One
of the truths in the lives of people with disability is that the
personal is political. I am a Professor at the UTS Business School, University
of Technology Sydney where I research, teach and collaboratively engage with our
stakeholder communities on critical business, not-for-profit and government
issues. However, I am also a power wheelchair using person with a high-level
spinal cord injury where my professional persona quite often collides with the
reality of living with a disability. As such, my research activities that are
reported on the blog involving accessible tourism are also very instrumental in
that I have an "insider's perspective" on what it means to be treated
differently, discriminated against and marginalised in the travel process.
The
video presentation "Understanding the Economic Challenges and Opportunities through
the Travel Chain and Value Creation" was to be presented in person
at the IV
International Congress on Tourism for All hosted by the ONCE Foundation
sponsored by the United Nations' World Tourism Organisation held in Avila, Spain
25-29 June 2013. However, as the video outlines a series of international travel
constraints involving airline schedules, archaic airline policy, destination
policy regarding medication and availability of disability equipment hire in
destinations meant that I was not able to attend the Conference. What is
incredible is that I am an experienced traveller, research and consult in the
area, am aware of my rights, articulate in both written and verbal
communication, and I still had these issues.
What I didn't want reinforced was that it was my
disability that led to my nonparticipation at this conference. As outlined
above and in the video, clearly it is a series of structural constraints
involving government policy, airline practice, destination coordination and
attitudes of those in management across these areas that make travel so much
more difficult for people with disability than the nondisabled general public.
This video was my technological solution to participation by distance at the
conference but should in no way be considered a substitute for the benefits with
disability participating in all aspects of social life. In the video I deliver
these messages to an audience with high-ranking government officials, CEOs across
the tourism sector, international and National non-government organisations and
other people with disability that attended the conference. While my messages
may have been surprising to the nondisabled in the audience, I have had many
e-mails of support from those people with disability who attended the
conference offering their stories of support and anecdotes of similar
constraints that they have been subjected to in their efforts to travel.
The video itself presents a way forward for
accessible tourism through understanding the concepts of the travel chain, the
economics of the sector, the importance to move from focusing on accessibility
to experience development, how this can add to the value chain and the
importance of mainstream economic data sources as a starting point to document
return on investment in this important area.
References
Darcy, S. (2013). Understanding the economic challenges and opportunities through the travel chain and value creation. Keynote presented at the IV International Congress on Tourism for All, Avila, Spain - ONCE Foundation & United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
