Tourism is a people-oriented industry and so it therefore has a major role to play in delivering inclusive, balanced sub-regional growth. In 2019, employment in the tourism and hospitality sectors was geographically dispersed with 70% of those jobs existing outside of Belfast, showing that the tourism sector in Northern Ireland offers inclusive opportunities throughout all regions and to all ages.
Tourism has the ability to address economic inactivity in both our urban and rural communities and is one of the few industry sectors which has the potential to create substantial employment across every part of Northern Ireland and within every section of our society.
By placing an emphasis on our people, their skills and professionalism we aim to enhance the attractiveness of Northern Ireland as a world class visitor destination.
Inclusive Initiatives – Embrace the Inclusive Spirit
Understanding that 23% of people in NI have a disability, 40% of households in NI include a disabled resident and £249 billion is spent by disabled customers in the UK each year, businesses should be prioritising this section of the community and doing as much as they can to improve accessibility for all.
Inclusive initiatives and partnerships which we have supported at Tourism NI include Belfast’s first inclusive tourism event. On 20 February 2024 Belfast City Council, supported by Tourism NI, hosted Belfast’s first inclusive tourism seminar called ‘Embrace the Inclusive Spirit: How welcoming disabled visitors makes business sense’. The aim of this event was to bring together a range of stakeholders, agencies and tourism businesses to explore how we improve our tourism offering, making it accessible for all.
The all day seminar was a partnership initiative developed by Belfast City Council and supported by Tourism Northern Ireland, Visit Belfast, Titanic Belfast and Open Arts. It was free to attend and concentrated on how welcoming disabled visitors makes business sense. Hosted by disability rights activist Seán Fitzsimmons, the seminar included guest speakers; Irish writer, educator, disability activist and director of Tilting the Lens Sinéad Burke, Mary Jo McCanny from Visit Belfast and Amy Walmsley from AcessAble. This free resource supports tourism providers and services to put inclusivity at the heart of their business covering topics such as; welcoming and communicating with tourists with disabilities, accessible communications and guidance as well as audio and web accessibility.
Tourism NI also provides guidance online for businesses on how to make their websites more accessible and inclusive as well as providing guidance for tour guides on how to promote inclusivity through their guiding. More accessible tours delivered by skilled, professional tourist guides benefits every visitor, not only those with additional needs. For example, Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast now offer British Sign Language, which allows their material to be interpreted via sign videos, making the tour more accessible and enhancing the inclusiveness of their self-guided tours.
Inclusive success will mean more sectors of the economy across the whole of Northern Ireland will benefit from tourism. Tourism investment, conferences and events will also have tangible benefits to local communities and the sector will be actively engaged with local communities as valued stakeholders in tourism development and delivery. Our aim will be that tourism will be an inclusive employer offering a diverse range of desirable career paths to people throughout Northern Ireland.
Contributing to a more inclusive economy
One challenge for the sector is understanding the perception of tourism as a career choice. Without a confident, well trained and professional workforce there is no visitor experience. Therefore, there is an urgent need to address the skills gaps within the tourism sector, to develop tourism career opportunities and life-long career pathways, and to create a sector that people of all ages aspire to work in.
Ways to improve inclusivity in the tourism sector include:
•Employers being able to offer staff competitive salaries.
•Staff seeing career pathways in the tourism industry.
•Staff having the opportunities to secure further training and qualifications.
•Comfortable and equitable working conditions which facilitate an accessible, competitive and attractive industry in which to work.
Taking these actions should result in an annual increase in the number of employees within the tourism sector from underrepresented groups. This includes those who are economically inactive, those who have disabilities, and those who come from deprived areas all contributing to an equitable distribution of opportunities to all our people.
Case study – Crumlin Road Gaol
Crumlin Road Gaol is Northern Ireland’s only remaining Victorian era prison. Having closed in 1996, it was reopened as a visitor attraction in 2012, designed to allow visitors to gain a unique and memorable insight into 150 years of history surrounding the daily lives and routines of both prisoners and staff.
Given the age of the tourist attraction, it contains a number of old buildings and structures, however, most of the site is accessible for wheelchair users and those with walking difficulties, and the Gaol also has manual wheelchairs for the use of guests. Ensuring as much of the site is accessible as possible, Crumlin Road Gaol installed a video outside the tunnel to show visitors what is beyond the steps, as this is the only area not accessible via wheelchair.
Ensuring accessibility for all, including deaf and hard of hearing customers, further investment was made in 2023 where Crumlin Road Gaol launched video guides in available in British Sign Language and text as well as audio guides which are all available free of charge. Also launched in 2023, the Gaol now provides audio guides in German, French, Spanish and Mandarin for non-English speaking visitors to help all navigate their way around the 13-acre site.
There are four sets of accessible toilet facilities at various locations within the Gaol including the Basement level, Governors Corridor, Gate Lodge and Cuffs Bar and Grill. Crumlin Road Gaol is happy to offer Carers free entry for the Self-Guided Crumlin Road Gaol Experience, this is on a 1-1 basis, and an online booking platform will soon be available in co-operation with Nimbus disability. Assistance dogs are also allowed into the main area of the Gaol and where fresh drinking water will be made available.
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