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Travelport launches traveller disability campaign
Travelport has launched a campaign to improve awareness and use of the DPNA Special Service Request (SSR) code, which can be used to alert airlines when a passenger has intellectual or developmental disability and needs assistance.
The move comes after if found evidence of exceptionally low use of the code on bookings made through its global distribution system.
A poll of 136 of travel agents revealed just 24% know the code exists.
Despite registering more than 250 million flight bookings through its GDS globally in 2018, and an estimated 200 million people worldwide having an intellectual disability (2.6% of the global population), the code was used just 4,309 times (approximately 0.0015% of total flight bookings).
Travelport’s six-month long campaign will reach more than 100,000 travel agents in over 30 countries.
Gordon Wilson, president and chief executive officer, said: "Travel can be a particularly challenging time for people who require special assistance, so once we discovered such low use of the DPNA SSR code, we decided to take action.
"Our point of sale, Travelport Smartpoint, with all of its graphical and prompted capabilities, offers the perfect channel to reach and remind travel agents across the world of the existence of this facility, enabling them to work in better partnership with our airline customers in the service of these travellers.
"We hope this campaign will not only make a difference in the travel industry but act as a catalyst for other organisations to investigate how their industry or the industry they serve can better support people with intellectual disabilities and make improvements where needed."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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