympics which has brought disability issues increasingly into
the mainstream, there is now an opportunity to make real improvements to
access and facilities across the UK.”
Carrie-Ann Lightley, Information Officer from Tourism For All UK, said:
“Tourism For All has been campaigning
for the past 30 years to improve the range of travel options and
facilities for persons with disabilities Our view is that tourism is
important to everyone and we support the government’s aim of making UK
tourism the most accessible in Europe.
“We are heartened that most people feel
that access and facilities have improved in the past ten years, but the
survey also revealed there are big variations across the UK. Access to
some rural and historic sites will always present more of a challenge
for disabled visitors, but places like airports have scope for
significant improvement to better meet the needs of travellers with
disabilities.”
The survey results also identified
Cornwall and Devon as the most popular holiday destination, followed
closely by Spain and France.
Several venues from across the UK were
praised for their ease of access and suitability for visitors with
disabilities including National Trust properties and the Eden Project in
Cornwall.
