What is accessible tourism in the 21st century, and how is it designed?   Do the products and services currently available really cater to the demands and needs of a constantly evolving market?   Is there a concrete dialogue between users and service providers that has developed sufficiently to guarantee an effective response?  Is it possible to measure the accessibility of tourism services?  And, ultimately, is this the sort of investment that pays?   These are questions that still confront us – is the tourism industry listening – I am not sure that it is!

Is accessible tourism a viable size market to entice tourism providers to confront?  There are 750 million people with disabilities worldwide.  Adults with disabilities control over $3 trillion in discretionary income worldwide (National Organization on Disabilities), which is predicted to spike.

It is a fact that at the end of 2011, accessible tourism was seen as the fastest-growing business opportunity in the tourism industry.   It is also a fact that the tourism industry needs to recognize that this business opportunity includes the ever-increasing number of older members of the population around the world and realize that this unique market of people with disabilities and the older members of the community,  as being very profitable.

70% of people with disabilities can travel, but because of the lack of accessible tourism accommodation and other venues such as restaurants, museums, theme parks, etc, they do not.  There is an enormous mismatch between demand and what is offered by tourism providers in the way of infrastructure and services, neither of which is meeting the needs of people with disabilities.  All stakeholders in the tourism industry, including transport companies, need to make more effort to improve the quantity of accessible tourism facilities.  People with accessibility needs have the desire and the right to travel like everyone else.  However, their travel experiences are still highly restricted by physical barriers such as transport, inaccessible accommodation, and other tourism sites as well as barriers such as a general lack of information on poorly designed websites. 

A study undertaken by the Balearic Islands School of Catering in Spain found that 90% of hotel chain websites and  75% of individual hotel websites were inaccessible to certain groups of users.  As a result, tourism providers lose market share.  www.australiaforall.com  is a prime example of an international website that is devoted entirely to tourism accommodation and venues that are accessible to people with disabilities.  The need for such a targeted website is confirmed by the statistics which show that in the last two months, there were over 700 first-time visitors to the site.

Accessible Tourism cannot be termed a ‘small niche market’.  Accessibility is big business and the market is growing rapidly – partly because the world is growing older and old age generally goes in tandem with disability.

The tourism industry should realize that open access benefits all customers – accessibility is a competitive and economic advantage, not just a social or legal responsibility.

Various providers in the tourism industry, both private and public, have started, although too slowly, to be aware of the importance that a substantial portion of potential customers pay for products and accessible services.

In many countries, legislation is in place, but its implementation is not mandatory, this does not mean that accessibility should be ignored by the tourism industry.

Returning to our question: “Is the tourism industry listening?

It is very clear about worldwide accessible tourism the demand is increasing very rapidly.  The demand is not only coming from people with disabilities, but also from elderly tourists, who do not see themselves as being in any way disabled, but who appreciate the fixtures and fittings found, for example, inaccessible toilets/shower areas, as these aid their balance.  There is also a lesser, but increasing, demand from families with young children for accessible facilities.

So the answer to the question posed above is  “I am not sure that it is”!

Avatar photo Sheila King (1 Posts)

Australia For All Alliance - Accessing The World


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