The AA to offer accessibility training and disability checklist
The AA has partnered with training provider AccessChamp to offer courses in customer service tailored to disabled guests.
The online courses are designed to help operators tap into a market estimated to be worth £2b.
Along with the training provision, a new checklist will be created for hotel inspectors so that they include provision for disabled guests in their reports.
Created by permanent wheelchair user Arnold Fewell, AccessChamp covers ways of improving customer service for mobility, sight, and hearing impaired people. The e-learning programme is aimed at managers, who can then pass on the advice to staff in a series of small workshops.
Simon Numphud, head of hotel services, at the AA, said: "This is a really exciting development for the AA as it enables us to enhance the inspection process and provide our clients with ways of improving the service they provide to all customers.
"We have many enquiries about accessibility each month and now we can direct hoteliers to a valuable and well-respected source of information."
Fewell added: "I have stayed in many hotels since I was disabled after an accident 14 years ago. I know that hotel staff need to gain more confidence when helping a disabled person and training using the AccessChamp resources will achieve that.
"I hope hotels will create an AccessChamp for their property and that they will be part of the senior management team. This will go a long way to put accessibility on the sales and marketing agenda and so increase occupancy and profitability."
