VisitEngland has produced an extensive Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for businesses to help them cater to a wider range of customers with disabilities. The toolkit provides practical guidance on various aspects of accessibility, including customer service, physical environment, and inclusive employment.
Below we have highlighted some of the key aspects of the toolkit but we thoroughly reccomment you take the time to read the full version.
Read the Visit England Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit
Overview of the toolkit
Accessible tourism can help businesses in many ways by tapping into under-served and growing markets, differing customer groups and local communities. Wherever you are in your accessibility journey − and however new or well-established your business is − this Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for Businesses aims to give you the practical hints and tips, and the reassurance and confidence, to move forward inclusively.
As a best-in-class resource for the tourism industry, this toolkit introduces the legal, commercial and ethical importance of accessibility, before providing guidance related to:
- Customer groups and how to remove barriers.
- How to provide an inclusive welcome with integrity and empathy at its heart.
- The availability of inclusive features and facilities (whether physical, digital or operational).
- How to market your accessibility to potential and existing customers.
- How to become a more inclusive employer and create an inclusive internal culture within your business.
- Measuring success and ensuring accessibility journey accountability.
- The support bodies, influencers, awards and schemes to help you best communicate and celebrate your accessibility.
Key areas of the toolkit
Accessibility involves removing barriers to provide positive experiences for all. In the case of this toolkit, it’s about ensuring that everyone can enjoy tourism.
The spending power of disabled people and their households is called the Purple Pound. The annual tourism Purple Pound in England alone is worth £14.6 billion.
Focus on understanding how you can remove barriers to provide an accessible experience for your customer, rather than their medical condition(s).
The key to providing an inclusive welcome is communicating inclusively with your customers and colleagues.
The built environment presents accessibility challenges for many customers with accessibility requirements, and we all have a responsibility to be aware of and remove these, where possible.
Having an accessible website and social media presence is key to marketing your business inclusively. Digital accessibility hints and tips are provided in this section.
Your staff members and volunteers should be able to have the same positive, accessible experience that is available to your customers; it’s important to ‘practise what you preach’.
Thank you for reading this Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for Businesses. Wherever you are and however much time, space and resources are available to you, there are many quick wins and longer-term actions you can take to ensure that both your customers and colleagues with accessibility requirements are able to experience inclusive online spaces, built environments and social operations as part of their visit to, or work day at, your business.
Whether you’re just starting your accessibility journey or looking to build on your existing efforts, this section provides guidance, resources, and support you need to create a welcoming environment for all visitors.
