MyTravelResearch.com

Easy to use market research and marketing tools for the travel and tourism industry.

  PRICING       LOG-IN
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Subscribe to Travel Trend Reports
  • Insight to Action Products
    • Tourism Marketing Plan Blueprint
    • Tourism Marketing Plan LITE
  • Consulting
  • Travel Research
  • About Us
    • Our Vision
    • Our Privacy Policy
    • Premium Membership FAQs
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Accessible Tourism #tourism4all

Accessible Tourism #tourism4all

by Bronwyn White 4 Comments

Print this page
Print
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Email this to someone
email
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Accessible tourism report for world tourism day 2016

As a tourism operator or destination marketing manager, it is hard to imagine what it would be like travelling with an impairment or disability.

For example, medieval cobblestones at a castle ruin is a charm to many, but for a wheelchair user, Rick Steves in his John Sage accessible travel blog tells us, it can become nearly impossible to cross (and not all cobblestones are created equal).  

Accessible travel is perhaps the travel industry’s greatest untapped opportunity.  Today, there are literally millions of people world-wide looking for accessible travel options thanks in part to the aging population (worldwide). 

Depending on where you are from, accessible travel is also referred to as inclusive travel, barrier-free travel and access travel. Essentially, accessible tourism means everyone can enjoy travelling, regardless of their abilities.

The Market

In the USA, The Open Doors Organisation tells us that alone, $17.3 billion is spent by adults with disabilities on travel. Since they usually travel with at least one other adult, the actual dollar amount is double that. The average travel party is 2.7 and generally includes more adults, rather than children.

Americans with disabilities aren’t the only ones travelling. One in five people has a disability and 8 billion dollars per year is spent on Australian tourism by travellers with a disability and a whopping 12% of the European tourism market is dedicated to people with disabilities.

And around 88 per cent of people with a disability take a holiday each year. This accounts for some 8.2 million overnight trips.

A Huge Business Opportunity

As baby boomers continue to age, the numbers are predicted to grow rapidly.  At MyTravelResearch.com, we have conducted many focus groups with travelling seniors.  And there is one thing common to all - they don’t want to stop travelling. But they recognise that perhaps the way that they do travel, needs to change incrementally as they age.  Some adjustments need to be made along the way.

People travelling with a disability are more likely to take longer trips and if you provide a great product or service, your customers will be extremely loyal and be likely to sing your praises through word of mouth and new review sites dedicated to accessible travel.

In this report, our aim is to alert you to the opportunity.  There are experts who can teach you further on the specifics of the sector.  But here we hope to give you a few practical tips on how you can at least start to think about and accommodate this sector.

As Bill Forrester from Travelability  writes in his blog:

 “Accessible Tourism is no longer about building ramps and accessible bathrooms. It is about building products and services for a large and rapidly growing market. This is no longer a niche, but rather, a segment that is approaching 25% of the total tourism spend.”

To continue reading this free accessible tourism report, download it here

 

  • Author
  • Recent Posts

Bronwyn White

Bronwyn has 22 years experience in the travel and tourism industry in the areas of market research, sales and marketing. Her extensive career includes organisations like Qantas Airways, Destination NSW and TNS Research.She has experience in a wide range of travel and tourism services, including: market research / insights,Internet marketing,strategic and tactical marketing consultancy and executive officer services for regional tourism organisations.

She also runs a well respected seniors travel blog, http://www.newyoungtravel.com.au.
Bronwyn is also the published author of Seniors Travel Tips, a global travel guide for seniors.

Latest posts by Bronwyn White (see all)

  • The Toilet Tourism Awards - 2019 Entries Open
  • The Evolution of Tourism Marketing: Artificial Intelligence
  • How Responding to Reviews Can Get You More Bookings
Print this page
Print
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Email this to someone
email
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Accessible Tourism, World Tourism Day

About Bronwyn White

Bronwyn has 22 years experience in the travel and tourism industry in the areas of market research, sales and marketing. Her extensive career includes organisations like Qantas Airways, Destination NSW and TNS Research. She has experience in a wide range of travel and tourism services, including: market research / insights, Internet marketing,strategic and tactical marketing consultancy and executive officer services for regional tourism organisations.

She also runs a well respected seniors travel blog, http://www.newyoungtravel.com.au.
Bronwyn is also the published author of Seniors Travel Tips, a global travel guide for seniors.

Comments

  1. Ivor Ambrose says

    October 6, 2016 at 3:59 am

    Ok for the generous "free report" but why not mention ENAT European Network for Accessible Tourism, http://www.accessibletourism.org as a primary source of much of this information?

    We can all do better by working together, I think.

    Cheers, Ivor Ambrose,
    Managing Director, ENAT

    Reply
    • Bronwyn White says

      October 6, 2016 at 7:57 am

      Hi Ivor
      Thanks for taking the time to comment. I have just had a look through your site, it is a terrific resource. I like your practical synopsis of the UN report here http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284417919
      We did a pretty thorough Google search and we didn't come across the site unfortunately, but we have it now! I will contact you via email separately about working together in future, you are correct in saying we all need to work together. I have a few ideas, talk soon. Bronwyn

      Reply
  2. Ken Scott says

    October 1, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    This is a very well written and structured insight report. It shows the financial potential of the sector. It clears up a few misconceptions (It is NOT just about catering to people with physical disability issues; it's much more varied than that). And it goes on to give a series of practical tips on how tourism service providers can start slowly and then steadily enhance their accessible tourism credentials. These smart insights are inspirational as well as actionable.

    Reply
    • Bronwyn White says

      October 4, 2016 at 8:53 am

      Hi Ken. Thanks for your very thoughtful comment. Glad that the report could help you. We really aim to be as practical as possible - we are about 'best practice, meets real world' Bron

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Entries Open - 14 Feb 2018

Toilet awards

Search

Events and Webinars

Member Events and Webinars graphic for sidebar widget image

Sign Up

 
Fill out the form to receive our actionable insight.
 
 

Marketing Plan Blueprint

Marketing Plan Blueprint

Latest Tweets

  • There’s a reason it’s known as the #dismalscience https://t.co/PxxPW5pA4j

    1d
  • Another great example of @FlyAirNZ living their brand values.... Save the planet — eat your Air New Zealand coffee… https://t.co/zTXN1dHd6v

    1d
  • The One Thing Every Marketer Should Do and it involves a holiday! Great reminder of the business benefits of touris… https://t.co/c11uas3hBX

    2d
  • RT @TreeTopsAus: Please be advised All TreeTops Parks are open, EXCLUDING TreeTops Coffs Harbour. https://t.co/xArM1idfar

    1 week

© Copyright 2019 My Travel Research · Tourism & Marketing · All Rights Reserved