INCREASED accessibility for disabled visitors to York is one of the key issues the city's tourism industry must address, councillors will hear today.

A report to City of York Council's disabled persons advisory group (DPAG) says an estimated 130,000 of the 3.9 million tourists visiting the city each year may be disabled.

Economic development officer Ian Tempest says the new three-year strategy and action plan for the First Stop York partnership - which oversees the development of tourism - has an explicit requirement "to ensure that the York tourism product can be fully enjoyed by all people in the target markets, including meeting the needs of disabled people".

He adds: "Explaining this policy, the partners confirm that: 'With one in ten of the population believed to have some kind of disability, there is potentially an extensive market if York is recognised as a city that is readily accessible to disabled people and their carers'."

Mr Tempest says an organisation within First Stop York - York Tourism Training - recently co-hosted a seminar on accessibility awareness with York Tourism Bureau and the local Hospitality Association.

About 45 industry representatives attended and it was clear that training to understand the needs of disabled people was as important as the need for physical improvements to buildings.

Mr Tempest says when the York Tourism Awards were first held last year, DPAG expressed concern that some of the winning venues were not easily accessible for physically disabled people.

"This year, additional attention will be put on accessibility in judging the applications, though because the awards relate to customer care and marketing it will be one of a number of different criteria to be used.

"The organisers would especially encourage disabled visitors to nominate establishments for the customer care and other categories," adds Mr Tempest.

He says York is a popular location for disabled people to visit, being compact, relatively flat, and having an attractive environment being traffic-free in the centre and with dropped kerbs and textured surfaces.

York Tourism Training are keen to build on their seminar, and other moves include sending out details on disabled parking and access with information about festivals in the city.