Two in five (41%) UK adults travel with access or health needs in mind and ‘stress and lack of confidence’ are the biggest barriers to holidays after cost, according to a new research.

The study, commissioned by Responsible Travel, highlights a substantial confidence gap in travel between people with and without access or health considerations. 

The survey of over 2,000 UK adults is the first of an annual study around accessible adventure travel, and compares travel habits and experiences of people with, and without, health and accessibility needs.   

Responsible Travel co-founder and exec chair Justin Francis OBE said: “We wanted to better understand the issues and opportunities for people with access needs, and what we’ve found is striking. There are also valuable insights here for those working in tourism and I hope this research will help drive progress – each year it should challenge us all to think bigger and listen better to individual needs.” 

Findings include: 

* Accessible tourism is a mainstream market: 41% of UK adults report access or health considerations. Over one in three people (35%) report having one or more long-term health conditions, illnesses or impairments, with a further 6% identifying as an unpaid caregiver and/or regular travel companion of someone who does. 

This is a significantly larger group of people than the 25% of total population number included in UK government disability figures. 

Francis said: “So many of us will have health or access needs at some point, or travel with a loved one who does – this is a core and growing market that’s been underestimated and under-served. The findings show significant interest from this group in more accessible cultural, active and nature-based experiences, and it’s clear that even simple steps from travel companies can help unlock these opportunities for more people.” 

UK travel charity Tourism for All warns the commercial consequences of ignoring accessibility could be significant for tourism businesses (full comment available in Google Drive provided).

* Confidence crisis: Millions of people with health and access considerations feel shut out of travel. Beyond cost, “finding travelling stressful or lacking confidence when travelling” is the biggest barrier to booking holidays among all UK adults (14%). But the poll reveals a substantial confidence gap in travel. 

Almost a quarter (23%) of people with health or access considerations – and nearly one in three (32%) of Gen Z in this group – say lack of confidence limits their holiday choices. By contrast, just 8% of people without health or access considerations – and 9% of Gen Z within this group – say it does.  

* Plugging the accessible information vacuum is ‘essential’ to boosting travel confidence among people with access and health considerations. Readily available accessibility information is the most essential factor in improving confidence to book more ‘adventurous’ trips such as active, nature-based and cultural holidays, the poll suggests.

Francis said: “It underscores the importance of good customer service, improved listening and clear, honest, easy-to-find information in helping more people take the holidays they want.”But a separate poll of 132 holiday companies, conducted by Responsible Travel, reveals a large disconnect between the demand for accessible holidays and the availability of information. Fewer than 8% of companies provided accessible travel information on all holidays, while just 3% of websites enabled customers to search and filter holidays by accessibility needs.   

* Adults with access or health considerations are taking fewer holidays overall – but express significant interest in more ‘adventurous’ travel options. This group was more likely to cite financial constraints, stress and lack of confidence as limiting factors to travel. But interest in more active, wellness – and particularly in cultural and nature-based holidays – ‘designed with their needs in mind,’ is substantial. For example, while 64% of this group ‘rarely or never’ take a cultural holiday, over three-quarters (77%) of 18-54s, and 85% of Gen Z, would like to. And while 77% of this group ‘rarely or never’ take a nature-based holiday, 64% of 18-54s and 66% of Gen Z would like to.

*‘Generational shift?’ Gen Z are more than twice as likely to be told their travel needs can't be met. Eleven percent of adults with access or health considerations reported being told at least once by a holiday company that their needs couldn’t be accommodated. But this more than doubles among Gen Z, to 27% – with 20% reporting it has happened ‘repeatedly’. Just 60 percent of this younger group say it never happened. 

According to accessible travel charity, Tourism for All, this might reflect a broader generational shift in attitudes to accessibility. -TradeArabia News Service