I really hope that by the time I’m a fabulous older woman who may need some help moving around, the travel industry will have become a lot more accessible than it is now.
Perhaps I’m naive, but this thought only hit me the other day when I was at the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Conference (AITCAP) in Melbourne.
Often when I think about myself as an older traveller, I think about perhaps cruising, roadtripping around Australia or just watching the world go by in a cafe in Paris.
It hadn’t actually occurred to me until this week that depending on what kind of shape I’m in, my options may be a lot more limited.
AITCAP was a killer one-day conference, packed with great insights from businesses like Tourism Australia, Expedia, Melbourne Airport, Accessible Beaches and Cocky Guides, a tour operator aimed at blind and low-vision travellers.
But perhaps one of the insights that resonated with me the most was made by Kristy Quigg, co-chair of Blind Citizens Australia, who pointed out that accessible travel experiences don’t just benefit a minority of people, such as those in wheelchairs.
“The modifications that [businesses] make for us benefit everyone. There’s always a certain level of anxiety for anyone when they travel, so if you can alleviate that for everyone, it makes travel fun and easier,” noted Quigg.
We’re all going to be that older traveller one day and if we’re lucky, the travel industry would have become a lot more accessible by then so we don’t miss out.
Of course, the new Aviation White Paper landed earlier this week, with some focus on becoming more accessible. New policies include initiatives such as the aviation-specific disability standards and an improved end-to-end passenger journey for people with disabilities.
But for many people with disabilities now, if travel is even an option for them, it can be wrought with anxiety and sadly, humiliation.
Even Wendi Pearce, Head of Traveller Experience at Melbourne Airport, admitted that fact ahead of her presentation, where she detailed the list of new accessible initiatives set to launch.
“Please be kind to me. Don’t throw eggs or tomatoes. I’m sure you’ve all got a horror story from a Melbourne Airport experience, but I do want to assure you that we’re on it with you,” she said.
“When the airport was first built, the person was the problem and you can see it in everything we did. Today, we actually say that as a business, Melbourne Airport is the problem. Our buildings are badly designed and there’s a lack of education right across the precinct.”
You may have heard of Travel Daily’s new event, Travel24, which we hosted recently and featured TedX speaker and diversity and inclusion advocate Azure Antoinette.
She is very engaging, very insightful and funny as hell – I’m still not entirely sure how she managed to weave a story about kangaroos mating on her front yard into her preso.
But it was her experiences as a woman living with multiple sclerosis that hit a nerve with the audience of travel leaders and it warmed my heart to see her inundated with attendees afterwards, all eager to find out how they offer accessibility in the future.
It’s really clear that the travel industry wants to offer lifechanging travel experiences for everyone, including those with disabilities.
Sometimes, it’s just hard to know where to start, especially if you’re scared of getting it wrong (or worse, cancelled).
So let’s keep the conversations going and share more with each other.
At Travel Daily, we’re super keen to bring more accessibility stories to you to hopefully inspire and inform you all on the topic, so watch this space.
Meanwhile it’s results season, as you all know, and we’ve got whiplash from the number of breakers we sent out this week.
Flight Centre Travel Group’s FY24 results eclipsed its pre-pandemic levels, reporting full-year total transaction value of $23.74 billion and setting a new benchmark.
Helloworld’s TTV also skyrocketed 62.5%, driven largely by the integration of Express Travel Group and its related brands.
On the other side of the spectrum, Qantas reported a 16% decrease in profits, while Air New Zealand also saw the results of a challenging second half of the financial year, with a drop of $222 million.
Webjet also released some mixed data ahead of its proposed demerger meeting with shareholders, with the typically unflappable business reporting some softening in recent months, largely due to Rex going into administration and cost-of-living pressures.
Out of the paperwork and into the outback, the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) has begun a sale process for Voyages-operated Ayers Rock Resort at Yulara and Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre. According to Voyages CEO Matt Cameron-Smith, it’s “business as usual”, but it will be interesting to see how the Indigenous owners of the only resort near Uluru respond to that…
In other news, half of our team was at CLIA’s flagship event, Cruise360 in Sydney yesterday, alongside a record numbers of attendees. During his opening keynote in the morning, CLIA Managing Director Joel Katz discussed working together with stakeholders to manage some of the issues cruising is facing in the region.
While the market is strong, recent deployment announcements by cruise lines reflect the high cost of operating in this region, and the impact of regulatory complexities,” Katz said.
“Capacity in Australia is likely to remain static in the short term, and in New Zealand it is notably down [and] this is where CLIA is particularly active – alongside our cruise lines, we are working with governments at national and regional levels, on both sides of the Tasman.”
As the media partner, our sister title Cruise Weekly will be sending out a special edition from the conference on Monday arvo, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Before I log off for the day, have you heard of the new Koala airline? Some of us are sitting on the fence as to whether it actually exists.
Apparently the owner of charter tour company Desert Air Safaris has rebranded as Koala, which is set to launch “a game-changing strategy”.
But when we contacted CASA to check in with them, they claimed that there is no record of AOC#0317.
“Any operator applying to conduct airline operations in Australia must meet strict safety and regulatory requirements and undergo a rigorous approval process and we have yet to receive an application from Koala Airlines to conduct operations,” CASA told us.
The mystery continues…
Over and out, Jo.
