If so, what were your experiences?
Did you encounter any problems with the booking or sourcing a suitable product?
How did you go about it?
Were you comfortable discussing the needs and requirements for the disabled person?
Hi Andy
Don't know whether you saw this on TW: we followed a disable traveller on a 32-day trip.
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2008/12/29/29848/the-disability-travel-challenge-john-roberts-32-day.html
Thank you Martin, I did follow the the article with interest, being a wheelchair user myself and owner of a tour operator specialising in providing holidays for the disabled and less mobile.
It is as a result of the article and increased publicity regarding the subject of travel for the disabled, that I am keen to hear of other examples and experiences agents may have encountered and how they overcame them.Andy
Andy
Pleased you followed that. I hope others will help you out here. Will see if i can get others to contribute!
Hi Andy,
It is really hard thing to find the transfer, transport type and hotel , attraction sites which all suits for disabled travellers, although as I am an editor of online travel sites and owner of tour operator (and son of a blind man), my company do all effort to find the best hotels and attractions for disabled travellers in central and eatern europe.
If you have any kind of question regarding our region, let me know
Regards,
Aron
We have built a relationship with our local Mobility shop were we advertise that we can help to
book the disabled travaller, we have made a couple of bookings recommended by mobility shop
The customer wanted a city break in Paris for their honeymoon
they required a hoist and a roll in shower, we used "Can be done " website togather the information
for the the hotel and they arranged all the special equipment. they needed. We were comfortable asking all the questions
as we found the customers very forthcoming with all their needs.
@rubymel - nice idea - is the agreement that you and the mobility shop mutually promote each other, or are they just happy for your to advertise there?
Nathan, web editor, TW
Nathan Midgley Web editor, Travel Weekly
Hi we promote each other I display their leaflets on hiring scooters locally or overseas and they recommend us
when their customers want to book a holiday. We have done 4 bookings in 3 months so really pleased
with our new relationship.
Hi Aron,
thank you, your comments. I completely agree, there is very little credible information that you can trust in the public domain regarding accessible hotels, transfers, attractions etc etc, and is for that reason that we have come to realise over the years, the only way to gather quality detailed information about accessibility, is to check it out yourself.Being a wheelchair user myself, I prefer to visit the places firsthand with a member of staff, just to ensure they actually have what they say they have and they can do what they say they can do, rather than relying on a manager or supervisor from the respective property or attraction, to fill in a form telling me everything is okay!
We currently don't feature anywhere in Eastern Europe in our programme, other than city breaks to Prague, and therefore I would be interested to learn more about your company and the destinations you visit.Regards,Andy
Hi Rubymel,I like your idea of linking with a local mobility shop; I would imagine that many of their customers would be very grateful that an agent was taking the time and trouble to put themselves forward in wanting to provide assistance for them to holiday abroad.With your city break in Paris, did you talk to the hotel directly in order to secure the room and special equipment or did you use the services of " can be done"?Also out of interest, how did you secure accessible transfers within Paris, because they can be tricky, and at times unreliable!RegardsAndy
We did find Paris difficult to cater for a disabled room and the customers did book Eurodisney in the end as Disney does
cater very well for disabled rooms. Can be Done did book the transfers using a specialist website not sure which one sorry
which was reliable had no problems.
Regards
Rubymel
Sorry for the late late reply,
Pls email me at info@centraleasteurope.com and i can send you over some of our programs, but as we usually do tailor made tours, so you can send me over an itinerary, like your Prague city break, and i can get back to you with prices, and places
A bit late on this post but just found it. We do a lot of bookings and never seem to have many problems. One of the biggest challenges we faced was a Customer who was in a wheelchair and was unable to eat. We got this booking just 2 weeks before departure, due to TUI not completing the booking after 3 months. The client gave up and came to us. Along with Travel 2 we where able to sort out this booking with e-mails to Australia within 1 week of the customer coming to us. (Confirming hotels on request etc.).
We also linked up with local social services and assist customers that way. This means we get about 3-5 booking per month with mentally disabled customers and 1-2 physically disabled. We are always looking for ways to serve this market better as it is a good income for us.