Hotels, restaurants and pubs are losing out on a £5b market because they are still failing disabled customers.

Exclusive research commissioned by Caterer found almost half of all disabled customers were unhappy with the facilities offered by hospitality businesses, with accessibility and parking topping their list of complaints.

Dissatisfaction was highest among pub-goers and lowest among restaurant diners - but, perhaps unsurprisingly, 34% said they never visited either.

Many respondents said they often encountered difficulties entering restaurants and pubs, while navigating a route to a disabled toilet was a regular problem.

The survey of 505 people (of which 64% were wheelchair users and 15.6% were carers) was conducted in August by Arnold Fewell, a wheelchair user and marketing consultant to the trade.

Results revealed that where premises offered signed disabled parking bays of the right size, they were routinely hijacked by the able-bodied.

Fewell suggested that the "naming and shaming of some guests" might be necessary to remedy this initial barrier to disabled customers.

"If the business opportunity is to be grabbed, these issues must be resolved quickly," he said.

On a positive note, respondents generally found staff to be helpful. Only 15.5% complained of staff attitudes in pubs, and even fewer in restaurants (9.1%) and hotels (7%).

The British Hospitality Association (BHA) defended the trade, however, saying efforts to accommodate the disabled market had been frustrated by planning permission and a lack of clarity in the law.

"I think the industry has made a lot of effort but some things are not practical or affordable," said BHA deputy chief executive Martin Couchman. "Firms are often unclear on what the Disability Discrimination Act means when it demands a 'reasonable adjustment'.
I suspect only court judgments will clarify the issue."

Chris Grace, a wheelchair user and access consultant at In Your Stride, believed provisions for the disabled had shown a "substantial improvement" over the past 10 years. Nevertheless, he accused many firms of using the "reasonableness" clause to do nothing when, in most cases, they could do something.

The report is available for £95, with £35 going to industry charity Hospitality Action, from arnold@avfmarketing.co.uk.

• Hospitality businesses are among the worst at catering for the disabled, says the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).
  The leisure sector - which includes cinemas and gyms as well as hotels and restaurants - account for more than one-third (548) of the 1,500 complaints the DRC has received over access problems since October last year. Its key failings include a lack of accessible toilets, parking slots for the disabled, and ramps at entrances with steps. Staff attitudes also came under fire.

  The commission warned that it would pursue transgressors through the courts, where they could face fines of 50,000 or more for breaching the Disability Discrimination Act.

  The DRC is currently supporting a case against the Spirit Group for not providing an accessible toilet at the Shirley Inn in Croydon, Surrey.