The disabled community simply wants to be heard and treated the same as everyone else, says Limitless Travel’s Angus Drummond
My own personal experience of travelling with a disability is the very reason I set up Limitless Travel, with the aim of making the world accessible to everyone.
Now, eight years later, Limitless Travel is run by an expert team, some of whom have disabilities themselves. We use fully researched and vetted, wheelchair-accessible and disabled-friendly transport and hotels, along with professional, friendly carers and specialist equipment. All our holidays are designed for anybody and everybody. We tailor every single trip to provide disabled people with unforgettable holiday experiences by ensuring all their access needs are met and catered for.
As specialists in this area, we’re only too aware of which sectors of the travel industry are more accessible and continue to innovate and provide more equipment and better care, and those which are simply not there yet.
In terms of a company that consistently gets it right when it comes to accessibility, the best example I can think of is Bespoke Hotels, which advocates for ‘accessibility by design’ and has an Accessibility Charter designed to make every guest feel welcome and valued through sympathetic design, helpful features and the training and attitude of its staff.
Cruises can make for an ideal accessible holiday and now, thanks to recent changes in policies, can make solo travel for disabled passengers a possibility too. Combining multiple destinations in one holiday with excellent cuisine, memorable excursions and a whole host of activities on board to make days at sea a joy, cruises really do provide something for everyone.
Progress in parts
We have had to campaign hard in recent years with a number of cruise lines to allow our passengers to bring the specialist equipment they require on board with them. But it’s certainly been worth the battle to deliver those precious holiday moments for our passengers and accompanying carers, who’ve often not had any real break from the routine in years.
Despite encouraging recent developments, there’s still a long way for aviation to catch up with the rest of the travel industry in terms of catering for disabled travellers, though Delta recently unveiled a prototype for a wheelchair seat on a plane where travellers can remain in their chair while they fly, which was great to see. Cuts to airport budgets in recent years have meant that special-assistance teams are chronically understaffed and underpaid, and often having to deliver a service they are not equipped to do. It can certainly feel at times like passengers with disabilities are a hindrance, but when it’s done properly it can be a seamless and rewarding experience for all involved. In Spain, special assistance at airports is well-staffed and well‑paid, and the service is incredible.
Repeat bookings
Since the launch of Limitless, we’ve developed a reputation for delivering exceptional service, quality and amazing experiences for our guests and, currently, 40% of all bookings are from repeat customers. We often hear from potential customers from the disabled community that they haven’t been on holiday for years, sometimes even decades, because they find the idea of travel as a person with a disability too stressful and overwhelming to even contemplate. We’ve been able to prove time and again that by providing a higher level of service with appropriate equipment and care, the world of travel – even solo travel – is accessible to everyone.
The travel industry as a whole has a responsibility to ensure that travel is as accessible as possible to everyone. It’s important that we all work together to create travel environments where all travellers feel comfortable and welcomed, particularly given that is the very essence of hospitality.
Across the board, a great starting point is to always strive to deliver good customer service, ensuring that the right questions are asked and answers are always listened to. Ultimately, the disabled community simply wants to be heard, to be treated the same as everyone else and to have the same opportunities to travel as everyone else.