Laying the foundations: Work with stakeholders
Top Tips
Accessible tourism needs to be developed across the entire tourism value chain to improve destination accessibility
Working closely with stakeholders will help to achieve this
Including people with lived experience within this process is important
Understand the Tourism Value Chain
Any chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the tourism value chain is no different: if one ‘link’ in the chain is inaccessible for a potential visitor, it is likely that their custom, and that of anyone travelling with them, will be lost. It is also likely to pose challenges for local communities. It is therefore important to consider all the links in your value chain when developing your accessible tourism offer. For example you may have accessible accommodation, but if visitors are unable to visit any local restaurants that meet their requirements, they are much less likely to book.
Identify key stakeholders
The organisations operating at destination level across the value chain, along with visitors and local communities, are your stakeholders. They include:
- local businesses – tourism and non-tourism related. These are covered separately in the ‘Supporting your businesses’ section of this toolkit.
- public realm providers, including Local Authorities
- transport providers
- the local community, including people with lived experience.
Working closely with each of these groups is essential to improving destination accessibility
Work with transport hubs and operators
Transport providers serving your destinationneed to ensure that they offer accessible rail, bus and taxi services to move people to, from and around your destination with ease. Many providers offer information about their accessibility, and the Kick-Start programme highlights how you can utilise this. Where transport providers do not offer accessibility information you can encourage them to provide it, highlighting the importance of offering this level of detail for your visitors and local communities.
Quotation
“Public transport is such a crucial part of giving many people access to tourist destinations who would otherwise struggle to get access. So many of the big policy issues come together when you talk about accessible transport, including reliability. People need to know they are going to get the space and assistance they may need, are going to get there on time and it is going to be good value. For so many disabled people the major modes of transport outside of the private vehicle are taxis, private hire vehicles and buses.”
Keith Richards, Chair and Non-Executive Director, National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT)
Case study: GoodMaps
Network Rail and a number of train operating companies have partnered with GoodMaps to provide everyone with autonomous indoor mapping and navigation via an App.
GoodMaps is a hardware-free indoor navigation platform that uses LiDAR-based mapping and camera-based positioning. It’s especially well-suited for visually impaired users, offering precise voice directions.
An example of how the app can be used is demonstrated in a video of Liverpool Lime Street station.
Case study: Blackpool Transport App
Blackpool Transport’s buses and trams has a mobile app to help people get around the Fylde Coast. Visitors can plan journeys, buy tickets and track buses and trams in real time, all in one travel assistant.
Thanks to funding from the Access Fylde Coast project, Blackpool Transport made it a high priority to ensure that the app offers good information for disabled people. Using the ‘Venue Facilities’ tab, vistors can see in advance the accessible facilties that are going to be available to them when they arrive at their destination.
Working jointly with their app developers and Access Fylde Coast, they profiled 50 visitor attractions and added BSL videos, large format text and accessibility information for each one.
This was part of a wider scheme of work carried out by Access Fylde Coast, funded by the Coastal Communities Fund, aimed at improving accessibility for residents and visitors to the area.
Case study: Hovertravel
Hovertravel is an example of a transport provider which excels in its accessible and inclusive provision.
It is committed to ensure that access and travel on its hovercraft, in its terminals and during all elements of the end-to-end journey, are as comfortable and safe as possible.
Their accessibility initiative, HoverCare, has been chosen by the UK Government as a case study to provide guidance on the Inclusive Transport Leaders Scheme which aims to improve transport for disabled people. HoverCare is an award-winning service for any Hovertravel customer requiring assistance with their travel, whether they have reduced mobility requirements or just need a little extra help with their journey.
In every team at Hovertravel, there is a HoverCare ambassador. Alongside their usual roles, ambassadors undertake specialised disability awareness training, including level 2 guide dogs training and specific training relating to mental health awareness. They then relay this expertise back to their teams and use what they have learned to ensure that accessibility is at the forefront of Hovertravel’s customer service. Their responsibilities also include hosting ‘Try Before You Fly’ days and helping to evaluate mystery shopper reports.
They offer their customers a Hovercare Card, which helps ensure that when they travel they can receive extra assistance without having to ask.
The Sunflower lanyard scheme is also recognised. Customers can choose to wear a Sunflower to indicate they may require additional support, assistance, or simply a little more time while traveling. Employees have been trained using the bespoke Sunflower training.
Customers are offered a range of accessibility aids such as:
- Ear plugs;
- Ear defenders;
- Wheelchairs;
- Walking frames;
- Walking sticks;
- Hearing loops.
Recent accessibility developments include the installation of Changing Places facilities at both terminals. These were fully funded by South Western Railway’s Island Line through their Customer and Communities Improvement Fund.
Work with the public realm
Together with transport providers, the public realm creates the foundations which support destination accessibility. The term ‘public realm’ refers to all parts of the built environment to which the public has free access, including the natural environment.
Spaces, roads, parks, paths and trails need to be well surfaced, well lit and provide good signage. They also need to be supported by an accessible infrastructure which includes accessible toilets, Changing Places toilets and accessible parking provision.
The City of London’s Street Accessibility Tool allows street designers to easily identify how street features impact on the different needs of disabled people. This could be a useful resource for stakeholders you may be working with.
Stakeholders within the public realm and the natural environment include:
- Your Local Authority, District and Borough Councils, some of whom will have their own Access Officer;
- Town Teams and Town Centre Managers;
- Your National Park Authority - many National Parks offer accessible trails, adapted cycle hire, Trampers and ‘Miles Without Stiles’ barrier-free routes.
The London Plan
The London Plan (Policy D8, Public Realm) is an example of how the public realm should be viewed. It states that development plans and proposals should “ensure the public realm is well-designed, safe, accessible, inclusive, attractive, well-connected, related to the local and historic context, and easy to understand, service and maintain.
Unless you are within a Local Authority it is likely that you will have no direct control over the public realm, so developing a relationship with these stakeholders is important. This will enable you to outline the value of accessible tourism and explore how partnership working on accessibility improvements could spread investment costs between your organisations. You could also encourage these key partners to incorporate accessibility improvements into their own development plans.
Action Tip: Work with the public realm
To help build your relationship with public realm stakeholders and begin to build a shared vision, you could look to:
- establish a destination accessibility working group with your transport providers and Local Authority
- identify common objectives, set priorities and agree a timetable for action
- plan together – and co-ordinate planning cycles
- undertake a joint audit of your destination’s accessibility or an analysis of its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), being honest about any gaps and weaknesses in the visitor journey which can then be addressed
- work together to ensure that consistent messages about the benefits of accessible tourism are promoted to businesses within the destination
- jointly signpost to where relevant support can be found e.g. the Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Toolkit for Businesses
- seek to jointly influence businesses in different sectors of the economy that serve tourists, such as retail.
Case study: Newcastle
As part of a regeneration programme for Newcastle, bus routes are being taken out of the city centre due to pedestrianisation.
Ian Thomas, Destination Director at the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI) observes that:
“this has implications for anyone living outside of the city with accessibility requirements, especially those with a mobility impairment. If they can no longer catch a bus which stops near the places in the city centre they want to visit, it doesn’t matter how pedestrianised it is because they won’t be able to get there. Some of the changes you think you are making for the good may not actually help people”.
Ian gives another example of how aspects of the local infrastructure had a negative impact on the visitor economy:
“We also had a local example of people booking a restaurant but not being able to get in because there was no dropped kerb nearby. How many other businesses may be missing out because of similar barriers in the public realm?
Where possible, ensure that your Local Authority is aware of any concerns you have about factors within their control which may have a negative impact on the visitor economy.
The following case studies provide information about initiatives in the public realm which have improved inclusion and increased opportunities for businesses. They show what can be done and it may be helpful to share these with Local Authority partners, both to highlight good practice and to inspire change.
Case study: The South Bank, London
As part of the legacy of the 2012 Olympics, London’s South Bank underwent a £4m makeover to make it more accessible for visitors. The project was a partnership between Lambeth and Southwark Councils, the Greater London Authority, English Heritage and local businesses.
The South Bank is a destination in itself and links the area’s main attractions, restaurants, cafés and bars. It was recognised as being a difficult area to navigate, especially for people with accessibility requirements. Visitors, especially wheelchair users, had to take long detours if they wanted to stay on relatively level surfaces, avoiding cobbles.
Stakeholders
Before embarking on changing the area, the authorities working on the project engaged with disabled people in the area by:
- inviting them to undertake an accessibility audit of the South Bank, together with accessibility professionals. This generated detailed recommendations which were tracked right through the design process.
- working with Greater London’s Built Environment Access Panel to act as a sounding board for designs as they were developed.
- liaising with Southwark’s own local groups representing disabled people, including the Southwark Disablement Association, to provide feedback at the detailed design stage.
Improvements undertaken:
- Removal of kerbs to create a level surface.
- Resurfacing a historic street using granite. This provided a smooth, accessible surface in keeping with the historic nature of the area.
- Removing a step at one of the area’s piers, enabling a viewing area to be opened.
- Installing new benches with arm rests and back rests.
- Improving wayfinding by delivering a new raft of ‘Legible London’ Signage’.
Benefits
The enhanced accessibility delivered benefits not only for disabled people, but for all visitors and the local community. Providing an area which could be visited by more people, for longer periods, also generated increased footfall for businesses, improving the wider visitor economy.
Through the successful delivery of the Accessible South Bank project, South Bank is now in partnership with AccessAble which provides accessibility information about venues. It now has over 50 venues, cultural attractions, hotels and public spaces providing detailed information for visitors with a wide range of accessibility requirements.
Case study: Hull City Council
Street clutter, such as street café furniture, bollards and advertising boards can be a major problem for people who are blind or partially sighted.
Hull City Council worked with local disabled people’s organisations, the Hull Access Improvement Group and the RNIB to address this issue, becoming the first council in the UK to launch its street charter. ‘Who Put That There?’ was a three-year plan to put a clear highway policy at the heart of local decision making. This also included tackling temporary road works, overgrown branches and shrubs, bins, cars parked on pavements and shared space schemes.
Work with the local community
As well as benefitting from accessible destination development, local communities can also help to shape it.
Case study: Ryde Beach Accessibility Project
Following feedback from local wheelchair users that they were unable to enjoy Ryde’s beach, the Town Council embarked on a journey to make the beach accessible to all. Partnering with NaShers, a local group aligned with the Men’s Sheds movement, a bespoke 200 meter wooden boardwalk was crafted and installed along the sand.
The project also saw the addition of a seasonal Changing Places unit and the provision of equipment such as beach and sand wheelchairs and a sand rollator, which are available free of charge through an online booking system.
The initiative was a success due to the support of multiple local stakeholders, with over £47,000 of funding provided through local business sponsorship, Sport England, the Ryde Town and Isle of Wight Councils and crowdfunding contributors.
The impetus for change and the development of accessible tourism will not always come from you but from within your local community where individuals or groups such as Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), often with first-hand, lived experience of disability, may already be working to improve the local area.
There is great value in engaging with these individuals and groups whose efforts to improve accessibility not only benefit the local community, but also visitors to the area and the regional tourism economy.
As an LVEP, you can proactively look for these ‘change makers’ with a view to including them in your accessible tourism development process by:
- Tapping into their expertise to help shape your approach and identify other individuals and businesses you may want to involve;
- Utilising their experience to create case studies or blog posts for your website to help engage and inspire others;
- Inviting them to tourism networking events or conferences either as participants, exhibitors or speakers.
Once you have identified relevant groups, or individuals, you can ask:
- What are their priorities for improving the destination?
- What businesses and venues do they feel are particularly accessible?
- Would they like to be informed as you develop the accessibility of your destination?
- Would they like to be involved, for example as mystery shoppers?
- Do any of them have experience as trainers or auditors?
Many Local Authorities facilitate DPOs, sometimes called Disability Partnership Boards or Disability Action Groups. Engaging with these groups will enable you to ask people with accessibility requirements about venues they would recommend as accessible. This ‘co-production’ will also help to create an important sense of ownership within the local community.
Case study: Elizabeth Dixon, Stratford-upon-Avon
One example of an individual making a difference is Elizabeth Dixon, Independent Disability Advisor, living in Stratford-upon-Avon and founder of accessibletratforduponavon.co.uk
“My Accessible Stratford-upon-Avon guide is funded by donations from a Stratford charity, the Town and District councils and Shopmobility. It was collated by me and local sixth formers using a pro-forma I’d prepared. I know from Shopmobility, our Visitor Centre and the Town Hosts they find the basic information in the guide useful for visitors, especially the specific map for blue badge parking and accessible toilets!”
Case Study: Hebden Bridge Disability Access Forum (HEBDAF)
Visit Calderdale engaged with the Hebden Bridge Disability Access Forum (HBDAF) who created a map of accessible routes around Hebden Bridge town centre. The map shows wheelchair-friendly pavements, accessible toilets, parking spaces and bus stops. The back of the map lists the premises which have step-free access (a maximum 2.5cm rise for safe wheelchair use), hearing loops and accessible toilets.
Visit Calderdale offer the map as a resource for visitors and the local community on their website.
Stickers on shop windows indicate that the business has a portable ramp, with shopkeepers quickly responding to a knock on the window to attract their attention. The portable ramps are an easy and cost-effective way of enabling wheelchair users, and people unable to manage steps, to access the area’s shops.
The public realm continued
To find out about disabled people’s organisations near you:
- visit the Shaping Our Lives website, which lists over 320 DPOs throughout the country.
- contact service providers in your region who support people with accessibility requirements, such as Leonard Cheshire and Macintyre.
- reach out to your local U3A: a nationwide learning and activity network for older people.
- talk to your local National Council of Voluntary Organisations who will have details of smaller organisations and charities in your region.
You may choose to reach out to these stakeholders individually or hold a joint workshop or roundtable where people can share their experiences.
