OpeMed Gets Behind English Tourism Week

As proud sponsors of the Changing Places Campaign, we are witness to an incredible growth in awareness for disability and accessibility. Visit England and Disabled Go have acknowledged the power of disability awareness and accessibility in public places in various reports over the years, and most recently Visit England have released the ‘Purple Pound Report’ which has researched and measured the volume and value of accessible tourism in England.

Some key facts from the report…

“£12.4BN is spent on trips where a member of the party has an impairment”

“£9.4BN is the amount spent on day trips by this sector” 

“271 million is the amount of trips taken by this sector”

The above quotes from the report highlight not just the importance of accessibility to the population but also the dramatic impact this sector makes to the economy through incremental tourism. This is the point that is so essential for tourism providers to understand, not only in considering Changing Places but in the design and build of their properties too.

Putting the ‘Purple Pound’ research into action; Visit England have co-ordinated an ‘Access for All- Unlocking The Purple Pound’ conference, taking place on March 18th (which ties in nicely to English Tourism Week).

OpeMed are delighted to have been invited to co-sponsor the event as a key player in the accessibility market and main installer to a number of tourism venues via Changing Places. We will be proudly demonstrating some of our equipment and case studies at the event to show tourism decision makers how they can improve their accessibility- and not at a breathtaking cost!

The conference will be held at Blackpool’s Sandcastle Water Park for tourism operators including managers of visitor services, operations, sales and marketing and SME owners looking to improve access in their venue:

• Do you recognise the business opportunities of good access for all but are not sure how best to approach it?
• Are you keen to meet your obligations under the Equality Act but need ideas on making ‘reasonable adjustments’?
• Do you want to find simple, low-cost ways of improving the experience for all of your visitors?

If you would simply like some more information about the conference or are interested in attending please view the invitation.

View our Changing Places case studies and recommended Changing Places products.