What is accessible tourism?
Accessibility is how easy it is for people to get to, enter, use, and understand things. Accessible tourism is the ease with which everyone can enjoy tourism experiences.
What am I required to do?
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1995) places duties on providers of goods, services and facilities not to discriminate against people with disabilities. (replaced by Equality Act 2010 from October 1st 2010)
Like everyone else, tourism providers must take 'reasonable' steps to change practices, policies and procedures to make their facilities and services accessible to disabled people.
Tourism providers should also provide auxiliary aids (such as installing an induction loop) to make it easier to use a service. This applies to all disabled people, whether, for example, they are a guest, visitor or employee.
What are the benefits?
There are many good reasons for making your accommodation more accessible to those with disabilities:
the business potential - research shows that there are approximately 2.7 million potential holiday-makers with disabilities in the UK who regularly travel, and millions more abroad.
over one quarter of the UK's population has a long-standing health problem or disability.
disabled guests have a high tedency to make repeat bookings.
attracting a guest with access needs attracts not only their spend but the spend of their entire party.
everyone benefits from accessible facilities and services, even you and your staff.
How can I improve the accessibility of my business?
Accessibility is about ensuring that things can be easily obtained. However, it is not solely concerned with facilities. There are three key areas to look at when improving accessibility:
Information - provide an Access Statement and Accessibility Information (when requested by your data steward)
Customer Service (attend a 'Welcome All' 1 day course; use regional tools such as Profit Through Access and Learning Bursts)
Facilities (NAS for accommodation businesses)
VisitEngland provides a number of tools and resources to help you improve your accessibility. Check out the resources below. Reading 'Easy does it' is a great starting point.
Easy does it
Profiting Through Accessible Tourism Video
Access Statements
National Accessible Scheme (NAS) - Including One step ahead
Guidance for Large Hotels
Equality Act 2010
You may also find it useful to read Think Access Q-book from East Midlands Tourism.
If you have any questions on improving your accessibility please email qad@visitengland.org
