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People with disability were long overlooked by the tourism industry, but this began to change with better data collection, particularly following the landmark 2014 VisitBritain survey into the value of the so-called purple pound. It turns out that people with disability – and their family, friends and support workers, who account for what is known as the “multiplier effect” – contribute a significant amount to tourism revenues around the globe. The most recent Austrade estimate of domestic spending by travel groups including people with a disability in Australia is a staggering $13.5 billion. A 2017 study by Tourism Research Australia estimated the annual value of accessible tourism at $1.9 billion in Queensland alone.
So it wasn’t just “doing the right thing” that led Queensland to declare 2023 the Year of Accessible Tourism: there are significant economic benefits from embracing accessibility. But this announcement was also important symbolically, being one of the earliest steps taken by Queensland on the “Towards Tourism 2032” strategic roadmap to prepare the visitor economy to host the Olympics and Paralympics. With increasing interest in the Paralympics, host cities have used the opportunity to improve the accessibility of their transport and tourism infrastructure, and to become more inclusive in their tourism offerings. Paris is expecting at least 350,000 visitors with disabilities in 2024, and has committed €125 million to improve accessibility, in addition to the €1.5 billion President Macron announced to fund making public spaces across France more accessible. But Paris is still scrambling to ensure adequate accessibility, particularly in its transport network, so it’s heartening to see Queensland on the front foot.
But it’s not just a symbolic gesture: the Queensland government allocated $12 million in grants to achieve tangible outcomes. The Accessible Tourism Infrastructure Grant has assisted small and medium-sized tourism businesses to improve infrastructure. Among many other recipients, Etty Bay Cabins and Caravan Park refurbished an existing cabin into an accessible family cabin, Gold Coast Coachlines purchased four new wheelchair-accessible buses and O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat installed a wheelchair lift and all-gender bathroom in their 100-year-old property.
The Accessible Tourism Enablers Grant supports disability-related organisations to develop products and services for use by tourism and events businesses. This grant allowed Autism Queensland to develop an inclusive toolkit for accommodation providers, Guide Dogs Queensland and Queensland Braille Writing Association to develop resources to improve delivery of tourism services to the blind and low-vision community, and Spinal Life Australia to deliver disability awareness training.
The Accessible Tourism Elevate Fund has facilitated activities like improved communication and information sharing, digital and website accessibility, staff education and training, adaptive equipment, technology and infrastructure. This $5 million tranche was divided between access starter grants for businesses embarking on their accessibility journey and access project grants for businesses that had already identified necessary accessibility upgrades.
These grants are allowing many small businesses, which make up the majority of tourism service providers, to make their first foray into accessible and inclusive tourism. On announcing the grants, Queensland’s former tourism minister, Stirling Hinchcliffe, underlined that Queensland’s “commitment to delivering the most accessible and inclusive Olympic and Paralympic Games ever in 2032 is also a golden opportunity for Queensland tourism operators to shine. These accessible tourism grants will back more Queensland operators to fast-track smaller upgrades that make a huge difference to accessibility.” So far, 252 accessible tourism projects have been awarded almost $4 million in grant funding across Queensland.
In addition to grants, the Queensland government developed free business resources, including online learning videos and two educational podcast series: the six-episode Igniting Accessible Experiences and 11-episode Accessed That, which has reached 5000 downloads and hit number 1 in the Apple Places and Travel Podcasts.
Another million dollars was allocated to raise awareness of accessibility needs and services – something many businesses may never have considered – and a further million to promote accessible Queensland visitor experiences. Although these are relatively small amounts, the impact is huge. The tourism industry is one of the worst offenders when it comes to a lack of diversity in representation – holidaymakers in advertising are invariably young and beautiful unless they are well-heeled and handsome “silver” tourists enjoying a cruise – so it’s great to see funds being used to create marketing assets that show people with disability enjoying tourism experiences like everyone else. On the one hand, it encourages people with disability to visualise themselves in the destination – “Yes, I could do that!” On the other, an awareness campaign helps to create a ripple effect as businesses that embrace accessibility enjoy the economic benefits of access to a large and growing market segment. In the potential to grow the accessible market segment in Queensland by a further $1.8 billion by making improvements such as those currently being financed in the Year of Accessible Tourism, it’s no wonder businesses jumped at the chance to apply for the grants on offer. Indeed, the Year of Accessible Tourism was so successful in 2023, the current Queensland Tourism Minister, Michael Healy, has announced its extension through 2024.