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Since 1996 the moral obligation to provide facilities for disabled customers has become a legal one. Andrew Davies looks at how this has focused some operators on the business benefits of this market.
The general manager of the Montcalm hotel in central London, Jonathan Orr-Ewing, is trying to assemble the simple toy from a Kinder Surprise egg - with little success. His only instructions come from his PA, Jaqueline Ferry, who attempts to describe them while sat in a chair behind him. Unfortunately, the line of communication gets lost somewhere between tab A and slot B.
There is a sensible explanation behind this seemingly childish game. It's part of a training session on customer service for guests with disabilities, and the exercise is designed to show how important the provision of information is to those who, for whatever reason, can't obtain it through "normal" methods.
This is part of the Montcalm's response to the Disability Discrimination Act, the first part of which came into force in 1996 and the second in October last year. This Act makes it illegal to offer a lesser service to a disabled person than to a non-disabled person and, by 2004, operators are legally bound to complete physical alterations to buildings allowing, among other things, easier access.
There is, of course, a moral obligation to make these changes, and there can't be many operators in the hospitality industry who would knowingly provide a lesser service to any guest or customer. But how many people see this latest legislation as yet another drain on the budget, adding to previous morally correct - but also potentially expensive - laws such as the Working Time Directive or the Minimum Wage?
Some people, such as Orr-Ewing, believe thinking like that means missing out on a huge business opportunity. Is it wrong to view these laws - both moral and actual - as obligations when one-fifth of the working-age population in the UK is registered disabled and wields a whopping £33b of disposable income between them?
Orr-Ewing admits that in his attempts to bring the hotel in line with legal requirements, his eyes have been opened to the possible financial benefits.
"When I came to examine it, I began to see it as an opportunity, not as a problem. That's the difficulty in having so much legislation that forces compliance - we in business come to see it as a burden. But all these things - the Working Time Directive, health and safety rules, and so on - are not designed to be onerous, they're designed to make places safer, cleaner and more user-friendly, which should attract more business."
The staff training sessions are the starting point for this philosophy. Get the customer service skills right and the rest will follow, Orr-Ewing says. But he admits that he had never previously considered the extra skills required to deal with disabled customers.
"I'm not used to dealing with disabled people and I'm probably making terrible gaffs when I do. And if I am, then my front-line staff probably are as well," he says. "It's about dos and don'ts and they can be taught in the same way as those for dealing with Japanese or Arab customers, for instance. It's a section of the community that has special needs and you just need to know what to do."
Pauline Guthrie is the trainer dishing out the Kinder Surprise to the Montcalm staff and is herself a wheelchair user. Her company, Berkana Training, specialises in teaching hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues how to cater for disabled customers.
"So much of the stuff surrounding disability is people's anxiousness about whether they're saying or doing the right thing," she explains. "So often they will step back and end up looking rude, or over-compensate and treat you like a long lost friend.
"When we do these sessions we always say to people that it's a completely safe environment to ask whatever they want and to voice their fears and anxieties."
Guthrie's sessions cover most aspects of customer service - for example, the best way to talk to people in wheelchairs is squatting, not bending over; and there shouldn't be any assumptions made that everyone can read or see hand gestures.
These basic customer service skills can be taught in an afternoon and are just as important, Guthrie says, as ramps or handrails.
"I've been to many places where the building is physically accessible, but staff treated me like a bit of a nuisance and, of course, I'm not going to go back," she says. "Whereas I will go back to somewhere that may have a lot of physical obstacles but where I'm treated as a valued customer."
Guthrie's main aim is to get disabled people seen as potential customers with money to spend, rather than just a set of medical conditions. "Somebody should be taking advantage of this because it's a market no one's really tapping into," she says.
The Montcalm's physical conversions should follow soon. A specialist company has conducted a detailed assessment of the hotel. Orr-Ewing says: "We've already paid £1,500 for the survey before we've even screwed in one handrail. But it has to be done, and has to be done right."
Facts:
Number of people in UK with long-term disability: 6.5 million
Estimated collective disposable income, including family and friends: £33b
Potential market value for disabled tourists across Europe: £17b
The Montcalm hotel
Great Cumberland Place,London W1A 2LF
Tel: 020 7402 4288
Rooms: 120
Berkana Training
Tel: 020 7383 4933
train@berkana.co.uk
National Disability Council
www.disability.gov.uk
Contains dozens of links and information sources, including the full Disability Discrimination Act
EASE Awards 2000
The Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People
Tel: 01372 841123
www.qefd.org
Nominations are being accepted now forthe 2000 awards
