Our accessible tourism actions
Accessible and inclusive tourism is not only a social responsibility, it's a growing business opportunity for the tourism industry to attract more visitors to Queensland.
Our actions
The Queensland Government is committed to supporting the growth of accessible and inclusive tourism so that people of all ages and abilities can enjoy the state’s tourism offerings from the Tropics to the Outback to our beautiful beaches right along the coast.
2023 Year of Accessible Tourism
The 2023 Year of Accessible Tourism in Queensland is an opportunity to recognise the importance of accessible tourism experiences for all and to ignite change and create opportunities for Queensland tourism operators.
Targeted initiatives will be delivered as part of the Year of Accessible Tourism, with $12 million in new funding to be invested in initiatives to help the Queensland tourism industry better cater to visitors of all abilities and provide greater destination experiences for all holidaymakers in Queensland.
This will allow everyone to participate in a tourism experience with choice and confidence and lay the foundations for making Brisbane 2032 the world’s most accessible and inclusive sporting event for athletes and spectators.
Accessible Tourism in Queensland
The Accessible Tourism in Queensland project is being delivered across the state in partnership with Get Skilled Access (GSA) and TravAbility, and in consultation with the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, Tourism and Events Queensland and Regional and Local Tourism Organisations
The project includes assessment of tourist infrastructure accessibility and tourism business capability for people with disability and is being delivered over two stages, with the first stage completed in 2022.
In 2022, the project focussed on the tourism destinations of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay and Fraser Coast, Townsville and Outback Queensland and Cairns.
Under the 2023 Year of Accessible Tourism, the project extends to the Bundaberg, Capricorn, Gladstone, Mackay and Whitsundays and Southern Queensland regions.
The project has delivered the accessible tourism toolkit as well as immersive experience workshops for tourism leaders in government and industry to understand more about how to cater for a range of accessibility needs.
GSA is an Australian-owned disability enterprise founded by Australian of the Year and retired wheelchair tennis ace Dylan Alcott OA. TravAbility is a specialist travel agency catering for travellers with disability.
Accessible Tourism through Innovation
Queensland has numerous innovative businesses that could work with disability peak bodies to develop innovative solutions for the tourism sector to better support accessibility in tourism.
The Queensland Government’s Advance Queensland initiative supports several technology hubs that are connected with innovative businesses specialising in artificial technology, immersive technologies, advanced robotics and AgTech.
Some examples of how innovative technologies could support accessible tourism include:
- A simulated environment could help tourism operators understand the needs of people with mobility or cognitive impairments. Businesses would be able to use these insights to adjust their product offering to better suit customer needs and experiences. This reversal of perspective can help operators understand how to make the tourism experience more accessible.
- Digital twins and simulations make it possible to test for accessibility in tourism infrastructure design before construction. This will lower development costs and improve experiences for people with specific disabilities.
- Robotics and tools can augment equipment to better cater for people with impairments
- Machine learning and AI can develop speech to text transcription and captioning which already help people with vision, hearing, and learning disabilities.
Advance Queensland can facilitate collaboration between peak disability bodies who are interested in applying for funding and the Tech Hubs and their members to develop and deliver accessible tourism in Queensland.
Advance Queensland offers a number of programs and initiatives that may also interest disability peak bodies or the Tourism sector. Visit Advance Queensland for more information about programs and services.
Last updated: 03 Apr 2023