"That's not a problem," I hear everyone say (from visitor attractions through to village pubs) "all they have to do is phone us and we'll tell them."
Not so. Personally, I’m hoping to have better luck than last year when four similarly impaired friends and I tried going out for lunch somewhere new on the first Disabled Access Day. We’re reasonably intrepid, but all of us had to cry off as it began to snow. As it turns out the pub wasn’t as accessible as they had led me to believe when I phoned, so though we were prepared to try somewhere new, we saved ourselves a lot of hassle and potential danger. This is where a video and a detailed review, such as those it's possible to create on Euan’s Guide, could have shown us what the prospects were for a good pathway from car to pub door for example, as well as the facilities indoors.
Are you making the most of £12.4 Billion?
Yes, that's right. The accessible tourism market in the UK is worth £12.4 billion a year. But don't take my word for it, watch the video from VisitEngland• how you can participate as a venue
Of course it’s great if your venue is already listed in the • What's On • section of the Disabled Access Day website. If it's not, you still have time to • register • and get yourselves on the map, and spread the word.If on the day, despite your best efforts, you’re a venue that finds itself twiddling its thumbs waiting for disabled people to take up your offer, don’t be disheartened! Try something new yourself – take a video showing the accessibility of your venue and send it to • Euan’s Guide • who sponsor Disabled Access Day. They will in turn submit it to showmetheaccess so that your access information will be available for disabled people to refer to for as long as you like - and it will save you valuable time that you’ve spent in the past trying to describe your venue’s access over the phone.
• how you can participate as a group or charity
This is a good opportunity to make contact with new members, set up an outing or a taster session for a new activity for your existing members. • Be part of it! •• how you can participate as an individual
You’ll find ideas of how to get involved on the • website • and also details of participating venues and events where you'll find a warm • welcome. •
But that's not all…
• as a business
You have something to offer to disabled people, but it isn't allied to tourism? No problem. Disabled people need access to all kinds of goods and services, just like the rest of the population. If people with impairments can find stuff that meets their needs, they are not so disabled by the world around them. That's what inclusion is all about.
Because • showmetheaccess • works slightly differently, we have teamed with Euan’s Guide as our contribution for Disabled Access Day. We host many different categories of video link on our site, which Lonely Planet says “is a very interesting project: a library of videos covering every aspect of life from education and sport through digital technology and travel shows how to live with a variety of disabilities. Tip: the Leisure tab is a richer resource for travellers than the Travel tab! Although this is a UK-based site, the video content is not limited to the UK.”
Don't be left behind…
What company doesn't want their share of the business generated by UK households which include a disabled person?After all, it amounts to £420 million each week.
These days it just doesn't make economic sense to ignore the market associated with (roughly) one fifth of the population. If you need more convincing to take the accessibility market seriously, an article by Swiss company Equalex might give you some • insight. •
In fact, the annual global market is estimated to be more than $8 trillion. That's a market the size of China.
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