Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs)

Welcome to the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for LVEPs: your guide to creating destinations for all.

This toolkit, provided as part of VisitEngland’s tailored support for Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs), is your guide to creating, growing and sustaining an accessible destination. It is an exclusive benefit for accredited LVEPs (and National Park Authorities) and is therefore not available via the website navigation. When identifying partners as part of a destination-wide project approach, LVEPs may choose to share the link to the toolkit with other destination partners to ensure a shared understanding.

By aligning the growth priorities of your LVEP with this vision, you can play a central role in making it a reality. Understanding the needs of this market and developing an accessible destination is therefore an important part of your role. Read VisitEngland’s Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for Businesses for practical guidance on welcoming customers with accessibility requirements.

Creating an accessible destination may feel like a challenge

For destination managers and your businesses,there may be limited understanding about the size and nature of the accessible tourism market. This can lead to a lack of confidence and misconceptions. For example, many assume that the majority of disabled people are wheelchair users, and that any changes needed to become more accessible will therefore be costly and complex. In reality, it is estimated that around 7% of disabled people in England use a wheelchair (source: NHS wheelchair data and the Department for Work and Pensions Family Resources Survey 2018-19) and there are many small ‘no cost’ and ‘low cost’ solutions which can make a huge difference. It is important not to let fear prevent progress.

For disabled visitors,the perceived lack of a warm welcome can be a major barrier.

Yet, there is no mystery to accessible tourism: at its heart it is about conveying to every visitor that:

• We know you;
• We understand you;
• We value you.

Remember that accessibility cuts across all your target markets: it is not just restricted to the leisure market. It also impacts on the business events market, where major events (such as national or international sporting events) can act as a potential catalyst for change.

Tourism is about emotions: offering and delivering those amazing “wow” experiences and moments for visitors which become treasured memories. Accessible destinations are the ones which deliver this best - Chris Veitch, Inclusive Tourism Consultant

This guide is under regular review by VisitEngland and the expert authoring team at Access and Inclusion UK, with feedback being welcomed. Should you have suggestions for content development, please contact your Regional Development Lead.

Laying the foundations

Kick-Start programme

Enhanced programme