This week, we’re excited to share a guest blog from Oscar Anderson on how including disabled people can improve the travel industry. Oscar offers personal insights into travelling as a disabled person and why inclusion in travel can benefit everyone.
Disability has always been society’s biggest fear. The fear of being left out, forgotten by those we love or having to endure constant pain and setbacks from our own bodies and minds. But things have changed.
In the past decade and a half, we’ve been experiencing a slow rise in inclusivity in media representation, sports, and fashion. Characters such as Toph Beifong and Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey have enchanted the hearts and minds of people all over the world.
That being said, two areas that disabled people are still being left out of the running for are airplane travel and employment opportunities. About 28% of disabled people travel annually compared to 63% of non-disabled adults, according to a survey released in 2020 conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Not to mention that the employment rate for disabled people within the travel sector can vary wildly depending on the region. For example, in the United Kingdom, the employment rate for non-disabled people in the travel industry is about 80-85%, while for disabled people it is around 15%. This is due to a lack of confidence, inaccessible tools and facilities, and a lack of protection laws for disabled people.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. How would disabled people be beneficial for the travel industry?
First of all, even though we’re disabled we’re still just people who use a wheelchair or think differently, and we also need a cheeky holiday every now and then. Plus, we can provide so much insight to staff to make sure that they are comfortable with people like me.
For example, in my experience, most of the time the staff are being really nice but they’re helpless because they don’t know what to do. I can tell how uncomfortable they feel even when they’re trying to hide it. My family and I always end up having to calm their nerves when we shouldn’t have to.
An advantage of employing disabled people means we can provide assurances and guidance to airport staff and plane crews, so that they can feel comfortable with disabled passengers and guarantee that their wheelchairs and equipment won’t get damaged or lost (like mine did when I was travelling to South Africa when I was a kid).
To be fair, I personally haven’t had many bad experiences but I’ve had enough of them to understand the plight of disabled people who have sworn to never fly again, which is why I believe hiring disabled people is the best course of action to regain that lost trust. If you can’t get it right, then disabled employees will help you.
Take EasyJet as a fine example. A few years ago, they used to rank as one of the worst airlines to travel with, until they hired a wheelchair user named Joshua Wintersgill as one of their directors through an organisation that he founded called Ablemove. And because of him, they have massively improved their customer satisfaction, accessibility service and efficiency when it comes to disabled people who travel with them.
The point is disabled people are valuable and hard working. All we need is for someone to open the door for us.
Oscar Anderson
Oscar Anderson is British but was born in Saigon in Vietnam and spent most of his childhood in Thailand and China. He has cerebral palsy due to a condition called kernicterus which is caused by untreated neonatal jaundice, and he’s been educating people about it for ten years now through a program that he founded called Project Oscar in partnership with Reckitt Benkiser in Vietnam and currently Nigeria too. As well as this, he advocates for disability rights as an ambassador for an organisation called One Young World. As a result, he has been awarded with the Diana award and an MBE in the late queen’s birthday honours.
Are you a disabled person interested in working in the travel industry? Browse inclusive travel and tourism roles on Evenbreak’s job board.
