EVERY DAY, I have the privilege of working with some of the most innovative businesses in Ireland, powering one of the world’s best tourism offerings. It is a fascinating industry that keeps pace with visitor trends while moving to the flow of the communities that drive it.
Tourism’s most enduring quality is that it tells the story of place – revealing gems like our culture, history and natural beauty to guests from all over the world. To do that, we delve into both the renowned and the relatively unknown, making it a regional and community-oriented product. To achieve this authentically though, a true representation of the people who inhabit this place should be allowed to tell its story.
In Ireland, over one million people have a disability – around 22% of the population.
Only 40% of that total number are in employment. The lack of people with disabilities in our workplaces represents not only a failure of inclusion, but the loss of skills and attitudes that can greatly benefit businesses and drive innovation.
I am visually impaired, which means I have a degree of sight loss that cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses or surgery.
My vision impairment has been both a challenge and a gift. Of course being unable to read the small print, see presentations on distant screens or drive have all been challenges, but learning how to listen harder, how to think analytically, figure out the bits I cannot see and how to set a higher standard in the simplicity of visual communication have all been tremendous gifts to my personal and career development.
Throughout my career, I have seen that embracing inclusion in business practices doesn’t just benefit people with disabilities and other minority groups; it has an enormously positive impact in a range of areas that are critical to high-performing workplaces. Across the economy, employers report benefitting from access to quality employees from a wider talent pool, enhanced employee well-being and innovation throughout the team, and in many cases increased profitability.
Tourism businesses are uniquely placed to benefit from diversity and inclusion. People from different cultures and backgrounds visit our businesses every day. Having someone on your team who can understand this means offering a much better product to a huge global market and ultimately, a better visitor experience.
But this goes far beyond the bottom line. We have an obligation to provide opportunities to all of those living in our communities to secure both a sustainable career path and an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to society.
Many of our tourism businesses are leading the way in building stronger, more inclusive teams, working with organisations, agencies and charities who support employers across Ireland to go on the journey of inclusivity. This collaboration is critical, and we are committed to assisting more tourism businesses, whether they are taking their first steps or looking for more ways to progress.
Last year Fáilte Ireland created a dedicated Inclusive Tourism team to ensure our world-famous destinations, products and services are accessible to all and to drive greater awareness of accessibly and inclusion. This team is currently working to support tourism businesses to enhance their offerings in many areas including the provision of accessible information, inclusive customer service, inclusive recruitment and enhanced accessibility within their built environments.
Our Tourism Careers division continues to work with agencies, organisations and businesses across Ireland to ensure that a rewarding tourism career is something that anyone, including those with disabilities, can aspire to. This includes access to information on inclusive education and training programmes as well as work placements and employment opportunities.
As part of this work, we have updated our recruitment toolkit to signpost the supports that businesses can access to make their workplaces more inclusive. To illustrate the impact of these initiatives, we continue to work with businesses to tell the stories of team members who are thriving, and the hugely positive influence they have on colleagues and the business alike.
At the rousing opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games last month, the head of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons, said that “disability is not a flaw in the person: it is the architecture, practices, attitudes, lifestyles and models of society that create the ‘situation’”.
Becoming inclusive as an employer or indeed a society doesn’t happen overnight, but we should not let perfection be the enemy of progress. Small steps can make an immeasurable difference to lives everywhere, and we are committed to working with all tourism businesses to make progress together.
Paul Kelly is CEO of Fáilte Ireland and chair of the board of trustees of Vision Ireland. If you want to find out more about building stronger and more inclusive workplaces, check out Fáilte Ireland’s Recruitment Toolkit.
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