I have a topic that should be addressed as a matter of urgency by UK tourism businesses.

I am a GTO for the Bristol branch of the British Polio Fellowship and find that I am sometimes left disappointed when it comes to disabled facilities. Often, something is advertised as being accessible for the disabled but this just isn’t the case when you get there. I cite a recent outing to Blenheim Palace as an example of such an occasion. My friend and I travelled from Cheltenham to Oxford to visit the attraction but were disappointed to find that we could not get wheelchairs into the building. It seems that although standard wheelchairs were fine, it was a different story for motorised wheelchairs and we ended up having to return home again. When I had another look on the website, I eventually found it did mention this fact, not on the main accessibilty page though, but on a link from this page.

Similar problems occur when it comes to booking hotel accommodation. Often in hotels, the rooms are situated off narrow corridors and there is sometimes not enough space to turn into the room, or more often it is difficult or impossible to get a wheelchair around the bed and/or to a suitable postion next to the toilet. The only affordable hotel chain I have found where I am confident of reasonable quality and good accessibility (in both the UK and USA) is Holiday Inn.

The key problem when booking a hotel or visiting an event or attraction is getting reliable information about how accessible a particular venue really is. While some staff have good understanding of accessibility issues, many cannot visualise the difficulties that wheelchair users and other disabled people will have with their particular venue, and consequently give misleading accessibility advice. Disabled toilets at tourist venues are also frequently a problem. Often there are not enough disabled toilets and even when they are provided, the standard varies greatly. Sometimes access to a disabled toilet is near impossible in a wheelchair. One I have heard of is at the top of a flight of stairs! On many occasions, I have also found myself in a disabled toilet with a lock that doesn’t work.

There are around 8,000 members in the British Polio Fellowship and I have spoken to many people who are put off travelling, staying at hotels, and attending theatres and other events because they are unsure whether there will be disabled access or they have simply had too many bad experiences in the past.

I would be interested to hear what experiences other GTOs have had with regards to organising group trips for the disabled.

Paul Stanton
Group Travel Organiser
British Polio Fellowship, Avon

GTO asked Blenheim Palace to respond:

Following this letter, Blenheim Palace has updated the accessibility section of the website to give more detailed information on access to areas around the Palace, Park and Gardens. At the top of the accessibility page within www.blenheimpalace.com/visiting there is a downloadable, detailed access guide to help visitors who have specific needs.

Heather Carter
Head of Operations
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

GTO comments:

Many stately homes are listed buildings, which means that any alterations regarding accessibility issues are often restricted.