Press release -
You are welcome!
A top Inverness hotel is stepping up its efforts to ensure it can provide the same warm welcome for all its visitors.
Around 170 staff at the Kingsmills Hotel are currently undergoing training to help better cater for the requirements of people with physical, sensory or learning disabilities, elderly visitors and parents with small children.
The hotel, which will today (26 Nov) welcome over 150 people as part of the Highland Tourism Conference, is the latest business to take part in VisitScotland’s online accessible tourism training programme. To date, over 600 businesses have already signed up to register for the training.
Accessible tourism was recently valued at £391m to the Scottish economy in 2013 an increase of £66m since 2009.
As well as promoting good practice, the training - which is split into four categories: accommodation; visitor attractions; restaurants and catering; pubs and bars; - will provide users with a better understanding of the requirements of this growing market.
Kingsmills recently added 40 new bedrooms including two bespoke rooms for guests with access issues. The hotel has also developed a revised access statement which appears on a new website which launched on 19 November. An access statement is a marketing tool that offers all visitors and especially those with access needs a clear description through words and pictures of the facilities and services they can expect during their trip.
Chris McCoy, VisitScotland Accessible Tourism Scotland project manager, said:
“I’m delighted to see that Kingsmills Hotel has taken such positive steps to improve its accessible tourism offering. With accessibility among the issues to be discussed at the Highland Tourism Conference, I hope we can inspire more tourism businesses across the Highlands to reconsider whether they can extend the same warm welcome to all their guests.
“We know that poor customer service and a lack of accurate information are among the biggest barriers facing visitors with access needs. By working with tourism businesses such as Kingsmills, our aim is to position Scotland as a country with world-class accessible tourism facilities, offering more choice as well as excellent customer service.”
Craig Ewan, Kingsmills Hotel General Manager, added:
“At Kingsmills hotel, every guest is very important to us and we really try to deliver our service promise of exceeding expectations with honourable passion. The VisitScotland training programme on accessibility assists us in training of all of our associates to ensure we think and cater for all of our guests equally. The needs of an accessible user, sometimes appear obvious, however this training will ensure everyone really understands the needs of the accessible users and the best practise, so all can enjoy the Kingsmills experience.”
For more details visit: http://kingsmillshotel.com/sitemap/access-statement-for-the-kingsmills-hotel/
For further information contact:
Louise Purves
Corporate Press Officer
Tel: 0131 472 2052
Louise.purves@visitscotland.com
Out of hours media enquiries: 07699 766986
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- accessible tourism
- corporate communications
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors:
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation has three key roles:
- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
- To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to exceed customer expectations
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- 2014 is the year Scotland welcomes the world, when it hosts the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and more than 800 Homecoming events throughout the country.For more information on Homecoming Scotland 2014, go to www.visitscotland.com
- The VisitScotland Information Centre network is a unique face-to-face channel engaging with around five million visitors and locals each year. Everyone who uses a VisitScotland Information Centre goes on to spend an additional £5.35, generating over £24 million for Scotland’s economy.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, tourism employs 270,000 people in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the industry contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- For more information on VisitScotland’s annual review please go to www.visitscotland.org/about_us/our_focus/annual_report.aspx
