Hundreds of businesses across Scotland have signed up to a training programme designed to make tourist services and attractions more accessible, according to tourism minister Fergus Ewing.

The online training programme was set up to help Scotland’s hotels, visitor attractions, pubs and restaurants better cater for the requirements of people with access needs during the summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

As well as promoting good practice, the training, which is split into four categories – accommodation, visitor attractions, restaurants and catering, and pubs and bars – provides users with a better understanding of the requirements of the sector.

National tourism agency VisitScotland also provided training to support 80 volunteers who offered assistance to those with access requirements during the Ryder Cup.

Accessible tourism was recently valued at being worth more than £370m (US$628m, €462m) to the Scottish economy, an increase of £37m (US$62.8m, €46.2m) since 2009. The rise demonstrates the huge potential economic benefits to hundreds of businesses and services across the country of catering for this market.