To mark this year’s Purple Tuesday, NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI) will join global celebrations to promote inclusivity and accessibility for visitors with physical and hidden disabilities.
As well as shining a light on the region’s accessible provisions and raising awareness, NGI have set out their ambitions and commitment to drive the accessibility agenda across the visitor economy, celebrating and driving quality within the industry.
Taking place on 1 November, Purple Tuesday is a global social movement dedicated to improving the customer experience for disabled people and their families 365 days a year. The initiative inspires organisations of all sectors and sizes to promote awareness and implement solutions for better accessibility.
Over the last twenty years venues and attractions in Newcastle, Gateshead and the wider region have made great strides in accessibility and inclusion, implementing interventions to improve the customer experience, but more needs to be done.
Globally, there are 1.8 bn disabled people, representing 17% of the population and by removing potential barriers which these visitors face, businesses and destinations can unlock a valuable and underserved visitor and customer base.
As part of NGI’s ongoing commitment to make the region a more inclusive and accessible visitor destination, they have teamed up with leading tech company Kerckhoffs, to develop 360-degree videos, using their state-of-the-art product Eyemmersive®. They have a vision to democratise tourism through VR technologies and promote accessibility and inclusion in the tourism sector through these next generation tools.
The Crowne Plaza, Maldron Hotel, The Hilton, Newcastle Castle have partnered to create videos that will enable visitors with disabilities to be able to confidently book day trips, short breaks, and holidays. Through Eyemmersive® the teams have also captured an immersive experience of Newcastle’s Quayside Market on a Sunday, using end-to-end 8K VR mapping, so that visitors can not only explore the market virtually, but prepare children with special educational needs and disabilities before they experience it in real life.
Dr Selvakumar Ramachandran, a researcher for the European Network for Accessible Tourism and Director of Kerckhoffs, said:
“As an innovator, entrepreneur, researcher and a person with disabilities, it is indeed a great privilege for me to collaborate with NewcastleGateshead Initiative on their project to promote accessibility and inclusion in our destination through next generation emerging technologies, particularly VR.
“We are delighted to work together to bring forward our vision for accessible tourism in the North East and the UK and to create a catalyst for visiting our beautiful region.”
Ian Thomas, Destination Director, NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI), added:
“It’s fantastic to see the wealth of activity happening in our region around accessibility, our ambition is to become a fully accessible destination for visitors and our business community will have a huge role to play in driving this forward.
“27% of North East residents have a disability and 22% live with one nationally, so it is vital that we continue to learn from the community and provide exceptional experiences for all.
“We are continuing to work with partners, businesses and experts to ensure accessibility is on the agenda and support the implementation of accessible facilities, procedures and innovative new tools and technology across regional visitor attractions and accommodation.”
NGI is currently engaging the tourism business community to identify the current provision and challenges, bringing together destination expertise, accessibility experts,
innovative technology to find new solutions.
If you are a tourism business in the region and are interested in driving accessible visitor experiences, please email lisa.liddell@ngi.org.uk