I have been working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to make the country’s tourist spots more accessible to people with disabilities or health conditions.
Tourism is a booming industry in the UK, worth over £66 billion a year to the economy and employing 1.6 million people, and with the sector continuing to flourish it is crucial that they cater for the one in five people in the UK who live with disabilities or a health condition.
There is not only a clear moral case for tourism locations to do this, but also a clear business case to make the industry more accessible so that all people can enjoy our country’s great tourist sites.
I have been working with tourist sites and organisations since I began my ministerial role as Tourism Minister in January 2018 to encourage improvements such as:
· making sites wheelchair accessible;
· installing changing places and toilets; and
· providing accommodation for assistance dogs.
I have been pleased with the progress of this scheme. Many famous sites such as the Roman Baths and the ‘Eureka! The National Children’s Museum’ are at the forefront of making changes.
In the last fortnight I attended an event to celebrate the work being done to make the tourism sector more accessible to people with disabilities and health conditions. The event, held in the magnificent Lancaster House, gave me the opportunity to meet and talk to many of those in the sector and in Government about the great work being done in this regard, including Chris Veitch, the Government’s Disability Sector Champion for Tourism, who has been at the forefront of the day-to-day ongoings for this project.
There is much more to be done but I am pleased with the progress being made.