A call to action has been issued to travel companies to support disabled clients and improve their service and sales through a public pledge.
Purple, a company set up to drive more companies to service the needs of disabled people, is urging travel businesses, including agents and operators, to sign up to Purple Tuesday.
This is a public pledge that commits companies to taking action to improve their service for clients with accessibility needs over a 12-month period and includes taking part in an awareness day on Tuesday, November 12. Up to 7,000 firms are expected to sign up by November, and already most have pledged six or seven actions.
Action could range from a website audit to make a company’s site more accessible, to training frontline staff on how to discuss clients’ accessibility needs.
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The free initiative gives businesses use of Purple Tuesday’s logo and they can also access Purple’s training for a fee.
There are around 13 million disabled people in the UK – or 19% of the adult population – with the ‘purple pound’ estimated to be worth £249 billion a year.
But less than 10% of businesses have a strategy to access that market in the UK, according to Purple chief executive Mike Adams.
He said: “We are trying to address inequality. The way to do this is for businesses to see disabilities as a commercial opportunity.
“There is a huge market simply being ignored; that’s not right for consumers and it doesn’t make good business sense. I would suggest travel agents are probably behind the curve.
“This is a call to action for businesses to improve customer service for disabled people.”