Accessible and inclusive tourism insights

Find useful accessible and inclusive tourism insights on visitors to Scotland with health conditions, impairments and accessibility requirements.

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Overview

Accessible and inclusive tourism ensures that all visitors can have a great time in Scotland without any barriers or restrictions.
It focuses on the visitor experience for a wide range of customers. This includes those who may need specific adjustments or facilities. These may include disabled people, seniors, families with young children, and those with medical conditions.
This page lists statistics on the volume and spending power of visitors to Scotland who have accessibility requirements.

1. What is the Purple Pound?

The purple pound is the term used to describe the spending power of disabled people. In the UK almost one in four people are disabled (24%).

Browse disability and other UK household statistics on gov.uk.

In October 2024, the Scottish Government published information from the 2022 census. The census asked if people had a health condition which was expected to last more than twelve months.

Browse 2022 health, disability, and unpaid care statistics on scotlandscensus.gov.uk.

Disabilities can include both physical and mental impairments. Some impairments and medical conditions may not be visible, such as hearing loss, arthritis, or autism. People may not always disclose these when booking or using tourism facilities.

As a business, providing accessible inclusive experiences can have financial benefits, and it ensures legal compliance. We provide information and advice on how to engage with this market in our accessible and inclusive toolkit.

Browse our accessible and inclusive toolkit.

Key statistics

£1.69 billion

estimated total expenditure on all tourism trips in Scotland by those with an impairment

£730 million

spend by UK visitors to Scotland who have an impairment

£850 million

spend by day visitors to Scotland with an impairment

£106 million

spend by international visitors to Scotland with an impairment

Source: Great Britain Tourism Survey and Great Britain Day Visits Survey (July 2022 to June 2023) International Passenger Survey (2018)

2. Scotland Visitor Survey

In 2023, we commissioned the Scotland Visitor Survey to gather insight on visitor attitudes and behaviours. The scope of the survey was leisure overnight visitors only.

The survey explores all aspects of the visitor experience in Scotland. Further information on the background, methodology, and key highlights are also available.

Read m ore information on the Scotland Visitor Survey 2023.

Scotland Visitor Survey 2023 - accessible tourism

Published June 2024

Download (734Kb)

Key insights on accessible tourism

Around one in ten visitors (9%) of visitors to Scotland stated they had a long-term health condition, impairment or disability. Of these:

37% stated they had a condition that reduces their ability to carry out daily activities
33% stated a physical or mobility impairment (non-wheelchair user)
9% stated physical or mobility impairment (wheelchair user)
8% hearing impairment
6% mental health condition
4% vision impairment

Around one in ten visitors to Scotland (9%) also stated they had a specific access requirement or other special needs (for example, parking, wheelchair or buggy access, disabled facilities or vision impairment). This proportion rose to 13% for Scotland residents and 11% for visitors from the rest of the UK.

Based on a ten-point scale and those choosing 9 or 10 on the scale, 35% of visitors with access requirements stated that it was very easy to get around during their trip in Scotland.

19% of those with access requirements encountered barriers or problems. The most common issues centered around stairs or lack of elevator, parking issues and uneven, narrow paths or cobbles.

Source: Scotland Visitor Survey, 2023

3. Key insights on volume and value

The data presented on this page is taken from the following three surveys:

Great Britain Tourism Survey (July 2022 to June 2023)
Great Britain Day Visitor Survey (July 2022 to June 2023)
International Passenger Survey (2018)

Domestic overnight visitors to Scotland

The latest statistics from the Great Britain Tourism Survey show the following for the 12 months from July 2022 to June 2023:
- UK visitors with an impairment took 2.9 million overnight trips to Scotland
- these visitors spent £730 million
Domestic day visitors to Scotland

The latest statistics from the Great Britain Day Visits Survey show the following for the 12 months from July 2022 to June 2023:
- UK day visitors with an impairment took 18.5 million day visits to Scotland
- these visitors spent £850 million
International overnight visitors to Scotland

According to the International Passenger Survey, international visitors with an impairment took 123,000 overnight trips in Scotland. Collectively, they spent £106 million.

Those with a health condition and their travelling group were more likely to stay longer and spend more than the average international visitor to Scotland.

They stayed on average 9.8 nights in Scotland, compared to the average of 6.8 nights for all inbound visitors.

The average spend per international overnight trip in Scotland among those with an impairment and their travelling companions was £862. This compares to the average of £638 for all inbound visits.

All data for domestic overnight trips and tourism day visits relate to trips / visits taken in Scotland by residents of Great Britain. Due to changes in survey methodology, this data cannot be directly compared with previous data.

An additional question was asked in 2018 within the International Passenger Survey regarding accessibility requirements. This remains the last available data.

4. VisitBritain MIDAS research 2022

In 2022, our partner, VisitBritain, undertook comprehensive research with international leisure travellers. They spoke to global tourists or prospective tourists from many markets around the world.

The research focused on motivations, influences, and decisions and also explored accessible and inclusive tourism.

Read the full VisitBritain Midas research

Key insights

One in four international travellers, or their companions, travel with a health impairment. The most prevalent of these are hearing and vision impairment, and mental health condition.
Northern Europe, South Asia, and North America have the highest number of those with accessibility tourism needs.
Britain is seen as one of the most inclusive and accessible countries amongst travellers with accessibility requirements.

5. Additional research resources

Access Survey findings

euansguide.com

Browse the findings of the ninth annual Access Survey from 2023.

Disabled visitor experiences

ons.gov.uk

Find qualitative research on disabled people’s experiences with activities, goods and services in the UK in 2022.

Health condition research

visitbritain.org

Read the findings which provide an insight into the needs of those with a health condition.

Accessible and inclusive tourism insights

Overview

In this article:

1. What is the Purple Pound?

Key statistics

2. Scotland Visitor Survey