VisitBritain and VisitEngland Publish New Accessibility Feature Questionnaires for Tourism Operators
Croft Bungalow, Derbyshire, UK. Accessible accommodation with a sensory garden. Photo: VisitBritain
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Research carried out in the United Kingdom in 2022 shows that to save time and energy when researching a trip, people with accessibility requirements want to make "shortlists" of places to stay and visit based on key accessibility features. They then want to be able to view a Detailed Access Guide to make their final decision.
Questionnaires listing the key accessibility features at tourism venues, that are most important to people with a range of accessibility requirements, are now available to download for free as part of the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for Businesses. These have been informed by robust consumer research with over 800 disabled travellers.
Tourism businesses can use the questionnaire to identify the key accessibility features in their business and list these on their websites to provide high-level accessibility information.
The questionnaires can also be used by tourism listing websites (such as online travel agents, search aggregators and local destination websites) to gather data on the top accessibility features of venues. This will allow them to display this information as part of venue listings on their websites and provide the ability to filter venues by key accessibility features.
In the UK, accessibility information should also include a link to an AccessAble Detailed Access Guide, where possible, to help people with accessibility requirements make the final decision on where to stay and visit.
Information and guidance for tourism businesses
Tourism operators can now download a free questionnaire, specific to your business type, to help identify the key accessibility features in venues from the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for Businesses.
There are questionnaires for six common business types:
- Serviced accommodation;
- Self-catering accommodation;
- Attractions and experiences;
- Camping, glamping and holiday parks;
- Food and drink businesses;
- Events, festivals and shows.
More information on promoting a venue’s accessibility can be found within the Marketing your accessibility section of the toolkit.
ENAT writes:
As a long-time member and partner of ENAT, VisitEngland has developed a wide range of useful tools, examples of good practice and guidance documents, supporting tourism businesses in their efforts to make tourism accessible for all visitors, everywhere.
This information is offered free of charge in order to ensure easy access to the advisory materials and research findings, contributing to awareness and fostering practical measures to improve accessibility.
The latest documents are offered in 6 languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Portuguese - providing valuable input to the worldwide community of accessible tourism suppliers and their buisness partners.
ENAT recognises and applauds these efforts, and we encourage other National and Regional Tourist Boards and Destination Management Organisations to develop similar tools in their own languages, drawing on experiences from their own countries to reach out to touriem enterprises, large and small, and raise the quality of tourism for everyone, everywhere.
