HAVE A GOOD HOLIDAY – SURVEY

Hi,
Before you dismiss this as “another bloody survey”, please have a look. These people are just trying to make life easier for people with a disability. :rolleyes:
Vicki

HAVE A GOOD HOLIDAY – SURVEY

It would be appreciated if you would read the following and consider completing the attached national survey. Could you also please forward it to any person with a disability who you think would like to have an input into this very important survey.

The Leonard Cheshire Foundation, based in the UK recently undertook a survey into the holiday experiences of people with disabilities. The Foundation has given the writer permission to use their documentation to carry out a similar survey in Australia.

It is a fact that there is still much to be done to make holidays truly accessible. It is true that too often successful trips are the product of an individual’s sheer determination as opposed to genuine accessibility on the part of the travel industry.

To coincide with next years Disability Action Week I am undertaking a similar survey throughout Australia.

People with disabilities who took part in this survey were asked to detail their experiences in relation to travel agents, tour operators, accommodation, travel (via ferry, train, air and buses etc). As well as completing this survey yourself could you please ask any people you know who have disabilities, but who do not have access to the internet, and who would like to take part in this survey, which I would hope to have completed in time for the 2006 Disability Action Week, to telephone 0429024346 for a copy of the survey questionnaire.

An example of the kind of information that is required can be seen by the fact that our Council’s Manager of Tourism advertises that Hervey Bay is the most accessible destination on the Eastern seaboard for people with disabilities. Yet there is not one access to the beach. for people in wheelchairs or with other mobility aids. I have been inundated with telephone calls from visitors who complain that they came to Hervey Bay because they were told they could go onto the beach with their mobility aids and ‘put their toes in the water’. That is not so. The two access ramps that were installed have both been taken down because they became unstable due to bad design and they do not look like being replaced. Visitors also complain to me that they are sent to accommodation that they cannot access because of steps into the facility or if they can get into the room it is too small for them to move their mobility aid about in. The toilet facilities are inadequate etc. The new niche in tourism is, (I am told), the increasing market of people with disabilities, yet tourist operators do not even take the trouble to find out if, say accommodation, which they push, is accessible for people with wheelchairs etc.

It is hoped that this survey will highlight all such barriers which confront people with physical, vision and/or hearing impairments.

I thank you for your co-operation.

Sheila King
Please return completed survey to:
Have a Good Holiday Survey
37 Cove Blvd. River Heads, QLD 4655
or e-mail to: sheilaking@bigpond.com

http://www.disabilityforum.org.au/datas/users/Have_a_good_holiday_survey.doc