TheBuzz
TheBuzz
THE disabled and their families are an underserved market in terms of travel information, according to Randall Ventula, owner of AbHawaii Inc. Seeking out an underserved
Hawaii market"People with disabilities do travel," he said. And he estimates about 70 percent of persons with disabilities are married with children.
"Hawaii's being marketed as a paradise, but if I were in a wheelchair I would want to know where to eat, where to stay. If I were traveling so far across the Pacific Ocean I would want to know how are they going to accommodate my needs," Ventula said. It would also be important for the disabled traveler to know how the destination is set up to support his or her caregiver.
AbHawaii Inc. has established a Web site he hopes will become a comprehensive online accessibility guide to help persons with disabilities and their families plan informed travel to the islands.
Several hotels are profiled on the site with pictures of accessible rooms and information on how many such rooms the property has, along with other details. Other links have yet to be developed and are available according to a "rate structure" ranging from free to $1,000 per year. "We're the only guys we know that actually take photos of the hotel, the inside," Ventula said.
"A lot of corporate people are real skeptical," he said, "they think it's an inspection (of Americans with Disabilities Act compliance)" when he shows up with a camera.
"It is fair to say he is the only person we know of who's doing what he's doing," said Francine Wai, executive director of the state Disability and Communication Access Board.
As a state employee, Wai made it clear she could not endorse Ventula's venture.
"We would refer people to use his site without vouching for the validity of any specific information," she said.
Verification of accessibility claims is something her office used to do in publishing its "Aloha Guide to Accessibility," but "We haven't gone out to do a survey in five or six years," she said, due to limited resources.
The scaled down guide "provides general information for the visitor who's coming, such as what to do at the airport, getting around the site, where to rent equipment that you might need including a wheelchair or portable oxygen, where to get support services, information on a sign-language interpreter -- it's an all-purpose guide to Hawaii," Wai said.
It can be requested or downloaded from the "Community Resources" link at www.hawaii.gov/health/dcab.
Wai recommends travelers with disabilities also review new security guidelines issued in October. The document can be viewed at www.dot.gov/airconsumer/ with a click on the Rules & Guidelines link.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com