VERIFIED ASSESSMENTS

Take the next step in sharing more about your tourism property

WHILE THE MARKET IS NARROW, GO DEEPER

We are all way too familiar with the reasons that business is tough right now.

Getting more people through the door is everyone's goal, and we can help you do that.

While the available market is narrow thanks to closed borders and other restrictions, the best way forward is to go as deep as you can with the market you do have access to.

The proportion of people in Australia who have accessibility needs is massive, and this market is generally not targetted by tourism operators.

The people who need to know more about your property is anyone with access needs, whether due to disability, age, accident or illness. Their needs may be temporary or permanent.

A few quick stats (that may surprise you!)

Did you know that 36% of households in Australia include a person with disability?
Or that nearly 20% (4.4 million) of Australians live with disability and less than 5% of them use a wheelchair?
Plus, half of all people over 65 have a disability (that's 3.7 million people), and the many people in the other half will have some limitations.

WHAT IS ACCESSIBLE TRAVEL?

For some business owners, the term 'accessibility' will equate in their heads to cost and hard work. That is a myth we need to dispel.

Accessible, or inclusive, travel is about equality. It is about everyone being welcomed as your guest.

This is about more than compliance, wheelchairs and dogs – all of which are very important. Accessibility is about facilities, information and attitude.

It is not always about expensive changes to your property. In many cases it is about sharing more information about you so that people can make decisions for themselves about whether your tourism property is suitable for their individual needs.

Simply stating that your property is accessible is meaningless and has the risk of creating unrealistic expectations for your visitors and guests.

We asked people with accessibility needs a few questions and found that:

67% of people are unable to easily find the information they need when they plan travel
80% of people said friendly and helpful staff was a key factor in determining the accessibility of a property
70% of people would travel more if they could be confident a tourism property was suitable for them

Research has also shown that people with disability travel at a similar frequency to other travellers, are very loyal and tend to travel in groups.

The services we are offering at Travel For All are about helping you provide detailed information for this market so they have enough information to decide that yes, they can visit your property and be confident their accessibility needs are met.

Learn more about accessible and inclusive tourism

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN A VERIFIED PLAN?

Site Visit and Accessibility Assessment

Travel For All will visit your tourism property to undertake a complete audit of the current operations and facilities as they relate to the customer journey for guests with accessibility needs.
We will take a lot of photos, to illustrate the customer experience as documented in the assessment.

Verified Directory Listing

Travel For All will create your Accessibility Statement and upload all the relevant information, photos and video.
We will also include the standard fields that you share about your property, so that guests with accessibility needs will also see that information.
Your Accessibility Statement is hosted on Travel For All, can guests can easily view online or download.
The Accessibility Statement includes a Verified badge for high visibility and credibility.
Link to your Travel For All Accessibility Statement from your own website.

Visit the Port Arthur Historic Site to see a verified Accessibility Statement for a large site.

Training

We provide training for yourself and your team members.
You will receive access to all online training courses as they are developed.
Your employees will visit a customised branded enrolment page to sign up for training.
Current training: An Introduction to Disability.
Training in development: Accessible Social Media Marketing, and An Accessible Travel course

Marketing and Promotion

Your Accessibility Statement will be promoted to our community of travellers with accessibility needs through the Travel For All Newsletter and in the Traveller Forum.
Your Accessibility Statement will also be shared on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest).

Blog Post and Promotion

Create a post to promote your business, a special offer or anything you like. You write it and we will:

Publish on the Travel For All Accessible and Inclusive Travel Blog
Promote in the Travel For All Traveller Forum
Include in one issue of the Travel For All Newsletter
Share at least once on each of our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest)

Accessibility Consultation Report

Following a review of your property and website, recommendations will be made as to how you can improve the accessibility of your business.
You will receive a detailed written report highlighting additional accessibility services or facilities that you may wish to consider offering. We can refer you to appropriate providers to implement changes, as required.

FAQs

Do you provide the Verified service in all locations?

For now, the Verified service is only available in Tasmania (Australia), where we are based.

We do intend to extend this to other locations as demand grows and we increase the resources available for this service.

If you are not in Tasmania and would like to access the Verified Plan, please complete the form below to let us know of your interest. We will certainly take this into account in our expansion planning. In the meantime, we recommend that you consider one of the other plans that we offer.

How long will the site visit take?

The time we spend at your tourism property will depend on the size and complexity of your operations.

If you have a large site and a range of activities for guests to undertake, we may be with you for two or three days.

For many businesses, a day or less will be sufficient.

We will estimate the time required for our visit in our written proposal.

How will the Accessibility Statement help me get more customers?

Your Accessibility Statement is valuable and can be used to make your marketing and communications stand out. You can share your listing link, or the accessibility detail PDF to:

help with booking and reservation enquiries
promote on your social media channels
link to on business cards, flyers and brochures
reference in print and digital advertising
give travellers the information they need no matter where they find you, by including a link on other directory listings

Your Accessibility Statement on the Travel For All website includes the facility for travellers to leave reviews. This provides a central place for reviews and feedback on accessibility and inclusive travel.

How will this help me manage enquiries about accessibility?

How do you handle enquiries at the moment about accessibility?

Does every staff member know every piece of information and able to help every traveller with all the answers?

For most businesses, that is unlikely. Especially considering the need to employ casual staff in busy periods.

To best answer questions, you need to document and prepare your accessibility information and have it available for all enquiries.

Create your Accessibility Statement on Travel For All and having a full accessibility statement readily available will ensure no mistakes are made in what people are told.

This eliminates problems when guests arrive as they will know what to expect.

Adding "enquire about accessibility" on your website or marketing channels means that many people simply won’t bother, they don’t want to spend the time and go through the hassle. They will just move on and book somewhere else.

Making a commitment to accessibility by using Travel For All, will make you stand out.

What is the process for a quote and for payment?

If you are located within an area where the Verified Plan is available, we will talk to you about your needs and prepare a proposal for you.

If you decide to proceed, we will lock in a date with you for the site visit and invoice you for a 25% deposit of the agreed quote.

You will be invoiced for the remaining amount due once your Accessibility Statement is published on Travel For All.

I would love to do this, but I don't have much of a marketing budget right now.

We get it. We know money is tight, which is why we have put together a range of plans to suit different businesses and different budgets.

Perhaps the Verified Plan isn't the right option for you right now. Our Accessibility Toolkit is available on either a monthly or annual subscription.

Visit the pricing page to see all the options.

My building meets the building code for accessibility. Doesn't that mean my business is fully accessible already?

Minimum access standards do not guarantee accessibility.

Read a summary here of some of the issues, including a link to a more detailed article.

At Travel For All our philosophy extends beyond compliance. It also extends to people who will never be considered under regulations.

We are looking at anyone with accessibility needs, whether due to age, disability, accident or illness. It may be temporary or permanent. There may be just one thing they need in place to be able to visit you, or they may have a range of access needs. Their limitations may be mobility, sensory or communication.

We also believe that the term "fully accessible" is meaningless. Accessible to who? Everyone with accessibility needs is different and has specific needs. You are unlikely to find any place that is fully accessible to everyone.

Where do you operate? Can I sign up for Travel For All?

We are an Australian company, selling globally.

Wherever you are located you can join us at Travel For All and create an Accessibility Statement for your tourism property.

Your Accessibility Statement is valuable and wherever you are in the world you can share your Accessibility Statement and show your potential customers the information they need before they book with you.

You can share your Accessibility Statement link, or the accessibility detail PDF to:

help with booking and reservation enquiries
promote on your social media channels
link to on business cards, flyers and brochures
reference in print and digital advertising
give travellers the information they need no matter where they find you, by including a link on other directory listings

Please note that our prices are in US Dollars.