Wicklow County Tourism to take the lead in accessible tourism
Stephen Cluskey, Cllr Miriam Murphy and Noelle Daly at the Wicklow Tourism AGM which was held in Tinnakilly House, Rathnew – Photo: WicklowNews.net
Wicklow Tourism is starting a new initiative in partnership with MobilityMojo. Mobility Mojo is an award winning, user generated website that works like TripAdvisor but focuses on access.
MobilityMojo co-founders Noelle Daly and Stephen Cluskey made a presentation at Wicklow County Tourism’s AGM in Tinakilly on Tuesday the 27th of June.
According to Eurostat, the demand within the ‘Accessible Tourism and Senior Tourism’ market could reach 160 million people, generating potential revenues of €88.6 billion by 2025. Scotland have been focussing on that market, and In 2013 the accessible tourism spend in Scotland was £1.5billion
Many of the businesses around Wicklow are already offering good accessibility and great customer experiences but fail to advertise it to anyone. Mobility Mojo encourages a ‘Good Access is Good Business’ approach and helps promote this side of a business directly to a targeted audience worldwide.
‘Accessible Tourism and Senior Tourism’ is a growing and profitable market! Through the partnership with MobilityMojo, Wicklow has a real opportunity to attract some of that market and become a leader in Ireland!
Cllr. Miriam Murphy says: “There is a real opportunity for Wicklow to take a lead and become Ireland’s accessible destination. Local businesses have already done a great job, and MobilityMojo’s platform offers a fantastic opportunity to let visitors know about it.”
Stephen Cluskey says: “The need for good accessibility affects all of us at some point in our lives, parents wishing to find suitable venues that welcome babies in strollers and has accessible baby changing facilities, tourists pulling wheeled suitcases, people who may have a temporary injury or a permanent disability like a broken leg or a wheelchair user and even women in high heels. A safe accessible environment also provides greater independence for our ageing population which ultimately has a positive impact for all of us as we live longer”.
“By promoting a ‘Good Access is Good Business’ approach, venues can showcase the accessibility of their premises to a targeted worldwide audience.” Says Noelle Daly. “This becomes more important when you think that one person with greater access needs can determine where a group go out for dinner or how accessible a wedding venue needs to be or indeed where a conference for more than 500 people is held, so rather than see accessibility as a compliance issue businesses reap the rewards when their premises is accessible“.
“This is a real eye opener for the hospitality sector and many others” says Pat Mellon, Chairman of Wicklow County Tourism. “Rather than see accessibility as a compliance issue businesses reap the rewards when their premises are accessible”
You can already register your business for free on www.mobilitymojo.com.
Margaret Stephens, Neassa Clismann, Stephen Cluskey, Fred Verdier, Mai Quaid, Cllr miriam Murphy, Cllr Brendan Thornhill, Noelle Daly, Martyna O’Toole and Gerard O’Brien at the Wicklow Tourism AGM which was held in Tinnakilly House, Rathnew – Photo: WicklowNews.net
