Barrier Free Access For Differently Abled Hotel Guests Case Study

Ensuring a Barrier- Free Access for Differently-Abled Hotel Guests – A Case Study

Introduction

Disposable income, leisure time and safety environment are three fundamental requirements for a traveller who wishes to travel away from their usual place of work. At present, there is a growing trend of ‘Silver Hair’ market travels in the hospitality industry. The economists, sociologists and scholars indicate this tendency will set to rise in the near future due to the growth of world aging population. People with disabilities and senior citizens face lot of difficulties, as they are unable to function independently. If physical or mental condition limits a person's movements, senses, or activities generally we identify them as differently-abled
The World Health Organization high light, about 15% of the world population lives with some kind of disability. (http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/). Further, The United Nations Organization (UNO) states that worldwide one out of every ten persons is now 60 years or above and by 2050, one out of five will become a senior citizen. Moreover, the UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, and HelpAge International point out 80% of world's older people will live in developing countries by 2050. (http://www.helpage.org/tags/ageing+data/). The World Population Aging 2013, highlighted that the global share of older people (aged 60 years or above) increased from 9.2 percent in 1990 to 11.7 percent in 2013 and forecast it will continue to grow as a proportion of the world population, reaching 21.1 percent by 2050. (World Population Ageing 2013). Therefore, it is clear that considerable amount of travellers’ across the world needs a “barrier- free” travel environment to enjoy their holidays. With the increasing number of aging population of developed and developing countries the proportion of people with mobility impairments, disabilities or other limitations such as reduced sight or hearing will inevitably increase in the coming years; hospitality industry should therefore, be ready to welcome them while ensuring them
Further, he has identified some of their special travel characteristics such as tending to be loyal to a destination, staying longer and spending more. He highlights that American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility spend about $13.6 billion a year on travel. In Germany, the direct and indirect turnovers generated by disabled travellers are estimated at €2.5 to €4.8 billion and above. The UK visitor Survey found that in England, disabled visitors contributed almost £2 billion to the British domestic visitor economy in 2009. In Australia, the figures are even higher with disabled tourists contributing up to 16% of tourism GDP, according to study. Furthermore, according to survey results in the UK and Australia, 11% of visitors are belonging to this special category. After reviewing the various survey data with regard to the disabled traveller market it is clear that approximately 10% of world travellers needs accessibility facilities to enjoy their holidays without facing