The biggest travel obstacle is lack of information.
of disabled travellers consider the available information to be comprehensive enough, reliable and accessible.¹
Stressless
Customer Experience
Many hotel managers and tour operators still think that the best solution is to specify accessible services only on request. They believe that this is the best way to advise potential customers with various mobility impairments. This is a fallacy, because the approach does not consider the entire inspiration and booking process and does not allow the interested party to make an independent selection. So they feel like a second-class customer.
New requirement profiles
Like everyone else, people with disabilities are used to 24/7 service. They want to see offer descriptions and availabilities immediately online or receive them from the customer service. The reality in tourism is far from this.
Flexible customer service instead of inquiry chain
The analogue information process is extremely cumbersome. Customers with accessibility requirements have to make various telephone/written exchanges and wait an average of 2-8 days to find out whether a single hotel is suitable and bookable for them. The participation of different employees in the “silent post” principle leads to error-prone results.
A simultaneous comparison of several offers is not possible, as optional bookings are often already made. Additional requests increase the time required. Conclusion: Best possible customer service looks different.
EU Study „Economic impact and travel patterns of Accessible Tourism in Europe“ 2014
“Accessible on Request” is neither guest-oriented nor efficient for service providers. The system also collides with partly automated processes in customer service. And at important PoS node points, there are often staff without expertise and without a suitable database.
The current communication model for accessible offers must be replaced by a progressive and sustainable solution.
Now generate detailed digital accessibility data to meet the expectations of the new generation of customers for transparency and seamless customer journey.
of travellers with access needs are satisfied with tour operators.
“The dissatisfaction with tour operators mainly relates to the inability of them to provide the necessary information for the decision making process and the lack of knowledge of agents about the accessibility of the destination.”²
EU Study „Mapping and Performance Check of the Supply of Accessible Tourism Services“ 2015
Well-meant is often the opposite of well done.
- Large time expenditure for the inquiry processing incl. research of equipment characteristics
- No reliable detailed information at the PoS
- Unnecessary personnel effort to answer Accessibility FAQ
- Accessibility requests and bookings of international guests fail due to language barriers
- Centralization - call center employees do not have detailed knowledge of the equipment of the individual hotels
- Variable personnel qualifications lead to inconsistent information
- Unnecessary cancellations of option bookings
- No booking possibility outside the service hours
2 EU Study „Economic impact and travel patterns of Accessible Tourism in Europe“ 2014