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Hospitality industry urged to enhance disabled spaces

The UK hospitality industry is being urged to enhance its disabled spaces ahead of the International Day of People with Disability on December 3.

The call came from Bespoke Hotels chairman Robin Sheppard, who was recently named hotel sector champion by the government’s Office for Disability Issues.

The company partnered with the Royal Institute of British Architects last year to create the Bespoke Access Awards.

The initiative came after Sheppard experienced “consistently over-medicalised and joyless” disabled accommodation throughout the UK.

Sheppard said: “I am immensely proud to be a public advocate for improving access and experiences in hotels so that disabled people can enjoy life to the full, without fear or frustration.

“We hope that dates in the calendar such as the International Day of People with Disability will bring these issues to the forefront of people’s minds, inspiring innovative and inclusive solutions across the hotel sector.”

Penny Mordaunt MP, former minister for disabled people, health and work, added: “We have been short-changing a huge number of consumers, and they just deserve better.

“Just because a product or service is functional, it doesn’t mean it can’t also be beautiful. Really, that’s what we all want.”

The Bespoke Access Awards reward entrants who address guests’ experience from the front door to any room or service within a hotel.

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