BTP receives award from Paralympic champion for promoting accessibility in Bath

26th August 2010

Bath Tourism Plus (BTP) will be presented with an award for promoting accessibility in the city and surrounding area.  The ‘London 2012 Inspire’ award will be presented to chief executive Robin Bischert, by Paralympic Gold medallist Chris Holmes, at the University of Bath on Thursday 26 August.

BTP will receive the award for leading the ‘Accessing New Business’ course which has encouraged businesses in and around the city to consider and improve their accessibility.  The course has been funded by the South West Regional Development Agency and has consisted of two workshops run by LiveTourism – an organisation specialising in improving the quality and accessibility of the visitor experience.  The course has helped businesses to provide information, facilities and services for visitors in ways that are more accessible for people with mobility, sight, hearing and learning difficulties.  A number of Bath Tourism Plus members have attended the workshops and will also receive recognition at the award ceremony this Thursday.

Robin Bischert, chief executive at Bath Tourism Plus, said: “We are extremely proud that so many businesses have engaged with the ‘Accessing New Business’ course and are pleased to have been involved in encouraging Bath and the surrounding area to become more accessible for our visitors.  We hope we can support more businesses in the future to also take part.

In 2009, 11% of all overnight domestic trips in England were made by visitors with access needs, or by those accompanying someone with access requirements.  This amounts to 11.3 million trips, contributing almost £2bn to the economy last year, with a quarter of these visitors travelling to the South West”.

Karen Sheppard, assistant manager at SACO Apartments, said, “After the course we decided to aim for the National Accessible Scheme Level 1 as part of our yearly Quality in Tourism grading.  For this we have to ensure our property is made very accessible for blind or partially sighted guests.  We felt this was easily achievable but very beneficial”.

The Mercure Francis Hotel in Queen Square also took part in the course and found it equally valuable.  Cathy Lowe, reception manager, commented: “It made me much more aware of the needs of people with a disability and what we can do to make their stay more comfortable”.

Other Bath Tourism Plus members including Thermae Bath Spa, Hands on Health, Garfunkels, Bath Priory Hotel, Bath Festivals, University of Bath, BRLSI and Bailbrook House Hotel also took part in the course.

Chris Holmes, who is a gold medallist Paralympic swimmer and Director of the Paralympic Integration for the London 2010 games, will be at the University of Bath to meet the GB Paralympic team and to learn about the ‘Accessing New Business’ course.  The project will be awarded with the ‘London 2012 Inspire’ certificate, which will be presented to Mr Bischert, and Inspire badges will be given to businesses who have taken part in the course.

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Notes to Editors:  
For further information or images to illustrate this information, please contact Lucy Weaver at Bath Tourism Plus on 01225 477441 or email: lucy_weaver@bathtourism.co.uk. 

Bath Tourism Plus
Working with the public and private sectors, Bath’s destination marketing organisation, Bath Tourism Plus, takes full responsibility for managing the busiest Tourist Information Centre in the UK, with 535,000 visitors annually; marketing Bath and the surrounding area to leisure and business travellers; PR activity to attract top travel writers - generating £1.7m of coverage a year; development of official tourism website which receives just under 2 million visits annually: www.visitbath.co.uk; 450 commercial members with an annual retention rate of 98%; and development of conference, meeting and incentive travel website: www.bathconference.co.uk

Accessing New Business
LiveTourism is currently working on projects with the aim of improving the accessibility in London for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Their work also includes the ‘Accessing New Business’ course which consists of a number of free workshops with tips and ideas on how to implement accessibility and ways to  improve customer service, information on how to market accessibility, and how to develop the facilities and services required.