Tourism and hospitality businesses that improve their accessibility could see healthy returns on their investments.

Figures from VisitEngland show that overnight trips made by people who either have, or are accompanied by someone with, a health condition or impairment contributed almost £2bn to the English domestic visitor economy during 2009.

More than 11 million such trips were made last year, equating to 11 per cent of the total volume of domestic overnight tourism in England. Trips by this group tend to be longer than average and as a result their spend per trip is higher.

James Berresford, chief executive VisitEngland, said: "It is vital that our tourism industry is in a position to cater for specific needs of anyone travelling with a health condition or impairment.

"Tourism businesses should view accessibility in its broadest sense, as fundamentally it is about understanding and catering for the individual needs of all visitors and in doing so providing a high quality and memorable experience which in turn will generate repeat bookings and visitor loyalty."