A Personal Welcome

Thank you for your interest in our services. I hope that the contents of this brochure will inspire you to entrust us with the

weighty task of arranging holidays for your service users. We

would like to handle the full complexity of doing this for you and provide you with a professional partnership that you will

value for many years to come.

We are the UK’s premier specialist travel agency providing holidays for people with disabilities, learning difficulties and

complex special needs. We have decades of experience and invest heavily in training to ensure our service and the holidays we arrange are second to

none.

We know that, for many, booking a holiday suitable for someone with a disability can be

stressful, difficult and time consuming. Every component needs to be checked to ensure it is fully accessible, and when the travel industry as a whole is a long way behind where it

should be in terms of catering to the needs of someone with a disability this is often easier said than done.

We have spent years developing commercial partnerships with specialist tour operators,

independent accessible accommodation owners and disabled equipment suppliers to

provide the largest choice of accessible holidays in the UK and abroad. We only work with suppliers that we know, from our own experience, provide exceptional service when

meeting the needs of our customers. This means we know every holiday we arrange will be an incredible, and accessible, experience.

We have already developed strong partnerships with care organisations, including case

managers, physiotherapists and care providers, who recognise the value of our expertise and book holidays with us on behalf of their service users. We provide a single point of

contact and arrange all the components of the holiday - including transportation, equipment hire and accommodation - saving you considerable time and effort.

If you’d like to find out more please contact me using the details below. I hope you will allow us to provide our exceptional - and award winning - service to you and your service

users and look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Paul Nadin Managing Director

Email: paul.nadin@disabledholidaydirectory.co.uk Telephone: 01457 833508 Sales Enquiries: 01457 833444 Address: Paul Nadin

Disabled Holiday Directory Premier House Manchester Road Mossley Lancashire OL5 9AA

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Contents A Personal Welcome ............................................................................................................................ 1

A Brief History...................................................................................................................................... 3

Meet the Team ...................................................................................................................................... 3

Principal Activities ............................................................................................................................... 4

Who we cater for .............................................................................................................................. 4

Our scope .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Our service ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Partnering with the Disabled Holiday Directory ............................................................................ 6

Benefits .............................................................................................................................................. 6

How does it work? ........................................................................................................................... 7

Our Principles ....................................................................................................................................... 8

Vision ................................................................................................................................................. 8

Core Values ....................................................................................................................................... 8

Ethos .................................................................................................................................................. 8

Commitment to Quality ...................................................................................................................... 9

Disability Awareness ...................................................................................................................... 9

Training Overview .......................................................................................................................... 9

Awards and Endorsements .............................................................................................................. 10

Customer Feedback ....................................................................................................................... 10

Partnership Testimonials .............................................................................................................. 10

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A Brief History

Discover Holidays Ltd began trading as the Disabled Holiday Directory in January of 2001. The business existed as a directory of privately owned accessible properties offering holiday accommodation mostly in the UK. In June 2010 the previous business owner retired and sold the business to the current owners who converted the business into a specialist travel agency. Over the last few years, the business has developed partnerships with tour operators, cruise lines, hoteliers, airlines and mobility equipment suppliers all over the world to position itself as the travel agent with the largest choice of holidays for people with disabilities.

Meet the Team

Sally-Anne Sam Laura Bethany

Travel Manager Senior Travel Consultant Administrator Marketing

Gillian Beth Kim

Travel Consultant Travel Consultant Travel Consultant

Paul Sam Jonathan

Managing Director Web Design Business Development

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Principal Activities

We arrange holidays in the UK and abroad for people with all kinds of disabilities, carefully matching the needs of the customer to the facilities and equipment available on the holiday. We are able to advise our customers on all aspects of accessibility and suitability of the holidays we sell through our extensive knowledge, experience and up to date research. We have partnerships with specialist tour operators and we also create our own holiday packages where we can arrange disabled equipment hire, adapted transfers, and much more. We are members of the Worldchoice/TTA travel consortium who provide us with industry standard financial protection for our customers and ourselves. We are also members of the Association of Cruise Experts. Our holidays are listed on our websites and bookings are taken by telephone or in our accessible shop.

• www.disabledholidaydirectory.co.uk (over 3,000 accessible properties)

• www.disabledcruiseclub.co.uk (accessible cabins, ships and excursions)

Who we cater for

We are able to arrange holidays for people who have:

• Physical disabilities (including visual and hearing impairments)

• Learning difficulties and emotional difficulties

• Serious illnesses and terminal illnesses

• Need of full time carers

• Partial mobility problems, e.g. the elderly, people with arthritis, etc.

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Our scope

We provide all the types of holiday you would expect from a mainstream travel agent along with all the extras you would expect and more. Our range of accessible holidays includes:

• Hotels, villas and apartments, cottages, lodges and caravans (UK and abroad)

• Package holidays and tailor-made holidays

• Cruises

• Short breaks (including city breaks, theme parks and theatre breaks etc)

• Carer holidays and respite holidays

Our service

Our holidays include:

• Guaranteed accessible accommodation

• Equipment hire; hoists, wheelchairs, grab rails, oxygen, etc.

• Private adapted transfers (where applicable)

• Assistance at ports/airports (meet and greet, assistance with luggage, etc)

• Tailored information packs including locations of chemists, public disabled toilets, etc

• 24 hour emergency contact

(Pictures of Hipley Cabin supplied courtesy of Hoe Grange Holidays)

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Partnering with the Disabled Holiday Directory Our growing list of partners includes care homes, case managers, charities and other travel agencies. Partnering with the Disabled Holiday Directory has many benefits:

Benefits

Save Time

If you are involved in finding holidays suitable for your service users, you may already be aware of how time consuming it is to organise a package suitable for someone with a disability. When partnering with the Disabled Holiday Directory we will record the relevant accessibility requirements from the case manager or your service user and take care of the rest for you. We utilise our extensive network of accessible accommodation, equipment and transport partners, along with our in-depth knowledge of the suitability of the destination itself, to provide you and your service user with a tailor made holiday suitable for their specific requirements.

Accessibility Guarantee

Unlike most travel agents, we 100% guarantee all specialist requirements will be met. We work closely with suppliers and tour operators and, in the event that they are unable to guarantee a particular component, refuse to book with them and will make the booking elsewhere. This means you and your service user have the peace of mind that whatever they need – be it a specific room, piece of equipment or other facility – will be waiting for them when they need it.

Assurance of Quality

We have strict quality control systems to ensure that all a customer’s requirements are understood, processed and communicated to tour operators and suppliers so that all parties know what they need to provide. We only work with operators who are willing to meet our standards and have committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities, and we invest heavily in disability training and research. All of this ensures that the customer receives a holiday of the very highest quality.

Partnerships with Specialists

By partnering with specialist suppliers, we are able to provide components of a holiday not available to most high street travel agents and tour operators. We can book holidays in many properties specifically designed for people with disabilities. Where a property does not already feature the required equipment, we can hire it. Equipment such as hoists, profile beds, grab rails and oxygen, to name just a few, can be hired for your service user and will be waiting for them on arrival.

Dedicated Point of Contact

You will be assigned one of our accessible holiday specialists as a dedicated account manager. They will take care of all your enquiries, answer any questions you may have, and manage of all your bookings – anything you need; they’re the person to call.

No Fees

There are no fees to partner with us, and there is no contract. Simply give us a call whenever you need to book a holiday for someone with a disability and we will take care of the rest.

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How does it work?

When you first contact us we will assign a dedicated account manager to you. They will take the details of your company, and answer any questions you might have. That’s all there is to it! No contracts, no fees and no paperwork. You can then make bookings with us whenever you like.

Step 1

Once your service user expresses an interest in going on holiday, call your account manager.

Step 2

Your account manager will discuss the customer’s requirements, details of their medical conditions, budget and holiday preferences.

Step 3

Your account manager will then identify suitable suppliers from our database of specialist tour operators, hoteliers and travel partners. They will call you to discuss the proposal to ensure your service user is happy with the arrangements. If they are not, your account manager will search for an alternative holiday.

Step 4

Once your service user is happy with the proposal, your account manager will collect the payment and book the holiday.

Step 5

All details and documents will be sent to your service user or other relevant party, whichever preference you indicate.

Step 6

The most important step of all - the customer enjoys their tailor made accessible holiday!

The Boma 7 off-road wheelchair

(picture supplied courtesy of Hoe Grange Holidays)

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Our Principles

Vision

“We believe people who have disabilities should live life to the full. Therefore, we arrange holidays that not only meet needs,

but also fulfil dreams.”

Core Values

1. Diligence. Our most important mandate is to listen carefully to the needs and wants of our customers and take great care in selecting the best holiday with the best value. We carefully document and triple check every booking to prevent mistakes which could if left undetected could be catastrophic.

2. Value People. Our highly trained staff respect the equality and unique value of all our customers, partners, suppliers and staff.

3. Friendly. We are always patient, enthusiastic, polite and friendly. We are careful with our

choice of words to ensure we don’t offend others. We express thanks when people give us the opportunity to quote for a holiday and when they book with us.

4. Serve with Excellence. We strive to serve everyone with promptness, openness and integrity.

5. Care for Customers. We recognise the importance of our duty of care towards our customers

and consider their needs higher than our own. We understand that going on holiday often presents a challenge for those with disabilities and therefore we spend time with each customer to ensure that they have correct expectations on the facilities and assistance available. We take time to talk through our customer’s concerns.

6. Investing in People. We value and invest in our staff through management and training to

increase confidence, improve skills, encourage excellence and ensure recognition of the value of their role within the business.

7. Clear Communication. We manage people’s expectations so that they understand our

processes, what we are doing and when we will next contact them.

Ethos Our vision and values are shaped by our empathy towards those who suffer with disabilities. Most of our team have direct experience of coping with disabilities and understand something of the limitations and the resulting anxieties that people with disabilities are faced with. We want to make a difference. We want to excel in providing a service that caters for our customers’ disability needs, reduces stress through good communication and provides a fantastic holiday.

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Commitment to Quality

We recognise the paramount importance of meeting the specific requirements of our customers while providing them with a holiday that will exceed their expectations. Appreciation of holidays for the disabled includes recognising that:

• A holiday is for most people their most expensive purchase of the year, and often outside a customer’s comfort zone

• In some cases it may be the last holiday the customer takes.

• Any failure to meet the needs of our customers while on holiday could likely ruin their whole holiday.

For these reasons we consider that diligence and quality are far more important for our business than it is for an unspecialised travel agency.

Disability Awareness

All employees are required to have a high degree of disability awareness from the sales agents to the web designer. Everything we do is affected by our customer’s needs. Awareness starts at recruitment where we look for people who demonstrate an awareness of the needs of other people. Those who have experience of working with or living with people with disabilities have a definite advantage.

Training Overview

As accessible holiday specialists, training and research is vital to our on-going commitment to provide outstanding service. Our training programme is driven by three requirements: disability training, product training and sales training.

Disability Training We understand disabilities and appreciate the limitations and difficulties that people face when going on holiday. We recognise that understanding a disability does not translate into understanding the needs of every individual with that disability. There are varying degrees of severity to every disability and varying requirements. No amount of training will substitute for asking the customer specifically what they need to make their holiday a success – so that’s what we do.

Product Training We go to great lengths to develop our knowledge of the holidays we sell, from the destination itself to the equipment that we arrange. This involves in-depth travel agent training (becoming certified experts), personal experience, full research and hands-on interaction with equipment.

Sales Training We understand how to provide holidays in a way that does not pressurise our customers, and gives them the holiday that they wish for. We seek to develop a relationship with all our customers to improve our understanding of their needs and wishes. Our staff do not have sales targets, as we believe this conflicts with providing exceptional and care-driven service.

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Awards and Endorsements

“Outstanding Travel Agent of the Year”

- Travel Brit Awards 2012

Customer Feedback

“Thanks for a brilliant recommendation for our excellent holiday in Corfu.”

“Very happy with everything about our holiday. We hope to book with you again soon. Top class.”

"The Disabled Holiday Directory has made me realise that as a wheelchair user I don't have to settle for 'second best' any more."

"Absolutely brilliant, very very well looked after"

Partnership Testimonials

“Thank you Gillian from David and Lewis, their families, and London Care Partnership.”

- London Care Partnership

“Following my initial enquiry regarding a tailor made Australia holiday for my client, I would just like to say a great big thank you for all your help. The service you provided was not only speedy and efficient but I was able to relax knowing that somebody with knowledge and expertise was completely taking the strain for me. My client is a disabled young girl, and her parents wanted to arrange this trip for the Christmas period, relatively short notice, given my first contact with you was not until mid-September. I really thought this would be a big ask, but no, I was proved wrong. The very next day 2 different options were emailed to me, fully detailed, including flights, transfers and also disabled access accommodation as requested. Discover Holidays then took over the reins and happily liaised directly with the family to discuss the finer points. Everything is now fully booked and paid for, and the family are looking forward to a wonderful trip of a life time, and for once I have not had the stress of hours of searching and contacting the airlines and arranging specialist transfers etc. So once again thank you to Beth and the team at Discover Holidays, I will definitely look forward to doing business with you again in the future.”

- Northern Case Management Limited