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Travel ‘near impossible’ for people with disabilities

More than half of people with disabilities find travel “considerably more difficult or near impossible”, a new survey reveals.

Villa holiday specialist Oliver’s Travels polled 1,000 people with disabilities to gain insight into the greatest barriers they face when travelling.

Feeling uncomfortable around other holidaymakers emerged as a concern for more than a third of respondents.

A lack of accessible booking options was another key hurdle for almost a quarter of respondents.

Other key difficulties include airports, airline and other transport not being adapted for those with disabilities.

More than a third (40%) said that accessible travel is always more expensive or that they have on occasion had to pay more in order to obtain the necessary support and adaptations to meet their needs.

Respondents generally said that they did not find tour operators particularly supportive in catering to travellers with disabilities.

Staff working within the hospitality industry need to be provided with full training on how to understand and support accessible travel needs, according to 16% of those polled.

This may be a key reason why almost a third of those surveyed said they prefer to travel with companies who prioritise accessible travel, but find it is not always possible.

However, 44% of respondents reported a small improvement in accessible options in the last five years, and expect to see further improvement in the next five years.

Oliver’s Travels co-founder and owner, Oliver Bell, said: “It was incredibly important for us to gain further insight into accessible travel and the key barriers facing travellers with disabilities.

“The results of our survey have been invaluable to us in identifying the areas in which we need to improve our accessible travel provisions, and we hope our findings will encourage a step in the right direction for the travel industry as a whole.”

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