Ministers are urging the UK tourism industry to recognise the potential value in catering for disabled visitors.
Following the 2018 VisitEngland awards for Excellence, both the Minister for Arts Heritage & Tourism, Michael Ellis and Minister for Disabled people Sarah Newton have called for the leisure attractions to cater for disabled visitors and enhance their accessibility. They point out UK tourism is growing by more than 6%pa, with a 5.8% increase in domestic travel; set alongside the fact that one in five people in Britain have a disability or health condition, they maintain there is a business case to justify any investment.
Closomat, Britain’s leading provider of accessible toilet solutions which has enabled accessibility for brands including JDWetherspoon, Alton Towers, Forestry Commission Scotland, Copthorne Tara and Legoland Windsor Resort, backs the argument, and offers an unrivalled, assured solution to enable venues to enhance their accessible offering.
“If you’re going on a trip for any duration- a day, overnight, or longer, you ARE going to need the toilet,” says Robin Tuffley, Closomat marketing manager. “But often ‘accessible’ toilets are actually inaccessible- whether in a hotel or tourist attraction. It can be something as simple as the actual positioning of the fixtures and fittings, or a larger issue such as the lack of appropriate fixtures and fittings.”
“Closomat is unique in its proven, validated ability to provide a complete package, to ensure any accessible toilet facility is efficiently executed to full compliance, with style, be it a toilet, en-suite or bathroom in a hotel through to an assisted accessible facility- aka a Changing Places toilet- at an attraction. Indeed, installing a Changing Places is one of the key adaptations highlighted as an exemplar change to improve accessibility.”
Closomat is the only British manufacturer of accessible toilet solutions that can also provide a complete project management package.
Its Palma Vita shower toilet- also known as a smart toilet, is the brand leader, and ensures inclusion beyond disability: its wash and dry functions address cultural and religious considerations. The toilet is now also deemed under British Standards to make a notable difference to ensuring a disabled person’s independence and dignity when using a facility such as a Changing Places
Closomat’s product offering encompasses shower toilets, ceiling track hoists, fixed and height adjustable washbasins, shower seats and changing benches, including variants that utilise a wall track to enable personalisation of an en-suite to individual needs. They also cover the full ambit of equipment needed for a compliant Changing Places assisted accessible toilet. Its project management package is fully CDM compliant, and covers design advice, supply, install, commissioning and aftersales servicing/maintenance.
Closomat’s website- www.clos-omat.com– is now the ‘go to’ resource for ‘away from home’ accessible toilet information: NBS specifications, CAD blocks, typical layouts, white papers etc are all available for free download.
