New online training course for travel industry
Accessible Travel Made Easy, a free online training course aimed at travel agents, tour operators and other front-line travel industry staff, launches today (3 June 2010) to coincide with the ABTA Travel Matters Conference.
ABTA has worked in partnership with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to develop this engaging and interactive course, which provides an overview of what is meant by inclusive or accessible travel. Through gaining this knowledge, industry staff can provide excellent service to the large number of customers with mobility issues; many of whom worry they may not receive the right assistance when they go on holiday.
This course provides a step by step guide for ABTA members, covering the whole customer journey, and uses facts, quotes and case studies to help the user understand how to identify a customer’s needs.
Mark Tanzer ABTA Chief Executive said: “We are thrilled to have been given the opportunity to work with the Commission on training which will really help the industry to understand a wide range of disabilities and how simple changes to behaviours and procedures can give all our customers access to a positive travelling experience from point of sale to their return.”
You can sign up for the training at: www.accessibletravelmadeeasy.com. For more information contact Vicki Wolf on vwolf@abta.co.uk
Equality and Human Rights Commission
The Commission actively promotes accessible travel for all.It is the complaints handling body for England, Scotland and Wales for EC1107, a European law that allows for disabled and less mobile passengers to receive assistance when they fly to and from Europe.The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (CCNI) is the complaints handler for Northern Ireland and the CAA is the enforcement body for the law. The law affects the whole of the air travel process, not just the flight itself. It also covers booking flights, arriving at the airport, checking in, getting on and off the plane and leaving the airport. The regulation applies to tour operators and travel agents as well as to airports and airlines. This means that tour operators and travel agents must pass on your needs to the airlines, and they in turn must inform the airports of the individual services required.
To find out more, please visit www.equalityhumanrights.com/airtravel