TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

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Harrisburg Hotel Built for Accessibility

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Considered by many in the tour and travel industry in the U.S. as an example of best practices for a hotel property, the reputation of the Hilton Hotel in downtown Harrisburg—it is a few minutes’ walk from the state capitol building—is, in part, a function of timing.

We wanted to know more about this property, so we recently paid it a visit and talked with Joe Massaro, general manager, who showed us around and talked with us.

How did it come to get that reputation? “It was being built in 1989/1990 as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was being enacted,” Massaro told us. “The property’s owners were contacted by a local accessibility advocacy group to discuss the design. This proved to be a very valuable relationship as the hotel layout was influenced greatly by the advice given.”

After the Hilton Harrisburg opened, Massaro explained, “this relationship became known and groups serving individuals with special needs began to use the facility. The hotel continues to this day to serve some of the original groups from when we opened.”

During our walk-through of the property, Massaro pointed out accessible features everywhere, including the hotel’s lobby and entrance area: that is, there are no ramps or stairs on the ground floor—features usually found in any large hotel lobby and entrance area. As a result, wheelchairs need not negotiate steps or grades.

Hilton Harrisburg GM Joe Massaro giving us some perspective on the stair-less and ramp-less lobby area of the hotel.

Light and electrical fixtures are at a height convenient to those in wheelchairs, and wide-door bathrooms have no barriers to climb over for those who use a wheelchair when showering.

Hilton Harrisburg GM Joe Massaro in front of one the hotel’s no-barrier bathrooms.

Other questions we asked Massaro, along with his answers, include the following:

Is the hotel able to increase room rates in order to cover the costs of accessible-friendly features?

“We have not increased rates specifically due to accommodations for persons with disabilities. Our accessibility and training has allowed us to capture more business from groups who have persons with special needs.”

What percentage of rooms are “ADA-oriented?”

“Rooms with accommodations including roll in showers, etc. total 3.5 percent of our guest rooms.” (The hotel has 341 guest rooms—do the math.)

Does the Hilton Harrisburg market to this audience through travel agents?  

“No, we don’t market directly through travel agents however we do highlight our accessible features when describing our hotel to all guests.”

What have you learned about working disabled travelers or travel agents that you can share?

“The individual is a person first and the needs of one are not always the needs of the next.   I’ve learned not to be uncomfortable asking questions about how we can best serve.”

Finally, it helps that Massaro has a long history with the hotel. He has been with it since before its opening. After a number of years in other managerial roles, he became its general manager more than a decade ago.

For more, click here.

Autistic Kids Simulate Boston Airport boarding process

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More than 500 children on the autism spectrum and their families were given special treatment early this month at Logan International Airport in an event designed to help autistic individuals ease the stress of flying. As a part of the event, dubbed Wings for Autism, families were able to practice checking-in, going through security, waiting at the gate, and boarding.

The Wings for Autism® program is overseen nationally by The Arc of USA, a national organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Logan Airport program was developed in Boston by the Charles River Center (a chapter of The Arc) located in the Boston suburb of Needham.  Its purpose is to “empower and support people with developmental disabilities by offering a comprehensive array of high quality, individualized social, living, and work experiences that promote meaningful community inclusion”.

In developing the program—it is now in its 8th year—the idea was to find a way in which to help autistic children cope with the traumatic experience of being in a busy airport, checking through the gate and settling into a seat and snapping close a seat belt, etc. Each of these actions, as many parents of autistic children will tell you, can be the trigger for a meltdown. By going through all of the steps of the process, without actually taking off and flying, the affected children help to reduce the chances of doing so.

Originally developed by Jennifer Ryan, who was, at the time, the director of autism services at Charles River Center, the Boston area Wings for Autism program takes places twice a year at Logan International. Ryan no longer works there but still has some involvement in the program. Ellen Kilicarslan, who joined the organization in 2010 and is now vice president of Family and Individual Support Services for the Charles River Center, now heads the program, and has overseen its growth to the point at which it now attracts more than 500.

Currently, there are some 30 airports across the U.S. that have a Wings for Autism program. To find out where they are, or how to launch a program in your city, contact Kerry Mauger, manager, special projects at The Arc USA.

You can reach her by e-mail at mauger@thearc.org, or by calling her at 202.534.3730.  Check out the video here.To learn more about the Charles River Center Team, click here.

Accessible Travel: Underserved & Overlooked

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Accessible travel is indeed one of the fastest growing segments in the global tour and travel industry. However, it is also the most overlooked. Recent data from My Travel Research revealed that one-sixth of the global population lives with some kind of disability and with an aging population that number is only going to get bigger. To find out more about this growing sector and how agents can better serve them, Travel Weekly Australia recently spoke with My Travel Research co-founder Carolyn Childs. For more, click here.

 

Wheelchair Riders Tow Plane

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London’s Heathrow Airportwas the host on Nov. 23 to a Guinness World Records® official attempt in support of Aerobility’s mission to help people with disabilities participate in aviation. The airport’s “Wheels4Wings”event had a team of 100 people in wheelchairs pull a 127.6 ton 787-9 Boeing Dreamliner over 100 meters, beating the previous record of 67 tons held by a Belgian team.

Funds raised from this event will go towards Aerobility’s programs, helping people with disabilities participate in aviation. Aerobility provides “experience of a lifetime” trial flying lessons for as many terminally ill and disabled people as possible. It also provides subsidized flying days for other disability charities and at-cost instruction and qualification flight training to disabled people.

Participants in the fundraising event included security officers, volunteers and operational staff from across Heathrow. All have benefitted from the airport’s newly established Dignity and Care training program, which focuses on improving the journeys of passengers with hidden and visible disabilities. The event also celebrated Heathrow’s new mandatory process for airlines, which will see passengers arriving at the airport automatically reunited with their personal wheelchairs at the entrance to the aircraft, when they descend.

The Wheels4Wings event is being held during a year of rapid changes for Heathrow in which investments of £23 million ($29.3 million) were made in new equipment, resources and technology to improve service for people with disabilities. The airport also introduced innovations such a distinctive lanyard for passengers with hidden disabilities. The airport’s regulator, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, acknowledged the significant steps Heathrow has taken to improve its service for people with disabilities. With further focus in the area still being applied, the airport is currently ranked “good” in its services and handling offered.

Organizer of the event, Heathrow Aircraft Operations Manager Andy Knight, said: “As a wheelchair user myself, a former pilot and an aviation enthusiast, I am committed to supporting Aerobility and I am proud of the role Heathrow has taken to support its diversity and inclusion goals. I hope today will see the team raise a lot of funds for Aerobility’s fantastic causes, but also foster a greater awareness of the unique challenges people with disabilities face in aviation, and push for improvements for their benefit – whether they choose to be a passenger in an aircraft or at the controls.”

Source: eTurboNews