Tuesday 20th April

Today I met with Ulrike Gretzel Assistant Professor and Director Laboratory for Intelligent Systems in Tourism Dept. of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences Texas A&M University. I spent two full hours discussing the pros and cons of online social marketing and the effect it can have on travelling for people with disability. Our conversation was very engaging and gave a good insight into some directions we need to look at for the online provision of information and engaging with both individuals travelling and the tourism business sector. Fitting very neatly with our mission to allow people with dsiability to make informed choices leads to providing a platform where they can give feedback and inform others of what they have found works for them and what hasn't. This in turn can be very good feedback for the business sector involved as they can learn what they can do to improve and meet this market as well as receive feedback on what they are doing well. I learned a lot more from Ulrike and look forward to more conversations with her in the future.

Gradually I get to updating the blog. So much has happened in the last week. I have gained a lot of information and knowledge over the last week which I won't get to put up here, but needless to say this is turning it a really worthwhile adventure. I will try and recap the last weeks activities for those following.

Monday morning - Forth Worth - Texas

Today has been a bit of a catch up day – getting the blog up to date and preparing for a visit to the A&M University in College Station Texas which begins tomorrow. We travel to College Station this afternoon.

New York - Friday 16th April

Yesterday’s meeting with Jani Nayar from SATH (Society for accessible travel and hospitality) was another wonderful couple of hours where Jani confirmed my thoughts about the state of play in the USA. Similar issues, same problems with finding the solutions. How to collect accurate information across large geographic areas using the assistance of local people? Again, Jani gave me new names and contacts for me to meet along the way. It is obvious that Jani has a very positive outlook and a lot of energy that she put to this cause. She and I discovered many similarities and other areas where we can certainly learn from others experiences. I will meet up again with Jani in Hong Kong.

Loved New York – again we visited iconic tourist destinations – Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Macy’s, Central Park and the Guggenheim.

San Francisco- tuesday April 13th

Yesterday I had a conversation with Scott Rains which was very informative. He is a fellow to keep in touch with and one who has a good understanding of what is happening at the moment in the accessible travel field. He is a very good networker and has names at the tip of his tongue, which has been of great assistance for me in planning the UK leg of this trip. His experience and knowledge of the different operators, experts and opportunities in the field are very valuable. The time spent with him was worthwhile indeed. I hope to be in touch with him again in the near future.

Today I met with Bonnie Lewkowicz from Access Northern California to discuss her experiences. Bonnie is leading activist and a great advocate for people with disability. Bonnie leads a small no profit which has developed access guides for the Northern California region as well as the San Francisco access guide. This was a nice introduction into the workings of the disability advocacy sector in the USA. Bonnie has a good handle on how things work and where things are at. We discussed the issues of maintaining information, its accuracy and reliability. My conversation with Bonnie was the first to see how similar the issues are in the US to those we have at home. The problems of collecting accurate information and maintaining it – the resources needed and the funding for it I don’t think are any different to our experiences in Australia.

For those after some travelogue information – the weather ahs been cold and wet, the tourist sites being visited are the iconic sites and information is being collected on the accessibility of these sites for future use by IDEAS NSW.

Now on to New York…

Sunday 11th April 2010

I have had two days in San Francisco investigating the tourist sights. People with Disabilities seem to be catered for pretty well, even with the hilly environment. A lot of the bus system (and train system) seems to be accessible. My meeting with Bonnie on Tuesday will confirm this for me and give me a better indication. The Tourist Information Centre was also closed today so I will have to visit there on Monday to obtain the information I am after. Visiting the major tourist attractions would be relatively accessible and if you stay away from the accommodation in the hilly areas a lot of the area seems to be accessible. It is a great destination.I have also spent time sorting out the technical side of things - getting the Smart Pen to work, arranging for mobile phone etc in the states and getting the Wifi internet connection at the hotel to work (they are blaming the rain).
Ready to begin my appointment schedule tomorrow, looking forward to meeting up with Scott Rains.

Itinerary

Here we are only a few weeks before we leave and there is still plenty to be done. I am feeling very excited about the itinerary and the appointments I have managed to make. I am really looking forward to spending this amount of time focussed on this project. The contacts I have already made overseas and the wonderful people I have arranged to meet are almost overwhelming.

It is a great opportunity and one that I hope I can do well and be proud of the achievements. I have listed the schedule below for those interested in keeping up with this trip and project.

The schedule is as follows:

USA
12-14 April, San Jose California - Scott Rains Editor of Rolling Rains Report.
A leading social Networker and Knowledge broker of accessible tourism and universal design

15 - 17 April, New York City - SATH - Society of Accessible Travel and HospitalityFounded in 1976 whose mission is to raise awareness of the needs of travellers with disability, remove physical and attitudinal barriers to free access and expand travel opportunities in the US and abroad.

29 - 21 April, College Station Texas USA - Texas A & M University
Department of Recreation, PArks and Tourism Sciences


Canada
17 - 29 April, Monteal Quebec - Keroul - A Quebec basedorganisation whose mission is to make tourism and culture accessible to persons with limited physical ability


Belgium
4 - 6 May, brussels - ENAT ( European Nations Accessible Tourism) Invitation to attend Annual General Meeting

UK
7 - 9 May, London - RADAR - A visit to the biggest Directory of Acccesisble accommodation and travel and major activist organisation for people with disability in the UK.

11- 13 May, Poole, Dorset -
Bournemouth University - School of Tourism Services management

17 - 19 May, Cambridge - Cambridge University, Engineering Design Centre
The Engineering Design Centre undertakes research to create knowledge, understanding, methods and tolls which will contribute to improving the design process.


The Czech Republic
20 -23 May, Prague - The ATHENA Project - Accessible Tourism - Humans, Education, New Approaches

Sweden27 - 29 May, Falsterbo, near Malmo
Attendance at a small conference of Coordinators of ENAT projects from across Europe

China
1 - 4 June, Hong Kong
Attendance at TRANSED Conference - Internation Conference on Accessible transport.

In addition there will be a number of opportunities to meet with other key players not listed above. I plan to update this blog on a regular basis throughout this trip and will include highlights of my meetings along with some visual images and higlights of the destinations I am travelling to.