The UK travel industry has come under fire for widespread failures to cater to the needs of people with disabilities.
Following a survey undertaken for the Wish You Were Here? travel programme, Leonard Cheshire found that one in four of disabled people sampled said that they did not travel last year because holidays were not accessible.
Many of the survey sample encountered difficulties from the moment they tried to book a holiday.
The report found that travel agents did not have a good enough understanding of disability to ensure that a holiday package was fully accessible. As a result, disabled clients arrived at a resort only to find that they could not get around.
For those that did manage to book, air travel proved problematic with 32% finding the aircraft toilet to be inaccessible and 22% reporting that their wheelchair or mobility aid was damaged in transit.
Others were told that they could not travel unaccompanied because a disabled person or would require a medical certificate from their doctor in order to travel by air.
One respondent commented: “Why should I have to pay my GP for a medical report to say that I am fit to go on holiday? I’m not ill, I just have a disability.”
More than 25% of those survey group said insurance companies were quick to equate disability with poor health and charge a premium. Others talked of how expensive it was to insure mobility aids.
Holiday accommodation also proved a challenge for disabled people travelling abroad, with almost one in three of those surveyed experiencing problems with accessibility.
John Knight, Head of External Policy at Leonard Cheshire, comments: “That disabled people still find it difficult to travel abroad is totally unacceptable in the 21st century, especially as many of these obstacles are the making of the travel industry.
“Disabled people have a right to holiday outside of the UK and the travel industry must shape up to ensure they can”.
Leonard Cheshire is calling on the travel industry to improve accessibility in the following ways:
* The introduction of a pan-European standard of accessibility that all member states will recognise.
* Government to bring UK aviation and shipping under statutory control (at present they are not covered by the DDA).
* Disability awareness training (DAT) to be compulsory for all sales staff in travel agents and air cabin crew.
* Travel insurance providers must insure disabled customers are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Disability does not necessarily equate to poor health.