Putting accessible tourism at the heart of your travel content

Photo by Zachary Kyra-Derksen

The pandemic has forced us all to prioritize healthcare in our own and other people’s lives. People with physical and mental healthcare needs have rightly been in the spotlight and given priority. It is timely, therefore, to apply this care and awareness to tourism. We should all ask ourselves, will this commitment to enabling equitable access to people with physical or cognitive needs be incorporated into sustainable tourism models moving forward? We certainly hope so, and we would like to be at the forefront of this movement, one that has taken too long in coming to fruition.

Creating inclusive and information-rich travel content 

Making tourism accessible to all is a complex and sometimes costly process, which is why tourism organizations often put it at the bottom of their lists. If truth be told, many only adhere to basic legal requirements, which aren’t exactly inspiring when it comes to inviting everyone to travel. 

However, what tourism organizations don’t realize is that breaking down barriers can often start with just a few simple actions. The easiest one is to create inclusive and information-rich content. Most people traveling with access needs, be they mobility, visual, auditory or cognitive, want to be able to access information quickly and easily in order to book a vacation. And yet, more often than not, they have to sift their way through endless website pages to see if there is any information to assist them.

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Good content can conquer fears

By failing to provide adequate information and making this early stage in their booking process difficult, you are already discriminating. In these times where we are learning to support all groups in society, it is vital that we finally bring all people’s needs into consideration when creating travel products and marketing destinations. One of the most common difficulties facing travelers with access needs is not knowing what to expect when they get to a place, and so for many people this just accentuates a fear of exploring. Content can conquer those fears and make travel a treat for everyone. Such frustrations led to the creation of a superb crowdsourced app, AccessNow, with information uploaded by travelers in over 30 countries, and growing. This is undoubtedly an exemplary tool, but we believe that it’s time for destinations to deliver this information too.

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Our top tips on creating travel content for people with access needs

How often have you seen (wheelchair users welcome) inserted between parentheses in travel content? We want to not only remove barriers in tourism but also the parentheses. First of all, people with access needs aren’t always wheelchair users. Secondly, they are travelers like everyone else, so they deserve a tab on your homepage like everyone else. Accessible tourism content should never be an afterthought in hospitality, or given a token mention in order to tick a legal requirement. Create a landing page, ideally several pages, that are bursting with shareable videos, audio and written content that assists people traveling with a wide array of access needs. 

Photo from Acadia State Park

It’s time to fill in the blanks

We all know that knowledge is power, but you can multiply that by ten if you are providing inspirational information for people traveling with access needs. It’s not enough to say that your hotel rooms are wheelchair friendly. You need to show measurements, diagrams, videos or informative photos. You may have boardwalks or beaches for people with mobility needs, but are there Braille signposts or audio guides? Are there quiet spaces for people with autism or mental health issues? Is your city one of the most accessible cities in the world?

It should be a growing list, in order to anticipate all travelers’ needs and learning to adapt to accessible tourism is a learning curve. It’s also fine to state that you can’t cater for everyone at the moment, but that you are working on it. The most important thing is to give the information. It’s amazing, for example, how we can do everything possible for someone with gluten intolerance, but if they ask for somewhere to refrigerate their medication they will just get a blank look. It’s definitely time to fill in the blanks. Visit England’s website has some excellent case studies in access statements and content.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

People are pushing boundaries 

In the past, partly due to social attitudes but also to the lack of inclusivity in tourism, people with access needs often played it safe when choosing vacations. However, this is changing and the accessible tourism sector is starting to connect with adventure tourism. So if you have a kayaking, scuba diving or sailing tourism organization, for example, it’s time to look at your target markets again and create inclusive content. From gorilla tracking safaris in Rwanda to a horse-riding trip in Catalonia, the sustainable travel website responsibletravel.com features a wide range of inclusive tourism options. And, if you want to understand the bigger picture, this Ted Talk by Sue Austin is heart-stoppingly beautiful, as she embraces scuba diving in her wheelchair.

Read the room, and the accessible tourism stats

As well as reading the room and recognizing that inclusivity is imperative, the statistics show that accessible tourism is a growth sector, not least because of an aging population. Multi-generational travel, solo travel and adventure tourism are also markets to be targeted in terms of content and all of these can include people with access needs. European research predicts a 65% increase in potential revenue between 2005 and 2025 from accessible tourism, when you take into account that opening up tourism to people with access needs means also opening it up to their friends and families.

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Inclusive travel photography and video

Just as many travel organizations are waking up to the fact that photography and video on tourism sites must represent all groups of society, they need to include people with access needs too. Long gone are the days when society hides people with disabilities away, so where are they in travel imagery? Hospitality must welcome everyone to the table. By creating video content that shares the stories of people traveling with access needs, be they culture vultures, bird watchers or outdoor swimmers, we need to share everyone’s joy in journeying.

Photo from Women’s Fitness Magazine

Make your own website accessible

Plan to make your travel website accessible, by talking through the costs and logistics of doing so with experts. Examples of changes that you can make include inserting code that allows the visually impaired to use text-to-speech software and/or text-to-Braille hardware. Or just changing the size and color of the font. There are many simple ways to adapt websites to help people with mobility issues too. However, you don’t need to make all these technical changes in order to welcome travelers with access needs. You can get started on that straight away by simply addressing your content strategy .

Photo from Kampus Production

Accessible tourism and the United nation’s Sustainable Development Goals

In case you need some extra reasons to prioritize inclusivity in your sustainability policies, look no further than the UNWTO. In their article ‘Promoting accessible tourism for all’, they remind us that Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2015), is to “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” The European Network for Accessible Tourism is a pioneer in pushing for inclusivity in the sector. Their website is packed with stats and strategies and is a must read for anyone wanting to change the way they promote sustainable tourism. For an excellent in-depth academic article, read Accessibility and Inclusive Tourism Development: Current State and Future Agenda, published by MDPI in 2020.

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Traveling to a destination

Don’t forget to assist travelers in your ‘How to get here’ section. Although you might not be in a position to provide all the information, it’s most likely that you can improve what you do have. What do your local airlines, train or bus companies, bike providers and so on, provide to assist travelers? If they don’t have information, it’s time to invite them to the inclusivity party.

Oversharing is caring

You can’t create too much content for people traveling with special needs. You will be helping people who want to travel but struggle to find the right place that can guarantee hosting them with dignity and without discrimination. Let us help you build an accessible tourism content strategy that highlights all the ways in which you can show your organization as a leader in inclusivity. As the World Travel and Tourism Council says in their Inclusive and Accessible Travel Guidelines: “People with disabilities should not be overlooked when creating travel experiences. Providing accessible travel is both a social imperative and a business opportunity.”

Photo by Gwen Kim