The UK’s first Accessible Holiday Show drew more than 850 visitors over two days this month (October) and is likely to be repeated next year.
Organised by specialist tour operator Accessible Travel & Leisure, the show was held at Stoke Manderville Stadium , in Buckinghamshire, on Friday and Saturday, October 7-8, and featured 41 exhibitors, ranging from leading cruise lines, to European and American resorts and hotels, and African and Middle Eastern tour companies.
Accessible Travel & Leisure sales manager Ali Parker said: “We felt it went very, very well. The number of people who turned up over the two days was a bit down on pre-registrations but our exhibitors were very pleased with the quality of the visitors.
“Because they were not overwhelmed with crowds they were also able to have one-to-one conversations with people instead of just handing out brochures.”
Ms Parker said the venue worked well in terms of accessibility and facilities but she would be reviewing visitor feedback to judge whether the Buckinghamshire location could have been improved.
“We’re looking at all aspects of how it went but our view is that it was a great success and I think we’ll have to have it again next year,” she said.
Accessible Travel & Leisure managing director Andy Wright said he was disappointed that no charter airlines felt confident enough to exhibit at the show.
“What we desperately wanted was one of the charter carriers to stand up and say ‘we are disabled friendly’ but no one wanted to attend,” said Mr Wright.
“I feel that was because they do not feel comfortable or confident about standing up in front of a crowd of disabled people and answering their questions.”
Among mainstream UK tour operators, only Virgin Holidays felt confident enough to attend, although the cruising industry was well represented. Leading cruise lines exhibiting at the show included Carnival UK incorporating the P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line and Ocean Villages brands, NCL Freestyle Cruising, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Silversea Cruises. P&O Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line were among companies giving audio/visual presentations over the two days.
Click here for a list of exhibitors.