Accessible and inclusive tourism

Report highlights

• In 2023, 724,000 trips or 1.9% of the all inbound overnight visits to the UK were taken by those with a health condition or impairment or travelling within a group where a member had a health condition or impairment.
• The total expenditure generated by those visits is estimated to be £624 million, or 2.0% of all inbound visitor spending in 2023.
• In 2023, the number of visits with impairments is 5% below the level in 2018 (total inbound visits were 6% below).
• When compared to total inbound visits, visits with a health condition or impairment lasted longer on average and the average spend per visit was higher, while average spend per night was smaller.
• The smaller average spend per night is due to visits with impairments being more likely, than all inbound visits, to be visiting friends or relatives, which tend to be longer and cost less.

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Here, we estimate the volume and value of the accessible tourism market in England. The data is taken from the following three surveys: Great Britain Day Visitor Survey (July 2022 to June 2023), Great Britain Tourism Survey (July 2022 to June 2023) and International Passenger Survey (2018).

Report highlights

• The total travel expenditure generated by those with a health impairment or travelling in a group where a member had a health impairment is estimated to be £14.6 billion annually
• This figure breaks down as £0.5bn from inbound, £6.7bn domestic overnight and £7.4bn domestic day visits.
• The spend from trips taken by those with an impairment and their travelling companions made up 2.2% of all inbound trip spending in England in 2018, 24% of domestic overnight trip spending and 18% of day visit spending in England in the 12 months to June 2023.

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Report highlights

• The booking and planning journey is influenced by multiple, complex factors, and driven by researching facts and opinion to inform a personal choice.
• Accommodation is just one part of the overall decision-making process, all of which are impacted by having a health condition. Often the accommodation search doesn’t start until the other elements (surrounding area, attractions, amenities) are considered.
• Most holiday-makers think about accommodation features, rather than specific health conditions or disability categories: “Don’t tell me what I want, tell me what you have and I’ll make my decision”.

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Report highlights

• 759,000 trips or 1.9% of the total inbound overnight visits to the UK in 2018 were taken by those with a health impairment or travelling within a group where a member had a health impairment.
• The total expenditure generated by those visits is estimated to be £552 million, or 2.1% of all inbound visitor spending in 2018.
• Since 2010, inbound visits in 2018 from those with a health impairment have grown significantly: up 16% in volume and up 42% in value.
• In 2018, growth in visitors requiring a wheelchair saw the biggest rise - up 136% since 2010.
• Those with a health condition and their travelling group are more likely to stay for longer and spend more than the UK inbound average.

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Report highlights

• 30% of establishments were accessible at the time (‘accessible’ was defined as having a step-free access and at least one room for wheelchair users).
• Nearly two thirds (63%) of businesses which provide for accessibility needs say they do not promote the fact that they do. 
• A theme throughout the interviews was that many operators seemed to think instantly of ‘mobility needs’ when the term ‘accessibility needs’ was mentioned.
• The most common form of provision is designated accessible parking spaces found in 50% of establishments. 37% have large print information. And only 21% of establishments provided staff training with respect to welcoming guests with accessibility needs.

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