Structure of tourism in North East England
One NorthEast Tourism provides Tourism Network North East with strategic direction. Tourism Network North East is made up of five core organisations: One NorthEast Tourism and four independent Area Tourism Partnerships (ATPs) - one for each sub region. They are: Visit County Durham, Northumberland Tourism, Tourism Tyne and Wear and visitTeesvalley. The Network’s vision is for the North East England to become a sought-after destination 365 days a year – for leisure and business visitors – with activities, attractions, facilities and accommodation that consistently exceed visitor expectations. 

Contacts for business
The four ATPs are the first point of contact for local businesses and their responsibilities include improving the visitor experience and business engagement. Helping businesses to improve accessibility is an important focus for both One NorthEast Tourism and the four ATPs.

• www.tourismnortheast.co.uk/site/one-northeast-tourism  
• www.tourismnortheast.co.uk/site/county-durham-tourism-partnership  
• www.tourismnortheast.co.uk/northumberland-tourism  
• www.tourismnortheast.co.uk/site/tourism-tyne-and-wear  
• www.tourismnortheast.co.uk/visitteesvalley  

One NorthEast Tourism access policy
One NorthEast Tourism recognises that to create a successful tourism destination, accessible facilities and services need to be part of everyday tourism activity. The organisation regularly consults with specialist disability organisations such as Disability North and the Tyne & Wear Museums access group.

One NorthEast Tourism and partners have committed to:

• Direct funding, time, resources and commitment to help businesses provide accessibility in tourism
• Seek to enhance the quality of the visitor experience by making sure services and facilities are accessible to visitors in the most appropriate way
• Use every appropriate opportunity to collect information about visitors and the tourism industry so that the region’s access policy can be as up-to-date as possible
• Recognise that pockets of excellence already exist. We plan to identify them and share the information with partners and stakeholders.
• Try to make sure that proposed tourism projects link with existing employment programmes and initiatives in the region for people with disabilities
• Influence marketing in the region so that it reflects the opportunities and experiences the region offers to visitors of all abilities and backgrounds

Businesses that understand how disability affects their visitors reach more customers. They create innovative new products and deliver better services for all their visitors. Our population is getting older and customers now expect personal and individual service.

Disability market

• In the UK one in three people is disabled or is close to someone who is
• There are ten million disabled people in the UK. They have a combined annual spending power of £80 billion.
• There are 54 million Americans with disabilities. Their combined disposable spending power is $220 billion. Three out of four are heads of households and half are principal shoppers.
• Three out of four Canadians without disabilities know someone with a disability
• There are 610 million disabled people in the world

Changing demographics

• The UK's 50-to-69-year-olds currently spend £300bn a year. They buy more designer fashion, premium cars and luxury goods than any other age group.
• In the next 25 years the 50-plus generation will grow by more than an estimated six million
• The average spend for households of 50 - 59 year olds is £213 a week, compared with an average of £135 for all other age groups
• By 2030 the number of Europeans aged over 65 will have increased by 40 million since 2005
• In the UK one in three people aged 50 - 65 and four out of ten people over 65 have a disability
• There are 2.7 million women carers and 1.8 million male carers aged 16 – 64. One in two carers looks after someone over 75.

• In 2005, 83% of disabled people stopped themselves buying from a company because the business was inaccessible or unwelcoming. Only half of them complained about the poor service they received.
• Two thirds (67%) of disabled people choose businesses good at serving disabled customers
• More than half (58%) of disabled people say that the way a business treats them affects the shopping habits of their friends and families, while 26% say that poor service means others are less likely to shop with the business. 16% said that friends and family never shop with companies that have provided a poor service.
• Disabled people shop online. The internet is recognised as improving disabled people's lives and independence. In a recent survey, 23% of disabled people say it's the way they shop most often. One in ten have used the internet to complete tasks for which they previously had to rely on others. Over half (54%) of disabled people consider internet access essential, compared with only 6% of the general population.
• Direct Enquiries, the online nationwide access register, receives 250,000 hits a week from people looking for local businesses and services that meet their access needs
• In 2002 American travellers with disabilities spent $13.6 billion on 31.7 million trips. They spent $4.2 billion in hotels creating 60,000 jobs and spent $3.3 billion on flights creating 52,800 jobs. They generate 194,000 travel-related jobs, $4.22 billion in payroll and $2.52 billion in tax revenues.
• Revenues for the hotel and hospitality industry in the United States have increased by 12% since the American Disability Act became law

What is the Disability Discrimination Act?

• The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) is a law aimed at reducing the discrimination that many people face
• The DDA gives disabled people rights in a number of areas, including access to goods, facilities and services
• All organisations that provide goods, facilities and services to the public are covered by the DDA

Who does it apply to?
The DDA states that service providers can no longer discriminate against disabled people. Service providers include businesses offering:
• holiday accommodation
• tourist attractions
• restaurants
• transport

What is a disabled person?
The law defines a person with a disability as 'anyone with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect upon their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'.

This includes physical and sensory impairments and invisible disabilities such as learning difficulties and conditions such as diabetes and epilepsy. The Act also specifically covers anyone with Aids, cancer or multiple sclerosis.

What does the DDA expect businesses to do?
Since 1995 it has been illegal to refuse to serve somebody on the grounds that they have a disability. For example, it is illegal to refuse to take a hotel booking from a guest because they have a disability. The Act also covers deliberately providing a poorer quality of service to disabled people and applying unreasonable terms. Taking longer to serve a disabled person breakfast is one example. Other examples include asking for a higher deposit from a customer because they have a disability or charging a disabled guest more than a non-disabled guest.

Reasonable adjustments
The DDA expects employers and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to meet the requirements of disabled people. There are some key points to deciding what is reasonable. The resources of an organisation - financial, human and physical – are taken into account. For example, a major hotel chain or a large holiday campsite may need to respond differently to the requirements of their disabled guests than a business run by a sole proprietor. This does not mean that small businesses can ignore the legislation. However, the law recognises different approaches can be used that reflect the size and nature of a business. The law does not expect businesses to be obliged to respond to unreasonable requests.

Reasonable adjustments are any measures that can help disabled people enjoy a service as much as a non-disabled person.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (formerly the Disability Rights Commission) has a code of practice that covers goods, facilities and services. This code is not law but can be used by the courts to determine cases. The code also states that service providers must anticipate the likely requirements of disabled guests and not just respond to requests from individuals.

Examples of reasonable changes
Here are some examples of reasonable changes that can be made

• Using large print for registration and guest information
• Recording menus onto audio cassettes/MP3 players and having large print versions available
• Providing phones with large buttons
• Providing portable vibrating alarms for guests who can’t hear an audible fire alarm
• Providing a low desk for wheelchair users when there is no low reception desk
• Sending staff on a disability-awareness training course so that they know about common disability-related issues

Basically, it’s about what is practical for each service provider. Businesses are not required to make changes that are impractical or beyond their means. It is not about installing expensive lifts. There are helpful low-cost measures business can take, as the list above shows.

Research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission reveals that 81% of British websites are inaccessible to disabled people.

Useful guides

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Website Accessibility Initiative (WAI) – the definitive and internationally accepted guidelines from www.w3.org/WAI

See it Right, RNIB Guidance - a practical and achievable mixture of most of WCAG checkpoints from www.rnib.org.uk

A guide to commissioning accessible websites - PAS 78 from www.equalityhumanrights.com

How to be a web-savvy accommodation business, VisitEngland – includes a helpful chapter on making sites accessible

Easy changes
The WAI guidelines can be daunting but small changes can make a big difference. Some easy changes to improve websites:

• Enable the user to switch to a larger font size
• Have a good contrast between text and background
• Use pictograms e.g. of a car or bus to indicate transport information. This helps readers with learning disabilities, dyslexia and those who don’t have English as their first language
• Avoid long sentences in italics. They are hard to read on low-resolution screens.
• Structure content in a logical order
• Offer a choice of colours and colour contrast
• When upgrading or commissioning new websites, make sure designers are familiar with WAI’s web accessibility guidelines

In Africa they say that tourism is like fire: it can cook your supper and it can burn down your house. The same could be said of the media. But use the media well and it’s one of the most cost-effective marketing tools for any business.

The best way to work with the press is to understand their needs and how they work. Journalists know what readers, listeners, viewers want. They rely on people telling them about their services and products. The smaller the business, the more likely it is they will never know about the business unless someone tells them.

Press releases
A good starting point is a press release. A press release is the communication link between the business and the press. But there must be a reason for telling them the business exists – give them a ‘peg’ to hang the story on e.g. 4 star Hexham B&B wins regional ‘Tourism for All award’. Use simple plain English and leave the fancy prose to the journalist!

Tips for writing a press release

• Give the journalist a peg – what’s the story?
• Keep it short and simple – no more than one A4 page
• Follow the newspaper journalist trick – put the most essential information first, the busy reader gets the story after the first paragraph
• No flowery prose – very few businesses are ‘unique’
• Give them the facts – who, what, why, where and when
• Editors Notes – at the end of the story write background information as bullet points: when the business was started, who owns the business etc
• Contact details – this is crucial. The name of the main contact for journalists. Phone numbers including mobiles, email address. Named contacts must be available!

Email etiquette
The most effective filing cabinet for press releases used to be the wastepaper bin. Now it’s the delete button. A travel journalist can get up to 100 emails an hour.

Tips for getting your press release read

• Do not send the press release only as a main attachment. Put it in the body copy of the email as well
• Message line must be simple and informative e.g. Northumberland family B&B opens new accessible room

Which journalists?
Always update the mailing list. Find out who does what in the travel sections of your local media and know the freelancers. Consider the specialist press e.g. disability affairs correspondents.

Know your deadlines
Monthly magazines can be planning and editing months in advance. Press day on weekend travel sections on national newspapers is usually Thursday. Thursday is not a day for chatting with any of them! Chatting day is Monday.

Help! Someone has read the release
Return a phone call/email as soon as possible. If you haven’t got all the information to hand tell the journalist when you will have it. And finally… Never lie, you can get away with it maybe once.

Desti.ne Frontdesk is an online booking system that has been developed for small and medium-sized hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, self-catering businesses and attractions. It is a simple, user-friendly system that allows businesses to take online bookings and payments through their own website. With Desti.ne Frontdesk operators can take bookings through other travel and tourism websites such as lastminute.com, expedia.com, hotels.com, the AA and VisitEngland.

Easy to use
The online booking software package is managed through a computer screen designed to look like a paper-based booking diary. It is easy to use. Users don't need to be a computer expert.

Automatic updates
Every time a booking is taken or a ticket sold, availability is instantly updated online both on the operator’s own website and/or partner booking sites. Automatic updates are also made to the in-house reservation system with the booking and customer details and the bank account with the customer’s payment.

Business success
More than 297 businesses in the North East use Desti.ne Frontdesk. Monthly bookings are worth over £150,000. Graham and Lisa Stobbart own Orchard House in Rothbury. Their bookings have increased by 25% since they started using Desti.ne Frontdesk. Graham says “These days people are increasingly time poor and need to book their holiday accommodation as quickly and simply as possible. With Desti.ne Frontdesk, we have enjoyed a fantastic few months. We are busier than ever. I’d urge other tourism businesses to sign up to the system.”

More information on Desti.ne Frontdesk including costs

Information pack
An NAS information pack is available free of charge. Completing the self-survey form helps businesses identify any barriers and highlight improvements that can be made. These improvements are often inexpensive. Click here to access.

Standards
There are NAS standards for guests with hearing, mobility and visual impairments. These three standards have been set at a realistic level.

Mobility
In the mobility standard there are four levels:

• M1 suitable for a person with sufficient mobility to climb a flight of steps
• M2 suitable for a person who can manage three steps but may use a wheelchair some of the time
• M3I suitable for independent wheelchair users
• M3A suitable for assisted (carer and/or mechanical assistance) wheelchair users

There is also an Access Exceptional accolade for mobility.

Hearing and visual
For hearing and visual criteria there are two levels:

• V1 or H1 covers minimum requirements ensuring guests are comfortable and basic needs are met
• V2 or H2 is the best practice level which incorporates more criteria

Promotion
VisitEngland promotes the scheme to consumers in a number of ways:

• In Enjoy England’s national marketing campaigns
• In Easy Access Britain – The guide to accessible places to stay
• With a search facility on enjoyengland.com, visitbritain.com and most regional tourism websites
• In all consumer accommodation guides produced by VisitBritain or VisitEngland
• Via disability organisations, such as RNID, who promote NAS standards to their consumers in member magazines
• Via specialist magazines such as Able, Mobilise etc
• By liaison with consumer groups around the country

Awards and access ratings make you stand out from the crowd - fact! Visitors are increasingly looking for reassurances up front, before arrival and to know that their hard earned money is being wisely spent.

Showing a commitment to quality and accessibility will give a business and a destination an advantage over others. Visitors will spend twice as long searching and planning a holiday or short break than they do when considering a mortgage. For disabled people this process is more in depth because they have to be absolutely sure that the businesses they choose will meet their needs

An access rating is not difficult to achieve
It’s a myth that the national accessible scheme is all about wheelchair users – it isn’t. For example the ‘One Step Ahead’ standard has been developed to help visitors who are less mobile or visitors who can benefit from a little extra help or space, such as families with pushchairs. Giving potential visitors an additional level of information about the accessibility of the business, through a nationally recognised rating, helps create competitive advantage. For more, go to Gain a National Rating.

Make the business a winner
Many businesses in North East England have already benefited from applying for North East England Tourism awards. As well as a specific award for accessibility ‘Tourism for All’ each category also includes a section on the businesses commitment to accessibility. Take a look at all the regional winners in 2008.

The regional awards are held on an annual basis and awarded to the best tourism businesses in the region. Gold winners go through to the national Enjoy England Awards which are held every year on or around April 23rd, St Georges Day.

Why enter? Because it’s free! And can bring great advantage to a business. Filling out forms does take time and effort but the benefits far out way the negatives. The process helps businesses to focus on what they have achieved to date, how this has been achieved and the goals for the future. In short, it supports the business planning process.

Benefits

• PR which should help to generate sales. For customers, awards are a great marketing tool. 
• Staff motivation, telling staff what a great job they are doing is all very well, but when the businesses has been independently scrutinised and an award granted it means so much more
• Differentiation - makes the business stand out from the crowd
• Benchmarking for price, an impartial award might well allow for a repositioning of price structure
• A closer working relationship with local and regional organisations
• Networking at regional and national events

Tips for the process

• Concise entry forms - Judges have lots of entries to read. Make the application clear and concise to help stand out from the rest. Respond to all the criteria to have the best chance of winning.
• Ask for advice – Speak to the local Area Tourism Partnership to get advice on what to include
• Review past winners – Speak to past winners, check their website, mystery shop them and compare
• Be prepared for the mystery shopper – This might involve a phone and email enquiry, visit and/or an overnight stay
• Get staff involved – Make sure staff are fully briefed about the award and ask for their help and ideas on completing the entry form