GETTING IT RIGHT
We talk to Professor Simon Darcy from the University of Technology, Sydney about the obstacles that exist in mainstream tourism for travellers with a disability. WORDS: SOPHIE CULLEN
Wheelchair Accessible
When it comes to commenting on accessible tourism research and practice in Australia, few are as qualified as Simon Darcy. Feathers in his cap include the first major study of Australian research into accessible tourism in 1995, extensive work with organisations as lofty as the UN World Tourism Organisation and, more recently, reports on employment and entrepreneurship in the disability sector. As an academic of high standing in his field, an environmental planner, an accredited access auditor and a power wheelchair user, Simon Darcy is in a unique position to shed light on the obstacles that exist in mainstream tourism for people with disabilities and the way forward for the industry. “I’m a person with a disability who didn’t used to have one until an accident,” says Simon. “After I acquired my spinal cord injury, I found out how much more difficult travel was for people with disability.” According to Simon, the industry’s issues spring from misconceptions about disability.
After I acquired my spinal cord injury, I found out how much more difficult travel was for people with disability
Simon at Sargood on Collaroy
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“When we look at what makes something accessible, it is radically different for disability type and level of support needs,” he says. “[It is about equipping] the industry with the understanding that accessibility is not a single provision. It is a series of opportunities for the tourism industry to understand people’s tourism needs through their embodiment.” “Tourism experience is very different depending on whether you have a mobility disability involving a manual or power wheelchair or other mobility aids, whether you are blind or vision impaired, whether you’re Deaf with a capital D or hearing impaired,
