Every hospitality and tourism business in the UK can and should now reach out directly to the lucrative (£2 billion estimated value) accessible tourism market with the help of the new OpenBritain.net website, launched this week as part of British Tourism Week.
According to research carried out by VisitEngland in 2012, 94% of people planning a trip – whether for themselves or on behalf of someone who has access needs – say that access information is important to them, with 4 out of 5 people describing it as very important. Two-thirds of people looking for access information say they will avoid an attraction/destination if they can’t find the information that they need.
Time, therefore, for a comprehensive source of hospitality, leisure and tourist businesses, their facilities, and their accessibility.
8000 tourism businesses committed to accessibility
Championed by the charity Tourism for All UK, OpenBritain.net is set to become the leading website for disabled visitors into and within the UK. It has been developed in direct response to feedback from last year’s Paralympic Games when a large number of Britain’s disabled visitors said that they found it difficult to piece together all the information they need.
The website already lists over 8000 tourism businesses which are committed to accessibility, and showcases destinations around the UK – such as Leicestershire – that are working particularly hard with local partners to provide a great welcome for disabled visitors.
The service, whose founding sponsors include Clos-o-Mat, Omni Serv and AVH, will also provide listings of mobility equipment suppliers. This means it will be equally useful to operators seeking to make their facilities and services more accessible.
Every hotel, attraction and restaurant in Britain can promote to disabled travellers
Speaking at the OpenBritain launch at the House of Lords, famous Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said, “Planning any sort of trip when you have a physical disability can be a real challenge. Bringing together all the information that’s needed into one site will be a tremendous help and is long overdue. I hope that every hotel, attraction and restaurant in Britain will take advantage of the chance to easily promote their facilities to disabled travellers.”
Disabled travel market in excess of £2 billion
Over one-quarter of the UK population have a long standing health problem or disability, making the demand for accurate information about accessible services and facilities a national imperative. Conservative estimates value the disabled travel market in excess of £2 billion and the biggest single barrier for travellers is piecing together all the information so they can manage (source VisitEngland, March 2012).
Britain’s aging population ensures that this market will grow substantially in the next decade.
Businesses join and directly update their information
Each business listed on OpenBritain is given its own log-in to the system – Guestlink – to allow them to directly update their information – pictures, description, availability and pricing – whenever they want. Entries are free, though enhanced entries attract charges.
The site was designed and built by NVG, the leaders in tourism technology, using its Open Tourism platform.
“In our inclusive society, it is vital we enable as many people as possible to enjoy the facilities Britain has to offer,” says Ian Tomlinson, Commercial Director of Clos-o-Mat, lead sponsor of the OpenBritain launch.
OpenBritain.net
OpenBritain.net is the first tourism website with a properly national, multi-source searchable repository of accessibility information, bringing together a range of data that was previously only available from several disparate sources. The site will be linked to/from VisitEngland.com and a range of other third party websites and a free mobile app will be launched later in the year.
For more information click here