Selling accessible holidays to disabled clients or those with reduced mobility can be a challenge, but the trade is being urged to embrace this growing market. Report by Juliet Dennis
Agents and operators need to do more to meet the needs of clients who are disabled or have reduced mobility.
Not only does it make good business sense, according to Abta’s head of destinations and sustainability Nikki White, but there are legal requirements for travel company websites to show airlines’ provisions for disabled passengers or provide a link to airlines’ websites.
There are more than 10 million disabled people in the UK, with spending power of more than £80 billion. About 19% of the working population have some form of disability.
White is the first to admit Abta has not done a lot before to help members sell to this group.
“It’s fair to say we have not focused on it or shown members how to tap into this market. The trade has shied away from it, but we realise this market is growing and more important,” she said.
Booking challenges
In January, Abta updated its accessibility guidance on Abta. com. But just how easy is it to tap into this market?
According to the specialists, the trade is nervous about asking the necessary personal questions.
Paul Nadin, managing director of specialist agency Discover Holidays, said: “You need to ask the right questions sensitively and use the right vocabulary.”
Not only do frontline sellers need to know how to speak to customers, they also need to be able to deal with difficult customers, he added.
“Some customers might have a chip on their shoulder because they have been dealt a tough hand in life,” he said. “It helps to understand why they might be more aggressive to us so we can maintain a professional, caring response. What we can’t do is become medical experts.”
The situation is not helped by the fact clients themselves do not always recognise their own needs.
Lynne Kirby, managing director of accessible overseas holidays provider Enable Holidays, said: “The elderly often don’t recognise their own needs and the agent would need to. Call it naivety or ignorance, but agents just don’t know how to ask these questions.
“First of all, agents need to see past the wheelchair. The trade has got better at selling to this market over the last 10 years, but there’s still a lot we can do.”
The fact that specialists receive calls from holidaymakers after a bad experience booking through a mainstream agent highlights the need for retailers to get better at serving this market.
White added: “If people have a bad experience on holiday it just puts them off doing it again; they come to see it as stressful.”
Guaranteed rooms
One of the biggest frustrations for disabled customers is the lack of guaranteed accommodation to meet their requirements.
Requesting a room on the ground floor is simply not the same as written confirmation, said Nadin, who added: “Not getting that right could ruin your holiday.”
Kirby admitted many mainstream operators cannot provide this guarantee. “A lot of them will not guarantee rooms because this is not a big enough market for them to spend time on.”
Virgin Holidays is one operator that has focused on improving the way it serves the disabled market. It is highlighting all resorts with adapted rooms or facilities on its website and in brochures.
Product knowledge
Nicola Davis, special-assistance executive at Virgin Holidays, who is a wheelchair user, said: “We are adding all the information for each hotel and have added a ‘wheelchair filter’ on the website to show hotels with accessible rooms.
“We have audited the products we sell. We know which properties are wheelchair-friendly and which are better for mobility for the elderly, and can guarantee them.”
As well as knowing the suppliers to go to, agents need to know which are the better destinations.
Kirby said many overseas resorts, particularly where there are new-build properties, are more geared up to serve disabled holidaymakers than in the UK. Spain, the US and Australia are some of the most popular choices.
“Premier Inns and Travelodges have adapted facilities but older hotels in the UK were not built with disabled guests in mind,” she said.