Currently, no AODA standards require tourism to be accessible. However, the Third Review of the AODA recommends the creation of standards mandating accessibility in tourism. In this article, we will outline the need for accessibility training for travel agents.
Accessibility Training for Travel Agents
Like other professionals whom tourists work with while planning or taking trips, travel agents should receive accessibility training specific to their roles. In other words, this training should give them the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of clients with disabilities making travel plans. For example, basic AODA customer service training requires service providers to be comfortable interacting with customers who have:
However, these basically-trained staff only need to know about service-animal law in Ontario. Similarly, staff in most customer-service venues need to understand the AODA’s mandates about when it is appropriate to require support persons. In contrast, travel agents support travellers taking trips outside Ontario. Therefore, travel agents should be prepared to find out about how legislation in other regions impacts accessibility for travellers.
Travelling with Service Animals
For instance, travel agents should know that service animals cannot enter certain countries unless they spend time in quarantine. As a result, service-animal handlers cannot bring their animals on short trips to these countries. Moreover, other countries may have laws about where service animals are allowed or excluded that differ from Ontario law. Travel agents could help travellers find out where they can bring their service animals on their trips, and prepare for parts of their travels when they must separate from their animals.
Travelling with Support Persons
Similarly, other provinces and countries may have laws differing from Ontario about support persons. Furthermore, airlines or other forms of transit, as well as hotels or other venues on travellers’ trips, may have their own rules regarding support persons. Therefore, travel agents can help their clients find out whether their destinations, as well as types of transit they may use on their trips:
- Require support persons under certain conditions, such as:
- To assist travellers with daily living needs
- Reduce fees for support persons’:
- Hotel accommodations
- Travel
- Entrance into activities, such as amusement parks or theatres
- Have other laws or customs regarding support persons that do not exist in Ontario
Travelling with Assistive Devices
Likewise, hotels, other venues, and forms of transit may vary in their accessibility for travellers using assistive devices. Consequently, travel agents could learn to help travellers find out how accessible a venue or vehicle will be for them. For example, training could help travel agents work with clients to establish what their specific accessibility needs are. Travel agents could then search for venues or transit options that meet those needs, such as:
- Hotel rooms with accessible features, including:
- Roll-in showers
- Turning space
- Accessible controls for temperature
- Accessible-format instructions for operating electronics or other features
- Tourist attractions with accessible features, including:
- Ramps or elevators whenever there are stairs
- Wide doorways and paths
- Visual communication on tours featuring live or pre-recorded audio
- Live or pre-recorded audio description for visual elements on tours
- Tactile tours
- Vehicle accessibility, including:
- Space for wheelchairs or other assistive devices
- Audible and visual announcements
In addition, travel agents should know how to establish contact between travellers and the staff at their destinations who can work with them to prevent or remove any accessibility barriers they may encounter.
Finally, as travel agents gain knowledge about accessibility around the world, they could share this knowledge. For instance, they may learn about accessibility best practices in other regions that travel-related businesses in Ontario could adopt. They could then network with hotels, tourist venues, and other companies within and outside Ontario to share these best practices. In this way, the Ontario tourism sector could benefit from the experience of people travelling outside the province. Ontario tourist venues could learn from colleagues around the world and find new ways to welcome visitors with disabilities.