Ireland needs to address accessible tourism
Recently we discussed the main benefits of improving accessibility and how accessibility benefits society. One sector that we failed to mention that has a big impact on society was tourism and the importance of making it accessible.
Accessible tourism is vital to ensure that all people regardless of their age, size or disability can travel to tourist destinations easily and enjoy the tourism products, services and environments in the same way as everyone else. So why does Ireland need to address accessible tourism.Here are some of the reasons why:
- It is estimated in the European Union there are up to 80 million people living with a disability within the EU at any one time. This represents over 15% of the population within Europe. According to the European Disability Forum "one out of two persons with disability has never participated in leisure, cultural or sport activities, and has never had access to theatres, to cinemas, to concerts, to libraries". Lack of accessible premises, facilities and services is a major contributing factor to this. Under Irish legislation it is prohibited to discriminate against people with disabilities in the provision of goods and services and this applies to the Tourism Sector.
- A recent report published by the European Commission found that more than half of the individuals with disabilities in the EU travelled during the 12 months between mid-2012 and mid-2013. On average, each individual took 6.7 daily trips, plus a further 6.7 overnight trips during the period, mostly within Europe. In total, this group of travelers made about 170 million day trips and a similar number of overnight trips within the EU. By making our tourism services accessible we can attract more and more people with disabilities to Ireland as it will be seen as an accessible Tourist destination.
- We also need to recognise that people over 65 took on average 6.9 day trips and 5.5 overnight trips per person during the 12 months between mid-2012 and mid-2013. They travelled slightly more widely than individuals with disabilities. In total, they made over 225 million day trips and 217 million overnight trips over the 12 months. If Ireland caters for the ageing population and makes tourism services and facilities accessible for all it will lead to greater numbers of people travelling to Ireland and increased revenues for the tourism providers.
If you would like further information on accessible tourism or additional training, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01-4151285 or [email protected].
