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AUGUST 2009 - HOTEL INDUSTRY CHALLENGED TO OPTIMISE ACCESSIBILITY
Hotel operators are being challenged to put themselves ‘in the shoes’ of the 10.3m UK citizens who have a life-limiting illness and/or are registered disabled, to make their properties more inclusive and compliant with new legislation.
Under BS8300:2009 design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people- code of practice, new build multi-occupancy buildings such as hotels are recommended to provide a minimum 5% of bedrooms designed accessible without a fixed track hoist system, 5% with a fixed track hoist system or similar giving the same degree of convenience and safety, with a further 5% being capable of future adaptation, and always have either adjacent or en-suite sanitary facilities which include a WC. Tourism for All is campaigning for proprietors to go beyond the basic legislative requirement- a Document M package and wheel-in shower- and realise how enhanced facilities, such as including a height adjustable basin or a ‘wash and dry’ toilet, would enable them to maximise revenue potential from the disabled sector.
Elaborates Tourism for All’s Brian Seaman, “My experience with some hotels suggests that unless they are pressured by disabled individuals, or have had personal experience of disability, they tend not to make too many adjustments, not appreciating how significant a difference it can make to occupancy- and profitability- to go beyond the basics. Some hoteliers such as Hilton, Thistle and Intercontinental are fitting more elements, such as height adjustable equipment in their refurbished accessible rooms, but it is still too rare.”
Adds Robin Tuffley, Marketing Manager of Total Hygiene, the UK’s leading provider of accessible personal hygiene solutions, “Maybe managers should visit their hotel or facility in a wheelchair or blindfolded and see how easily they can manoeuvre around and undertake activities such as toileting, bathing or showering over a 24 hour period!”
Tourism for All has launched its Open Britain campaign to optimise disabled provision in the leisure sector. A special section on the Tourism for All website details listings of all holiday accommodation with Total Hygiene’s ‘wash and dry’ Clos-o-Mat toilets installed, and encourages input from website users.
Total Hygiene is reciprocating with the development of its Complete Bathroom Collection, which encompasses value for money design, supply and commissioning of fittings from grab rails to height adjustable basins, hoists and ‘wash and dry’ toilets to create a facility that meets the needs of most regardless of the user’s ability, age or height. Under the package, hoteliers and leisure operators can work in partnership with Total Hygiene to ensure they comply with the new British Standard, with all elements of the upgrade or installation undertaken through one authoritative source with some 40 years’ experience in meeting the toileting needs of disabled people.
Robin Tuffley, Total Hygiene Marketing Manager, comments, “We already have 10.3m disabled people. Statistics show that by 2020 over half the population will be aged over 50 and facing issues such as reduced mobility yet this is one sector acknowledged to have disposable income to spend on trips away etc. Research shows that people will actually make a conscious decision NOT to visit somewhere if they feel they cannot have access to suitable toilets. People are disabled by their environment not by their impairment so a little consideration and investment by the leisure industrycan optimise visitor numbers and thus the bottom line.”
Total Hygiene has already installed over 30,000 of its brand-leading Clos-o-Mat automatic bidet toilets in the UK, in locations from individual homes to hotels. The range of equipment, and the Complete Bathroom Collection, is available on the this website.
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AUGUST 2009 - HOTEL INDUSTRY CHALLENGED TO OPTIMISE ACCESSIBILITY
Hotel operators are being challenged to put themselves ‘in the shoes’ of the 10.3m UK citizens who have a life-limiting illness and/or are registered disabled, to make their properties more inclusive and compliant with new legislation.
Under BS8300:2009 design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people- code of practice, new build multi-occupancy buildings such as hotels are recommended to provide a minimum 5% of bedrooms designed accessible without a fixed track hoist system, 5% with a fixed track hoist system or similar giving the same degree of convenience and safety, with a further 5% being capable of future adaptation, and always have either adjacent or en-suite sanitary facilities which include a WC. Tourism for All is campaigning for proprietors to go beyond the basic legislative requirement- a Document M package and wheel-in shower- and realise how enhanced facilities, such as including a height adjustable basin or a ‘wash and dry’ toilet, would enable them to maximise revenue potential from the disabled sector.
Elaborates Tourism for All’s Brian Seaman, “My experience with some hotels suggests that unless they are pressured by disabled individuals, or have had personal experience of disability, they tend not to make too many adjustments, not appreciating how significant a difference it can make to occupancy- and profitability- to go beyond the basics. Some hoteliers such as Hilton, Thistle and Intercontinental are fitting more elements, such as height adjustable equipment in their refurbished accessible rooms, but it is still too rare.”
Adds Robin Tuffley, Marketing Manager of Total Hygiene, the UK’s leading provider of accessible personal hygiene solutions, “Maybe managers should visit their hotel or facility in a wheelchair or blindfolded and see how easily they can manoeuvre around and undertake activities such as toileting, bathing or showering over a 24 hour period!”
Tourism for All has launched its Open Britain campaign to optimise disabled provision in the leisure sector. A special section on the Tourism for All website details listings of all holiday accommodation with Total Hygiene’s ‘wash and dry’ Clos-o-Mat toilets installed, and encourages input from website users.
Total Hygiene is reciprocating with the development of its Complete Bathroom Collection, which encompasses value for money design, supply and commissioning of fittings from grab rails to height adjustable basins, hoists and ‘wash and dry’ toilets to create a facility that meets the needs of most regardless of the user’s ability, age or height. Under the package, hoteliers and leisure operators can work in partnership with Total Hygiene to ensure they comply with the new British Standard, with all elements of the upgrade or installation undertaken through one authoritative source with some 40 years’ experience in meeting the toileting needs of disabled people.
Robin Tuffley, Total Hygiene Marketing Manager, comments, “We already have 10.3m disabled people. Statistics show that by 2020 over half the population will be aged over 50 and facing issues such as reduced mobility yet this is one sector acknowledged to have disposable income to spend on trips away etc. Research shows that people will actually make a conscious decision NOT to visit somewhere if they feel they cannot have access to suitable toilets. People are disabled by their environment not by their impairment so a little consideration and investment by the leisure industrycan optimise visitor numbers and thus the bottom line.”
Total Hygiene has already installed over 30,000 of its brand-leading Clos-o-Mat automatic bidet toilets in the UK, in locations from individual homes to hotels. The range of equipment, and the Complete Bathroom Collection, is available on the this website.
» Back
