Tag: disability access

“It’s easier to book a hotel for dogs than disabled people”

Dogs>Disabled: New data reveals pet-friendly holidays outpace accessible stays for families across Europe

  • In some countries, it is 60 times harder to find a hotel that caters for disability access needs compared to one that allows families to travel with their pets
  • Popular European countries lack vital information regarding accessibility 
  • The ‘pet friendly’ box is answered on every booking site whilst information about ‘disability access’ is convoluted

Booking a pet-friendly family holiday is approximately 24 times easier than booking a European break with disability access, according to new research. 

The data, collated by disability holiday specialists World Accessible Holidays, shows there are far more readily available options for a family to go on holiday with their pet than with a wheelchair – leaving families with disability requirements with very limited options.

Whilst approximately 37% of family rooms across ten European countries on booking.com ticked the ‘pet-friendly’ box, only 1.5% offer disability access. 

Across the 10 European countries studied, there were 41,576 pet-friendly hotels offering family rooms, with only 1,684 of these family rooms meeting accessibility requirements. 

It is substantially harder, and in some countries up to 60 times harder, to find a hotel that caters for disability access needs compared to one that allows families to travel with their pets. 

For example, only 0.55% of family hotels offer accessible rooms in Croatia, with only 36 hotels to choose from. However, if the holiday required a pet-friendly room, Croatia offered 2,304 hotels to choose on booking.com. 

Paula Hansen, founder of World Accessible Holidays said: “These statistics are disappointing but not surprising. How can it be acceptable for hotels to provide information about accepting pets on a stay and the facilities they can provide for your pooch, yet when it comes to people with wheelchairs, there’s silence?

“I love my pet, but the fact I know I can take my dog Angus, but not my son who uses a wheelchair and has cerebral palsy, is frankly shocking.”

The 10 European areas analysed included France; mainland Spain; Italy; Greece; The Antalya region in Turkey; Croatia; Portugal; Spain’s Canary Islands; Cyprus and Majorca. 

100% of the 10  areas researched generated more hotel options through Expedia Expedia.com and Booking.com when searching for a pet-friendly family room than one that has wheelchair access.

In addition, information presented by hotels often varied, causing disabled customers confusion about what facilities are available at hotels.

Where hotels who welcome pets had clear wording and policies, there was little consistency in listings of hotels that claim to provide accessibility access, including language like ‘ramp and elevator access’ ‘top floor rooms include lift’ to ‘entire unit wheelchair accessible’. 

Portugal presented the highest number of hotels offering disability access across both search engines, with a 2.4% accessibility rate, but the figure is still low compared to 27.8% of hotels offering pet-friendly rooms. 

Paula Hansen, founder of World Accessible Holidays, established the business after experiencing this disparity first-hand.  Her son, is a wheelchair user and the limited holiday options and stressful booking process instilled the idea for her disability-friendly business. 

Paula is striving to make holidays abroad less stressful for disabled individuals travelling with their families and carers, both adults and children. The business launched as a fully transparent booking platform , one which arranges flights and accommodation at high street prices that meets accessibility needs. 

She said: “The accessibility market is hugely under-represented and badly serviced. There are a few good specialist operators, but they are very expensive, and out of reach for many disabled families. 

“Alternatively, if you try to book with a mainstream operator, it’s virtually impossible to guarantee an accessible room and the booking process is extremely disjointed. Booking platforms rarely list accessible rooms in a clear-cut way or have the option to book an accessible room with equipment. 

“We conducted this research to evidence just how far down the priority ladder disabled people are, but I still can’t believe it’s easier to book a hotel for dogs than disabled people. At World Accessible Holidays we are working to change that — because people deserve more options than pets.” 

For more information about World Accessible Holidays visit:

worldaccessibleholidays.co.uk

Council leader hails taxi accessibility talks

Access Action Plan is on it’s way

cabs

Council Leader Andrew Burns and Convener of the Regulatory Committee, Cllr Gavin Barrie met with charity campaigner Gordon Aikman yesterday to discuss concerns about taxi accessibility in Edinburgh.

Recently Mr Aikman, who has motor neurone disease, struggled to find a taxi that was able accommodate his wheelchair. He was due to introduce Ed Miliband at the Labour Party Conference in the capital but missed the opportunity after two taxis he called were unable to pick him up – one because the electric ramp was not working and the other because he ‘took too long to come down’.

Cllr Burns said: “What happed to Gordon is of course completely unacceptable and the purpose of today’s meeting was to discuss what we can do to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We have identified steps that we can take as the licensing authority for taxis in the city, to ensure that these vehicles are accessible to wheelchair users.

“For example, we will be cracking down on drivers who fail to stop for disabled customers and increasing the number of spot checks to check that the taxis’ ramps are operational. We will also be calling for taxi companies to review their allocated waiting time for collections with a view to extending this for people with mobility issues.

“We want to make sure that wheelchair users in Edinburgh have a positive experience when using taxis and I would like to thank Gordon for highlighting this very important issue.”

Other actions agreed include a review of the current driver training arrangements to improve accessibility training and looking at introducing refresher courses. Taxi drivers who are exempt from manually loading wheelchairs for health reasons may also be asked to display a prominent sign on their vehicle indicating that they are not accessible.

The agreed measures will now be taken forward by the Council, led by Councillor Gavin Barrie as Convener of the Regulatory Committee.

Welcoming the outcome of yesterday’s meeting, Gordon Aikman said: “This crackdown is very welcome. Wheelchair or not, each and every one of us should be able to get into a cab and get from A to B without any hassle. I’ve only been in a wheelchair for a couple of weeks, but have been shocked by the treatment disabled folk have to put up with.

“I’m confident this Access Action Plan will help make taxis in our capital more accessible. I hope other councils follow Edinburgh’s lead. This is not about special treatment – it is about equal access. No disabled person should have to put up with second rate service.”