Embrace the Inclusive Spirit 2025

The inclusive tourism awards celebrate the excellent work of our tourism industry to welcome disabled visitors. If you know a tourism business in Belfast providing exceptional service for disabled visitors in the following categories; most useful visitor information, warmest welcome, best stay, most inclusive experience and going the extra mile, you can nominate the business for an award below.

This free event is for Belfast-based tourism businesses and organisations. This seminar will help you realise the potential for growing the disabled tourism market for your business. At the morning session, you will:

• Discover the importance and value of the disabled tourism market
• Learn how you can market inclusively and imaginatively to disabled visitors
• Understand how to communicate effectively with disabled visitors at all stages in their customer journey, including practical hints, tips and guidance for welcoming Deaf, blind and visually-impaired visitors
• Get an insight on how we are working with our city stakeholders to make Belfast more inclusive and welcoming

Communicating with visitors who have a vision impairment

Tuesday 14 January 2025

10am – 12.30pm

Lyric Theatre.

Communicating with visitors who have hearing loss of are d/Deaf

Tuesday 28 January 2025

10am – 12.30pm

Crumlin Road Gaol

Communicating with Autistic visitors

Tuesday 11 February 2025

10am – 12.30pm

Belfast Zoo

The Belfast welcome is legendary, but could more confidence allow us to extend this welcome to all visitors? ‘Embrace the Inclusive Spirit confident communication training’ will help tourism businesses across Belfast to ensure our welcome is inclusive to all.

This best practice training video showcases the great work that industry is leading to make their venues and experiences more accessible and inclusive for all. View the video to pick up tips and guidance on how you can improve your inclusive customer experience. Featured in this first episode is Titanic Belfast visitor attraction, Lavery’s Bar and the Ramada Hotel.

Watch the recording of Belfast’s first inclusive tourism conference – Embrace the Inclusive Spirit held in Titanic Belfast in February 2024. Hear from Sinéad Burke, disabled educator, broadcaster and author, Sean Fitzsimons, disability rights activist; Ross Calladine, Accessibility & Inclusion Lead with VisitEngland and Amy Waumsley from AccessAble.