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3 TOURISM
Introduction
3.1 This section examines how the tourism industry has responded to the disability equality duty. While a range of organisations contribute to the tourism industry, the section draws largely from the scheme and action plan of the lead agency, VisitScotland.
Background: Wider Policy Context and Evidence
Wider Policy context
3.2 The economic value of tourism to the Scottish economy has long been recognised (MacLellan and Smith 1998; Dewar 2007). The Tourist Boards (Scotland) Act 2006 saw the renaming of the Scottish Tourist Board to VisitScotland. A range of organisations support the Scottish tourism industry such as Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Historic Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Forestry Commission to organisations like the Association of Scottish Self-Caterers, Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions, British Hospitality Association, WildScotland, Sustainable Tourism Unit, the Scottish Tourist Forum to name a few. Other key partners are clearly national and local government.
3.3 VisitScotland is the lead tourism agency in Scotland. Its core activities are to market Scotland, provide information about Scotland, to quality assure tourism services and provide advice to industry partners such as enterprise companies, arts, culture and leisure bodies, national park bodies, local authorities in order to meet visitor expectations. VisitScotland also has a key role in promoting partnerships with appropriate agencies to ensure a collective effort for economic benefits in the area of tourism.
3.4 The Next Decade, A Framework for Change (Scottish Executive, 2006d) sets out the vision for the tourism industry and its supporting agencies with the ambitious target of 50% growth by 2015. The industry identified five main levers for achieving growth, namely investment, increased marketing, quality, improved selling and a 24/7 year round industry. Disabled visitors are clearly an important market if visitor volume is to be met.
Research and statistical context
3.5 'Tourism is not recognised as a separate sector in the Standard Industrial Classification of economic activity as it is defined by the source of the demand (tourists) rather by the nature of the activity.' (Dewar, 2007:5) As a consequence, statistics relating to tourism in general are not readily available and there is a paucity of data on disability in the tourism field. Where national and regional statistics are available, published by a range of organisations such as the enterprise companies, VisitScotland, Tourism Knowledge Scotland and Tourism Intelligence Scotland, these data are generally not disaggregated according to equality areas.
3.6 The Scottish Tourism Forum (2008) records that there are 20,000 tourism businesses in Scotland with over 215,000 people employed in the industry, 8% of the total workforce.
3.7 VisitScotland compiles data on:
- the number of trips and visitor nights spent in Scotland
- the country of origin of visitors
- the level of spend by visitors
- the number of jobs in sectors heavily dependent on spending by visitors
VisitScotland's most recent report Scottish Tourism: Current Position Summary 2007 (VisitScotland, 2007) summarises the key volume and value results from 2007 and provides an interpretation of what has influenced Scottish tourism trends in recent years. Factors identified as being significant influences of tourism include the strength of the sterling currency, increased choice of destinations, varying levels of disposable income, weather and climate conditions, key events ( e.g. international sporting event) and perceived levels of security of a nation. None of the data include references to social issues or equality related statistics, including disability.
3.8 The Government's Higher Level Summary of Equality Statistics ( HLSES) (Scottish Executive, 2006b) provides 2006 figures indicating that of the 1,112 visitor attractions in Visit Scotland's Quality Assurance Scheme, 42% are also members of the Disability Access Scheme; of these 21% offer assisted wheelchair access, 8% provide unassisted wheelchair access and 13% have access for visitors with mobility difficulties. Visits to Scotland were categorised in 2006 by age and gender, but not by disability.
3.9 VisitScotland segments its activities according to age, gender, income and lifestyle of potential visitors but does not target particular messages at disabled people. However, steps are being taken to ensure marketing messages are available to a range of visitors.
3.10 VisitScotland does not currently provide information on the numbers of disabled people who are engaged in the tourism industry, since their main focus has been to ensure that the tourism industry is accessible to all, though gender statistics are available.
Reporting on progress towards equality of opportunity
Introduction
3.11 Tourism is a key economic generator for Scotland both as a service provider and as an employer. The vision for the tourism industry into the next decade is 50% growth by 2015. It is therefore critically important that disabled people, whether as employees or prospective visitors, are target groups for consideration by the tourism industry in Scotland.
3.12 As VisitScotland is the lead tourism agency, much of the information from this section draws on the disability equality scheme and action plan of VisitScotland. At the point of writing, an annual report was not available electronically.
Areas where progress is evident
3.13 Progress was found to be evident in relation to:
- Involving disabled people
- Accessibility and Marketing and
- Training
Involving disabled people
3.14 Progress is most evident in the encouragement of disabled people working within the tourism industry to participate and contribute to tourism consultation and planning. For example, VisitScotland's fourteen area network teams have a role in facilitating area tourism partnerships. In one area tourism partnership, a sign interpreter has been provided to enable a disabled business person to participate as a member of the partnership.
Accessibility and marketing
3.15 Another area of progress has been the provision of information and guidance on the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act via the VisitScotland website. In particular:
- Specific guidance has been drawn up by experts with experience of working with disabled people and a downloadable checklist has been produced which can be used by VisitScotland partners and service providers to assess how accessible an establishment is and where any reasonable adjustments and improvements need to be made. Case studies were also provided to demonstrate to businesses how to use the checklist.
- A CD-Rom has been produced for use by VisitScotland staff to review Disability Discrimination Act compliance in relation to VisitScotland premises and tourism business premises.
- 5000 copies of the Disability Rights Commission's guide for serviced and self-catering tourism have been distributed to a range of businesses from small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs) to larger businesses. Electronic bulletins provide updates of this guidance as relevant.
3.16 A range of accessibility strategies accompany marketing messages. Guidance is provided outlining how VisitScotland publications should be produced to ensure they are accessible to people with disabilities such as:
- VisitScotland's main guide to Scotland is accessible in CD-Audio format for the visually impaired.
- A free brochure Accessible Scotland Guide which lists almost 1,000 accessible accommodation establishments and visitor attractions are included. These establishments are members of the Disability Access Scheme.
- E-marketing activities are largely accessible e.g. access to registration forms, booking terms and conditions.
- Website accessibility has been improved such as the use of a text-replacement technique when images are used as titles, as on the home page. And improvements to site navigation.
3.17 A full review of all VisitScotland premises was to be carried out by the end of 2007 to assess progress in securing full Disability Discrimination Act compliance. In particular, the review would look at the availability of ramps, assistance bells, hearing loops and designated toilets. In the absence of an electronic disability scheme annual report, it is not known if this review has been conducted or is still in progress.
3.18 A comprehensive quality assurance scheme for those with mobility impairment has been in place for the past two decades. This scheme awards gradings to establishments on their suitability for different levels of mobility impairments. There are three categories of accessibility for accommodation:
- Category 3: access for residents with mobility difficulties
- Category 2: assisted wheelchair access for residents
- Category 1: unassisted wheelchair access for residents.
There are additional categories for caravan and camping parks as well as for visitor attractions.
3.19 The above scheme is being extended to cover non-accommodation businesses and support is now being provided to assist businesses in preparing self-assessed access statements covering the full range of measures that they have put in place to enable access to disabled customers. This information will be published on the VisitScotland website and be fully searchable.
Training
3.20 There is recognition of the importance of raising awareness of staff and service providers. A planned approach to disability awareness training has been adopted and an equalities impact assessment programme was developed and rolled out in 2007. Staff from the one hundred and twenty-three tourist information centres across Scotland will be trained in disability awareness.
3.21 To sum up, in addition to improvements in areas of web, marketing and premises accessibility, the tourism industry on a programme of continuous improvement are exploring ways they can:
- attract more disabled visitors to Scotland
- extend the range and quality of information on accessibility to accommodation and tourism facilities
- gain better information about the experience of disabled visitors
- record the numbers of employed disabled people and ensure they are equitably treated
Areas where progress is less evident
3.22 The following are areas where progress has been less evident:
- Availability of employee profile
- Improving standards of provision for disabled visitors
Availability of employee profile
3.23 An area which has been recognised as requiring work has been to develop a profile of VisitScotland employees. A full audit of staff was due to have been conducted during 2007. The lack of comprehensive information was due to the existence of different data collation systems when the Scottish Tourist Board merged with the former area tourist boards as a result of the Tourist Boards (Scotland) Act 2006. Consolidating the different systems has therefore required time.
Improving standards of provision for disabled visitors.
3.24 Though annual accommodation inspections do check for accessibility using the quality assurance category gradings for provision to disabled people, it is not known what incentives or steps are in place to assist establishments move to achieve higher category gradings as part of their continuous improvement. The promotion of better accessibility standards for accommodation is an area that the Scottish Government's Disability Equality Scheme 2008-2011 (page 62) has identified as an area they will be working with VisitScotland to improve.
3.25 Furthermore, the absence of an electronically available annual report at the point of writing this has meant outcomes for aspirational strategies within the scheme and action targets within the action plan are not known.
3.26 In summing up, there is a need to consider how to mainstream equality issues (including disability quality) into the main data gathering frameworks currently available to the tourism industry. The inclusion of equality datasets would enable baseline information to be available which will assist future reporting on progress.
Categories of impairment
3.27 There is recognition of mobility, hearing and visual impairments, mainly in relation to the accessibility of premises and information. It is less clear as to how other disability issues are being considered or catered for.
Consultation and Involvement
3.28 Consultation and involvement initiatives largely concentrate on improving the disability equality scheme and providing more structured feedback than was previously available. The action plan suggests that encouraging disabled people to participate in area tourism partnerships would be one clear way of enabling greater involvement.
3.29 Consultation and involvement of disabled people are also mentioned in relation to extending the range and quality of information on accessibility to accommodation and tourism facilities on the national tourism web portal as well as enhancing disabled visitor experiences.
3.30 While the involvement of disabled people is recognised as being critically important in helping inform future action, other than the establishment of a standing focus group, no other methods of involvement are mentioned. As mentioned earlier, the absence of an electronically available annual has meant the outcomes of consultation and involvement action areas within the plan are not known.
Summary and conclusion
3.31 The Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee Report Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities (Scottish Parliament 2006a) makes four recommendations related to tourism (Recommendations 72-25). These relate to:
- increasing service provision to disabled visitors;
- reviewing the Disability Access Scheme operated by VisitScotland;
- mainstreaming disability issues into the tourism review in order to promote Scotland as an accessible destination for potential disabled visitors; and
- introducing equality training for staff working within tourist attraction premises as well as those offering accommodation.
3.32 The emphasis at present is outward facing in terms of enabling the industry's services to become more accessible and available to disabled people. To enable this to happen, the lead agency, VisitScotland, works with industry partners to deliver for the improvement of services to disabled people. The lack of baseline data on equalities does not provide an easy starting point for a planned developmental process.
3.33 While the industry demonstrates an awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act legislative requirements, there is a need to show more clearly how disabled people are to be consulted and involved within the industry so that future action planning can be developed on an even more informed basis.
3.34 There is also a need to further consider internal changes, particularly in relation to the recording of the number of disabled employees within the industry. Given that the industry as a whole represents some 13% of the workforce, it is important that disabled people are fairly represented as employees within this workforce.
3.35 The range of organisations providing input to make up the Scottish tourism industry is wide and complex. There is a need to consider how all the partners work together in the same direction in relation to continuous improvement as an employer of and service provider for disabled people.
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