Disabled traveller James Price is working to develop an international wheelchair access grading scheme to help travellers with impaired mobility choose the best hotel for their needs.
The idea is to get hotels to accept assessment of their accessibility
which would then lead to the award of one to five “wheels”, a
symbol that Price hopes will become as instantly recognisable as the widely
used “star” rating for general facilities.
Accessibility ratings would be decided by the same assessors who visit hotels to award stars and the Wheelchair Access Award company, formed by Price, would provide assessors with guideline packs that outline the requirements for each wheel rating.
“The award will range from one to five wheels and will cover such areas as access around the hotel, facilities provided for the mobility-impaired and a guide to how much assistance a mobility-challenged person would require at the hotel or resort complex,” said Price.
The Wheelchair Access Award company is currently canvassing support from British and international disability groups and has also approached Visit Britain to gain an insight into how its Accessible Tourism Scheme is organised and run.
“The Visit Britain scheme includes assessments for the requirements
of people with hearing and visual impairments and I would like to include
elements of that into my award scheme as well,” said Price.
If his scheme is to gain support and move forward, Price recognises that he will need sponsorship and is therefore planning approaches to one or two likely sources.
In the meantime, he is working on a separate project aimed at bringing a mobility DVD for disabled travellers to the market.
The idea stemmed from a video made during a trip that Price took to St Lucia .
“People said that I couldn’t go deep sea fishing or visit the Grenadine Islands because I was in a wheelchair and couldn’t manage the boats, but that made me sure I could,” said Price.
The resulting film is a practical guide on how to overcome difficulties with a degree of determination and some help from others.
“If you are prepared to let people help you you can have a great time on holiday and do things that you might not have thought possible.
“I would like to produce this DVD to get disabled people out of their shells and travelling.”