WHEN Gary Ellem asked the managers of the Lake Mac Holidays Parks to review whether their four venues were truly accessible to all, he took the term "user experience" to the next level.
"The ones we had were adequate, meeting requirements with off-the-shelf-products like ramps on the side, accessible bathrooms and wider hallways, but it was honestly just not good enough," Mr Ellem says.
With almost 20 years in caravan park management, the Lake Mac Holiday Parks Co-Ordinator asked the four couples operating the LMHP in Blacksmiths, Belmont, Swansea and Wangi Point to use a wheelchair while exploring their facilities.
The results were stark.
"They all said, 'I can't believe how difficult it is, how we have taken it for granted. The length of a ramp - you think there's nothing to walk up, well if you use the wheelchair, it's a workout. Then you get to the cabin and you can't reach the kettle because it's on the fridge or the power point's up high. It was an eye-opener."
In its $1.4 million "access to all" project, LHMP built four new cabins at its biggest parks, at Belmont, Blacksmiths and Swansea.
Beyond shortfalls in the design of cabins to meet "inclusive tourism", Mr Ellem also noted that the cabins were not in a prime position and were an "afterthought".
The four new cabins - a two bedroom duplex cabin at Belmont that can be interconnected, a two-bedroom villa overlooking the lake at Swansea and a three-bedroom cabin overlooking the pool at Wangi - were designed by architects in consultation with Lake Macquarie Council's aging and disability committee.
With features including upper kitchen cabinets that can be lowered with the press of a button and benches that can be raised or lowered in the same way, the cabins' project won the Innovation award at the Lake Macquarie Business Awards and was highly commended in the Hunter Business Awards.
Mr Ellem says that a major part of this project was not just installing cabins in isolation, but also upgrading the facilities throughout the parks to improve access across the board.
The feedback and occupancy has been strong - since unveiling the new cabins in July, they have had 444 nights of use with average occupancy of 68%.
"We are in front of other [facilities] and we recently had one visitor who said she had not seen anything like it in mainstream accommodation in Australia," Mr Ellem says.
Mr Ellem says that the success of the project will see it rolled out in its Swansea location in the next year or two.
"Within a few years there will not only be demand but a need," he said.
He says his team feel proud after a lot of hard work to make the cabins inclusive.
"It's been a life's work sort of feeling, to be able to achieve something to help so many people who have been, not let down but not given all they should receive," he says.
"The team has worked their guts out and the rewards are there when you hear the feedback ... some of the stories bring a tear to your eye, people who prior haven't been able to get away and now can get away. It's heart-warming."
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