Global training academy aims to open up China to disabled travellers

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A global training academy for the trade has partnered with a destination management company in China in a bid to open the destination up to disabled travellers.

The Inclu Global Travel Academy (IGTA), which aims to help travel agents and the wider industry develop the confidence to sell inclusive travel experiences, is now delivering its accredited training programme to WildChina, a DMC and tour operator which operates in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mongolia.

The partnership will see the DMC roll out IGTA’s training on inclusive travel experiences across its business to enable staff to put together “genuinely inclusive” tour itineraries.

These tours can then be featured in the parent group’s planned new tour operation, IncluTour, for disabled travellers, poised to launch this summer.

Ahead of the operator launch, the company is building on existing DMC relationships and forging new partnerships. It has partnerships with DMCs in every destination it operates in – around 35 countries.

The operator aims to launch with 40 to 50 tours but expand to 100 by the end of the year. It will include destinations in the US, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East, Indian Ocean and the Caribbean.

Inclu Group chief executive Richard Thompson said he was “extremely excited” about the collaboration with WildChina, both because of its scale and because it would be a ‘first’ for China.

“There is a more tantalising imperative in China – to actually create an inclusive hospitality travel infrastructure for the first time, where none currently exists. This means ‘educating’ the entire stakeholder ecosystem; DMC, hoteliers, tourism officers, transport operators, visitor attractions and experiences, tour guides...” he said.

Richard Thompson

Kendra Tombolato, UK-based cofounder and director of WildChina, said 37 staff had so far signed up for the training across its operations, customer service, marketing and management teams over the next few months.

She said: “We can’t wait to learn more about how we can improve and continue to lead the inclusive travel movement in China."

Tombolato stressed the importance of education, adding: “ There is a good amount of accessible infrastructure in place in China, the next step is cataloguing it, training guides and drivers on how to route accordingly, and creating thoughtful journeys that are both logistically seamless and culturally enriching.”

She noted: “Places may not be fully accessible, but they may still be suitable for certain travellers with different needs. If we can share the details of exactly how many steps there are, how uneven the ground is, how loud a place is, then the traveller can decide for themselves if it’s a good match or not. “

The company is already in the process of creating a database of accessible hotels, sites and vehicles.

“We do briefings with all of our guides before every trip, but for accessible trips, there are extra details included in this briefing, like where the nearest accessible toilet is and where the nearest accessible entrance is,” she said.

Tombolato said she was keen for more operators in China to cater for disabled travellers.

“For us, it’s not about cornering off a market for ourselves, it’s about leading a movement that we care deeply about and fostering positive change in the industry as a whole.”