New Zealand (NZ) is to hold its first ever conference on Access Tourism on October 4. Access Tourism is tourism, travel, and hospitality for the disabled, seniors, and ageing Baby Boomers. NZ – unlike some other countries – seems hardly aware of how major demographic changes will impact the tourism industry. These changes will be brought about by ageing of world populations and the resulting rise in the number of people with disabilities (PwDs).
The NZ Ministry of Tourism has only just acknowledged that Baby Boomers and older people are already the most important domestic market, and their own data shows that this group is also the most important international market. And the older market is going to increase in size. In spite of this, the NZ government and industry are not planning for this changing – and richer – market. Instead, NZ goes after the young, and after adventure seekers. This is in spite of the fact that top holiday motivators for visitors to or within NZ tend to be fairly sedate. For internationals, “seeing attractions”, and for domestics “taking time out” top the list. In fact the number one activity of all tourists in NZ is “sightseeing”. While it is true that some of older tourist will still want to jump off bridges or hang off mountains, most will probably be less inclined to do so as they age and become less able-bodied. And it is the disabled and growing ageing sector that NZ should be going after. Why? Because people with disabilities already would spend more on tourism, travel, and hospitality if truly accessible services were available to them and it is also because as Boomers age, they will demand accessible products.
The conference will look at various aspects of Access Tourism, including some of the following: the current situation in NZ and worldwide, website access and information best practice, government strategy, policy, and obligations, best practice in transport, accommodation, and attractions access, training for access in the tourism and hospitality sector, legal aspects, and quality rating for Access Tourism products in New Zealand. It will also include brainstorming sessions on strategies for advancing the development of Access Tourism in New Zealand and developing collaboration as a tool to advance that development. These topics are based on those most popularly picked from a list of possible topics in an online survey. The conference is being run by the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute at Auckland University of Technology. Further information and details of registration can be found on the Research Institute website.
Related posts:
There are a number of companies that are access friendly, many specialise in third age tours or for those over 50+, there is still adventure but at a different pace from companies that focus on getting from a to b as fast as possible.