With a combined spending power of €3.6 billion in Ireland, people with disabilities are both a lucrative customer base and an important talent pool for businesses.

Businesses are being encouraged to up-skill their employees and change mindsets and behaviours around disability. A Kanchi 500 national awareness campaign is taking place across Ireland this week to provide free disability awareness training to 500 people.

The campaign is being hosted by Dell, PepsiCo and Medtronic, as well as by Cavan Co Council, which recently won a European Award for its progressive work on making the county more accessible to visitors with a disability.

Rory Fitzpatrick, general manager of the Clayton Hotel in Co Galway, said the initiative was a great way to show the hotel's commitment to creating a fully-inclusive destination.