Tasmania is excited to announce the launch of the Accessible Tourism program, an addition to the national Quality Tourism Framework which supports business development for the Australian tourism industry.

This program hopes to support greater participation in travel by Australians with a disability by providing relevant, insightful information. This gives people the ability to make an informed choice by taking away the ‘unknown’ when holiday planning.

Importantly, the program also enables tourism businesses to consider ways in which they could improve their accessibility to become competitive in this market.

The Accessible Tourism module takes a business through a self-assessment of the facilities and services currently offered that cater to the needs across six identified disabilities/impairments - those with low hearing, low vision, limited mobility, use wheelchairs/scooters, cognitive/autism disorders, and/or intolerances/allergies.

Following the self-assessment, the business is provided with an Accessibility Guide that they are encouraged to make public which will enable the accessible traveller to make informed travel decisions. In addition, the business receives a report on where improvements can be made to be more accessible to those within any of the six disability/impairment areas.

For those that reach the essential criteria for any disability/impairment type, the business will be able to display an associated trademark(s) to promote their business capabilities to the accessible traveller.

Operators who complete the Accessible Tourism criteria will be assessed as part of their normal tourism accreditation. They will have access to the Accessible Tourism brandmark to display on their marketing collateral, and able to reference their Accessible Tourism Accreditation in grant applications, awards submissions and licensing agreements.

Accessible Tourism - Free for Accredited Tasmanian Operators

Want to sign up? Simply log into your Quality Assurance Framework portal and select Accessible Tourism from the 'apply for' box