Category: Travel and Tourism

Tourism, temples and information kiosks

Brightly coloured temple at the end of a long walkway in Taiwan. What do people want from information kiosks?According to a research paper on designing information kiosks, they should be designed based on the following five principles if people are going to use them:
1. Do not make me think.
2. Do not make me wait.
3. Do not allow me to feel annoyed.
4. Do not take control away from me.
5. Do not take advantage of me (do not be evil).

These principles of human–computer interface design serve as critical concepts in kiosk design. Height setting, tactile feedback, and text colour should also be considered.

In a paper from Taiwan, the authors use the seven principles of universal design for the design of kiosks in the context of tourism and user centred design. The results of the study show different preferences for different aspects of temples. For example, participants preferred interactive representations of gods, but textual and graphic content for temple carvings.

There is lots of statistical analysis to back up their claims. This study has much to offer those who design museum-type interactive kiosks for visitors. The main aim of the study was to maintain commercial development of tourism in general and visitation of temples. The title of the paper is, Cultural tourism and temples: Content construction and interactivity design. 

Abstract:

Cultural and creative industries have a crucial role in the post-industrial knowledge economy. However, our understanding of the importance of temples in connecting people with society is limited. To fill this gap, this study explores points of interest for tourists in Taiwan to analyse the design of cultural interest operation modes in temples’ interactive kiosk interfaces.

We also examine three cultural levels related to the design of interactive kiosks in temples. Results reveal that participants’ levels of interest vary depending on temple complexity.

Most participants prefer animated presentations of content related to two- and three-dimensional murals and the history and origins of temples. We illustrate how to develop a process for designing cultural and creative digital products. We construct a flowchart for guided temple tours and present an effective and suitable design method and its prototype product. This research has implications the revitalisation of historic sites to create new value.

Tourism for All Manual

Front page of Tourism for All Manual showing a pathway between large trees.Tourism is big business, but some operators are missing out. State and local governments have an interest in tourism and they can lead the way for operators. The Accessible Tourism for All Manual shows how. 

The manual is a simplified version of a larger research project and this makes it easy to follow in five separate modules.

Module 1 gives a definition and context for accessible tourism. Module 2 is about accessibility chain, and Module 3 is about action and implementation. 

Module 4 is about evaluation and progress, and Module 5 provides principles, tools and good practice examples. 

The full title of the publication is, Accessible Tourism for All: An Opportunity Within our Reach.  The research paper with greater detail is Manual on Accessible Tourism for All: Principles, Tools and Best Practices.

From the abstract:

The Manual on Accessible Tourism for All: Principles, Tools and Good Practices is intended to provide stakeholders with a useful tool to understand the needs of the tourism sector in terms of accessibility, the competitive advantages of tourism for all, and the methods for its implementation.

Best and least accessible cities for tourists

A scene of a medieval part of Luxembourg showing a town square with old building surrounding it.While airlines and airports are making a big effort to be more accessible, the same cannot be said for their tourist destinations. An article on ThiisCo website reports on a new study that has evaluated Europe’s capital cities for accessibility.  Luxembourg takes top spot and Chisinau, Moldova is ranked bottom with four others.  London came in 11th place.  It would be interesting to have the same study done in Australia. The full list and more detail is in the article, Europe’s most and least accessible capital cities ranked for disabled travellers.  Here is the information on Luxembourg:

“The research highlights that the most accessible city in Europe is Luxembourg, with 18.56 percent accessible accommodation available, 33.33 percent accessible attractions, a fully accessible airport, an Access City award and an ongoing council campaign for accessibility.

The small European city had won third prize at the Access City Award 2018 after it actively raised awareness of various disabilities to reduce the stigma associated with them and coined the term “specific needs” to reframe the way people discuss disabilities.

In addition, the city overhauled its public transport system to improve accessibility for all residents and visitors.  

Tourism Tips for increased business

A distance view of an English coastal village showing a harbour wall.Holidays for All is a key section in a new research report by Barclays. It is a pity that this section ends up in the latter part of the report because it applies to all other sections. The tips and case studies in a pdf document cover all aspects of the hospitality and tourism business.  Although the report focuses on the UK domestic tourism market, the principles for increased business are applicable elsewhere.

The title of the report is the Great British Staycation. It is a very readable report and the section on holidays for all is worth a look, and it ends with strategies for success with key points from each of the chapters:

    • Know your demographic
    • Foster Loyalty
    • Capture early bookers
    • Add value through collaboration
    • Reap digital dividends
    • Provide options where possible
    • Take them behind the screen
    • Be accessible to all

It is not unusual to find references to accessibility and inclusion somewhere in a subheading of a research report. This is unfortunate because this is the one part that applies to all other sections. See also the economic argument from Simon Darcy.

Theme park rides: thrills, spills and inclusion

A brightly coloured horse on a carousel ride in a theme park. Theme park rides often have rules about who can ride based on body size, health conditions and ability. But these rules are sometimes needlessly excluding. Ride manufacturers produce a manual for the park owners with very broad references to disability. These rules are set with the idea of protecting riders. But are these needed?  With enough information most people would self select their theme park rides.

The accident rates for ride attractions and found that obesity, not usually mentioned in the rules, is responsible for more accidents than those for people with disability. The analysis found that restrictive criteria exclude people with disabilities broadly, while permitting other groups to self-determine their participation. Publicly available injury data do not provide evidence to justify the extent of mandatory exclusion.

Using information from 100 amusement ride manufacturers’ manuals, an article reports on eligibility criteria and safety for people with disability, and where disability is reported in an injury. The conclusion is that people with disability are excluded more often than is warranted. “There is no clear evidence that people with disabilities are at undue risk when permitted to self-select”. However, they will need appropriate information so they can make the right decision.

The title of the paper is, Disability and participation in amusement attractions, by Kathryn Woodcock. 

Camp Manyung is accessible for just about everyone. Check it out. Plenty of thrills there!

 

Can tourism improve walkability?

brick paved footpath with planter boxes with flowers .If local and state governments aren’t listening to residents about mobility, walkability, and wheelability then perhaps they might consider visitors and tourists with money to spend locally. But are they really interested in the extra tourist dollars? Does the local Chamber of Commerce think it’s all too difficult to create greater access and inclusion? The walkability issue isn’t just about footpaths, seating and toilets – it’s about all the links in the chain to make it happen – joined up thinking. Otherwise we end up with islands of access and inclusion. And you can’t be a bit inclusive – it either is or it isn’t. That means business, community and governments need to work in unison on the design of physical environments, customer service and tourist information. And of course the reverse of the question is, “Can walkability improve tourism?”

Accessibility and Equitable Tourism Services for Travelers with Disabilities: From an Charitable to a Commercial Footing, takes a corporate and social responsibility perspective on some of these issues. You will need institutional access for a free read – published in Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility in Tourism, where there is further reading.

A research paper from Turkey, Assessment of factors influencing walkability in shopping streets of tourism cities is also worth a read. They found that “Urban planning and design should focus on how to connect people and places together, by creating cities that focus on connectivity, accessibility, crime security, traffic safety, and comfort
and use’. 

You can find some inclusive tourism guides, magazine articles and research papers in the tourism section on this website. 

A less lonely planet with inclusive tourism

Martin Heng is in a very busy street in India. It shows donkey carts cars and bicycles with street vendors on either side.International travel is a great experience for everyone especially when operators get on board with inclusive thinking. In his latest article, Martin Heng goes beyond the rights arguments to explain the economics of inclusive travel. With a growing market of older travellers tourism and travel businesses need to step up to take advantage. Heng also picks up the issue of terminology: “accessible” makes people think of compliance for wheelchair users. But he rightly points out that wheelchair users are a small proportion of the population that has some kind of disability or chronic health condition. That’s why we should be calling it “inclusive travel”. 

Heng goes on to list the easy, cost effective things that businesses can do. And not just thinking about the building. Easy to read fonts on menus and other information materials, TVs with captioning options, and websites that provide relevant visitor information about rooms, attractions and services. The article has several pictures showing Martin in various overseas locations. The title is What is accessible travel, and why should we be talking about it? Martin Heng works for Lonely Planet as their Accessible Travel Manager. 

Image courtesy Martin Heng from his article. 

Reaching for the coffee

Distance view of the hotel which is three storeys high.Scandic has embraced the principles of universal design throughout its hotel chain for more than ten years. This makes for an interesting case study in inclusive tourism because it goes deep into hotel operations. So it is not all about wheelchair accessible rooms – it is much more. And as always with customer service, it is the little things, such as reaching for the coffee cups at the breakfast bar.

The case study on DOGA, the Norwegian Inclusive Design website, is to the point and shows how all hotels can benefit from small but effective changes to practices. The video below shows how they took a universal design approach. The architect said it was more about use of materials than wheelchair circulation space.

“The best evidence on that we are doing something right came from a guest. She told me that when she is staying at Scandic she is treated like a regular guest, not a disabled one”.  Magnus Berglund, Scandic. 

Key features on Scandic’s checklist

      • Height-adjustable bed*
      • Telephone on the bedside table along with the remote control
      • A space of at least 80 cm around the bed
      • Vibrating alarm clock and fire alarm available on request
      • Hooks placed at different heights so they can be reached from a wheelchair
      • Mirror at a suitable height for wheelchair users as well as standing guests
      • Handrail on the inside of doors at a height that can be closed from a wheelchair
      • No or low thresholds at doorways
      • Single-grip mixer tap or automatic tap*
      • Washbasin placed at a minimum height of 78 cm* so a wheelchair will fit under it. The hook, soap and hand towels are also easy to reach
      • Toilet paper holder on the armrest of the toilet
      • Hearing loop available for meeting rooms
      • The doors are at least 80 cm wide, so that guests can get through with a wheelchair, crutches or a walking frame*
      • The stage is accessible for wheelchair users*

*Only applies to some hotels.

Travel magazine focuses on inclusion

Front cover of the magazine showing a family at the Vivid Sydney festival. The father is sitting in a wheelchair. His wife and two children surround him.A new magazine, Travel Without Limits, is specifically aimed at individuals and families living with disability. The first issue is 48 pages of information, personal stories of travel experiences from around the world, and of course travel advertisements. It also contains travel tips for people with specific disabilities from small children to older adults. The publisher is Travel with Special Needs which also runs a website with holiday information.

Editor’s Note: This online magazine is on the Issuu platform which, in my opinion, is not the most accessible. Even expanding the page size 200% did not help the small size or clarity of the font. I couldn’t see an option to download a PDF version. It will be interesting to see if the magazine improves matters for people with disability when they travel. My feedback about a successful trip has more to do with the quality and availability of the information about accessibility, as well as staff competence in welcoming guests with disability. Good to see this as an addition to the inclusive tourism sector. Perhaps we should have a magazine for older Australians as well?

I just can’t find it

screnshot of expedia websiteIt’s one thing to create accessible, universally designed places and spaces, it is another to let people know they exist. Being physically accessible is not enough. People who need access information require detail – and they need to be able to find that detail. The tourism industry is gradually realising this, but restaurants and entertainment venues have yet to catch up.  A recent study examined publicly available access information and found that it varied considerably across the board. In many cases information was provided but its accuracy was not necessarily correct or complete. 

The title of the article is, “Publicly-Researchable Accessibility Information: Problems, Prospects and Recommendations for Inclusion”.

Abstract:

Despite worldwide attempts to improve accessibility for consumers with disabilities, barriers still exist that exclude persons from consumer participation in daily life. Although legislation and lawsuits have addressed this issue, marketplaces designed for able-bodied persons are commonplace with minimal accessibility standards tied to costs rather than the needs of this overlooked group.

The present article examines a seemingly obvious, but understudied aspect of inclusion: the provision of publicly-researchable accessibility information. Ironically, businesses and public venues may create accessible spaces, yet fail to provide the level of detail needed by consumers with disabilities when planning a shopping excursion, dinner and entertainment, or travel and overnight stays. That is, the provision of factual accessibility content has lagged and is not required by law.

This article reports on an exploratory study in the United States that examined the accuracy and completeness of publicly-researchable accessibility information for restaurant and entertainment venues in a large metropolitan area in the Northeastern United States. Observations were gathered from websites and social media of specific venues, as well as travel rating services like TripAdvisor. Findings were mixed. While some venues provided full and factual accessibility information, others revealed just the opposite both in online and follow-up telephone interviews. Implications are discussed along with recommendations for future study.