Best Practice in Accessible Tourism: Inclusion, Disability, Ageing Population and Tourism
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Best Practice in Accessible Tourism: Inclusion, Disability, Ageing Population and Tourism
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781845412524 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Channel View Publications |
| Publication date: | 01/15/2012 |
| Series: | ASPECTS OF TOURISM Series , #53 |
| Pages: | 408 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
Dr Simon Darcy is an Associate Professor and Research Director in the School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism at the University of Technology, Sydney. Simon's research and teaching expertise is in sport, tourism and diversity management. He currently holds research grants investigating organisational responses to accessible tourism, sports management practices and protected area visitor management systems.
Ivor Ambrose is the Managing Director and co-founder of ENAT, the European Network for Accessible Tourism. He has worked for over 30 years as a researcher, project manager, development and policy advisor in the fields of building design and evaluation, public housing, accessibility and assistive technologies for disabled and elderly people, accessible tourism and information systems.
Read an Excerpt
Best Practice in Accessible Tourism
Inclusion, Disability, Ageing Population and Tourism
By Dimitrios Buhalis, Simon Darcy, Ivor Ambrose
Multilingual Matters
Copyright © 2012 Dimitrios Buhalis, Simon Darcy, Ivor Ambrose and the authors of individual chaptersAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84541-255-5
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Ivor Ambrose, Simon Darcy and Dimitrios Buhalis
Introduction
Accessible tourism is gaining momentum across many different areas and activities within the tourism sector for both its inherent sensibility as a human rights issue and for its growing recognition as an important contribution to the economics of triple bottom line sustainability amid the general recession. This collection of accessible tourism best practice chapters is the companion volume to the first book, Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues (Buhalis & Darcy, 2011). While Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues sets out to explore and document the current theoretical approaches, foundations and issues in the study of accessible tourism, the focus of this book is on policy and best practice, reflecting the 'state-of -the-art' as expressed in a selection of international study chapters. In the following 24 chapters, the invited authors from around the world relate how the paradigm of accessible tourism is increasingly influencing tourism policies and taking form in a multitude of tourism settings and offers.
This book bears witness to the many faces and perspectives of accessible tourism. It can be portrayed – and can be understood – from a number of perspectives. Typically, innovative developments in tourism take into account the roles and views of different stakeholders, including policy-makers, construction, tourism providers and visitors. In this respect this book is no exception. It is also evident that, increasingly, accessible tourism is not only about providing access to people with disabilities, but is also about creating universally designed, barrier-free environments that can support people who may have temporary disabilities, families with young children and the ever increasing ageing population, as well as creating a safer environment for employees to work (Darcy & Dickson, 2009). As outlined in the conclusion to Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues, universal design and access for all applying the principles of universal design not only enables tourism organizations and destinations to expand their target markets but also to improve the quality of their service offering, leading to greater customer satisfaction, loyalty and expansion of business (Darcy et al., 2011). The principles also enable them to develop flexible, multi-use accessible spaces and also enhance their productivity and operational management, all of which directly influences their profitability.
This book has three defining elements. First, it is truly interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and international, as it synthesises best practice from around the world in a number of areas. The authors come from a variety of tourism-related backgrounds, reflecting our deliberate choice to invite academics, business leaders, public sector officials and leaders of NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOs) in this emerging field to share their experiences from research and practice. They include educators and researchers (Buhalis, Darcy, Dickson, Edwards, Fujimoto, Huong Le, Neumann, Ravinder, Rhodda, Schweinsberg and others), destination managers, professionals in architecture, marketing and information managers and executives working in tourist boards (Sandøy Tveitan, Daines, Veitch, Papamichail), leaders of NGOs and disability advocacy groups (Ambrose, Müller, Walsh, Van Horn, Voulgaropoulos) and owners of tourism businesses (de Waal, Navarro, Wright). Many of the authors are people with disability themselves and have experienced best and worst practice first hand. This provides an insider's understanding of not only the lived experience but their understanding of the relative inclusiveness of their professional backgrounds. Just as important, whether the authors are people with disabilities or not, we all share a passion to make our environments and the tourism experience more accessible and our societies more inclusive.
Second, the authors work and live in different parts of the world – including Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Greece, Norway, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, USA and the United Kingdom – reflecting the international nature of this research as well as the value and necessity of exchanging experience across national and continental boundaries. Learning from global experience means that, increasingly, standardised processes and legislations can gradually emerge. Not only to make design and implementation easier, but also to improve the development time-scales and reduce costs. The contributions also emphasise – some directly and others indirectly – how specific geographical, cultural, political and sectoral contexts influence the nature of tourism management and the accessible tourism visitor experience.
Third, a wide range of subject matter is addressed in these chapters, including tourism policy development at international level (e.g. Ambrose on the European Union), at national and regional levels (e.g. Ghijsels on Flanders, Belgium and Hernández Galán on Spain); strategic destination management (e.g. Prescott on Vancouver), customer relations (e.g. Veitch on the UK, Navarro et al. on staff training, and Wright on international travellers), architectural design (Papamichail on hotels), marketing, business networking (e.g. Sandøy Tveitan on web-based access information), project-based working methods, public–private partnerships and third sector involvement in accessible tourism (e.g. Walsh et al.). All case studies and chapters present research-based evidence and include references and further reading that will enable readers to research and explore these topics further and discover initiatives in their locality. They represent best practice and provide easily implementable actions that can increase the inclusiveness of facilities and destinations.
Universal Approaches to Accessible Tourism
Of course, this book shares a common perspective with the volume, Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues, where the premise of that book was based on the following definition:
Accessible tourism is a form of tourism that involves collaborative processes between stakeholders that enables people with access requirements, including mobility, vision, hearing and cognitive dimensions of access, to function independently and with equity and dignity through the delivery of universally designed tourism products, services and environments. This definition adopts a whole of life approach where people through their lifespan benefit from accessible tourism provision. These include people with permanent and temporary disabilities, seniors, obese, families with young children and those working in safer and more socially sustainably designed environments (Buhalis & Darcy, 2011, pp. 10–11).
Central to this definition is that accessible tourism is part of collaborative processes that understand the heterogeneity of access requirements informed by different embodiments, where the creation of enabling environments is understood through universal design, as summarised in Figure 1.1 from the concluding chapter that drew together the chapters of the book. This figure represents the conjunction of understanding accessible tourism from the experience of the tourist and the interplay that the tourist has with the disabling or enabling tourism environment. Understanding the tourist with a disability is a complex issue in that the tourist experience must be inclusive of: (1) the type of disability/dimensions of access (mobility, hearing, vision, cognitive and others); (2) the level of support needs of the individual (from the independent traveller with a disability to those with very high support needs); (3) their socio economic circumstances; and (4) the previous tourism experiences. The needs of each individual will vary depending upon their positioning within these four interdependent and overlapping constructs and the particular situation.
The tourism environment encapsulates the systems approach together with the individual journey of the tourist with a disability through the stages of travel. As we learnt through a number of the chapters in Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues (Arola et al., 2011; Foggin, 2011; Fullager, 2011; Pegg & Patterson, 2011; Poria et al., 2011; Small & Darcy, 2011; Veitch & Shaw, 2011; Wang, 2011) what makes the tourist with a disability anxious is that at every stage of the travel process accessibility is an unknown variable that needs to be encountered with a series of constraints and barriers that the non-disabled tourist do not have to negotiate. As we saw with the aforementioned chapters, the resultant experiences of travellers with disability were some worst-case examples of dependency, despair, despondency and indignity. Yet, when there is an enabling tourism environment, visitors' experiences are independent, joyous, dignified and equitable. This book provides examples of how the latter can be achieved for travellers with disabilities, no matter what their disability or level of support needs. It demonstrates that simple solutions and understanding of issues can make a huge difference and open the destination to accessibility requiring markets as well as improve operational efficiency.
Structure of the Book
In order to provide a guide for the reader, this section gives a short introduction to the key themes that are addressed in the five main sections of the book, namely:
(1) Policies and Strategies.
(2) Networks and Partnerships.
(3) The Accessible Tourism Value Chain.
(4) Destination Development.
(5) Accessible Tourism Experiences.
Significantly, all contributions point to the fact that accessible tourism cannot be delivered by means of a 'quick fix' or merely making cosmetic changes to information, a business or a destination. As the definition of accessible tourism used for Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues suggests, it needs to be part of a strategically planned for process, which specifically targets the market segment, and where the tourism industry groups work together to collaboratively-develop accessible tourism products and services. Hence, delivering Accessible Tourism Experiences typically depends on a process that incorporates the four interlinked sets of factors, as shown in Figure 1.2.
Starting with theme one, Policies and Strategies are basic requirements for initiating and implementing actions in support of accessible tourism. This is invariably true, whether they are complex and elaborate national plans formulated in lengthy documents by politicians and bureaucrats, or decisions made among business partners in a destination or even by an owner–manager at a single venue. Only when a policy has been formulated and agreed is it then possible to assign resources to the new priorities, focus the necessary energy and move effectively towards the intended goal.
Successful businesses and destinations depend on building well-functioning Networks and Partnerships (Theme two). These must be composed of stakeholders and providers that are attuned to the needs of customers who require good access and who possess the capacity to collaborate with other market players in delivering products where and when they are needed.
Theme 3 addresses the Accessible Tourism Value Chain which denotes the set of transactions in the supply of the tourism product to visitors. The chain must be developed in each of its 'links', e.g. transport, attractions, accommodation, and there must be reliable connections between all links if the customer is to receive adequate services throughout the journey.
Destination Development (Theme four) focuses on the strategies, structures and activities which destinations must put in place to enable accessible tourism enterprises to thrive – and thus provide an overall experience which is satisfying to the visitor. Accessible hotels, restaurants, museums and other visitor attractions must not be isolated 'oases of accessibility' within otherwise inaccessible landscapes; they must be physically joined up by accessible routes and transport systems. Moreover, destination management organizations must advertise the existence of accessible facilities and attractions through regular marketing channels in order to attract customers.
Theme 5, Accessible Tourism Experiences, highlights the visitor experience as the objective of accessible tourism and the guiding factor in the design and development of tourism products. While mainstream tourism is starting to discover the importance of the individual experience in winning markets and commercial success, it is undoubtedly true that those providers who are successfully addressing the accessible tourism market have a great deal of expertise in understanding their customers' needs and finding ways to satisfy the particular demands of this sophisticated market.
Section 1: Policies and Strategies for Accessible Tourism
Section 1 explores how accessible tourism policies and strategies have been developed and implemented in contexts ranging from the European Union (EU), to USA, Australia and New Zealand.
Ambrose (Chapter 2) presents an analysis of European policies for accessible tourism over the last two decades, indicating that these have largely been made up of fragmented and short-term actions promotingaccess for disabled people to tourism services. European policies in tourism have generally lacked a sustained and purposeful trajectory, partly due to a lack of political authority on the part of the European institutions. With the new competences given to EU institutions by the Lisbon Treaty (European Union, 2009), there is now a possibility of a comprehensive policy approach, including political institutions, stakeholders and representative bodies of consumers, for concerted actions on accessible tourism in Europe. A road map is proposed which calls for integrated actions at EU, National, Regional, local and enterprise/SME levels, leveraging a range of EU funding programmes in order to finance the actions.
In a number of areas of the world accessible tourism is being facilitated by legislation, public sector orientation and a gradual understanding by and collaboration with the private sector. The accessibility of tourist services in Flanders, for example, as described by Ghijsels, (Chapter 3) is an integral and major part of the Flemish policy on tourism, following the principle that travellers with a disability or impairment should have access to the same tourist offers as other visitors. Through dedicated funding programmes the authority has worked over the past decade to provide reliable information on the accessibility of tourist facilities through regular channels. It has introduced an accessibility label based on assessment of venues and has developed programmes for sensitization, training, design, visitor reception, guides and accessible infrastructure.
In Germany, Neumann (Chapter 4) begins from the observation that accessibility is a civil right and its establishment is based on the currently applicable legal provisions and standards. Neumann examines the political, organizational and business implications of this right, citing convincing empirical evidence that the market of accessible tourism must be addressed more firmly and more widely if the group of travellers with mobility or activity limitations is to be properly served by the German travel industry.
In their contribution, Voulgaropoulos, Strati and Fyka (Chapter 5) give their perspective on Greece's accessible tourism development policy, as shown in relation to the subject of Beaches and Bathing for All. Describing the general policy framework, they note that the issue of accessible tourism has been dealt with in a rather piecemeal fashion, and although state initiatives have resulted in some good practices in the past, it has been inconsistent in encompassing accessibility in mainstream strategies for tourist development. There is also a need, they note, for setting standards, monitoring and evaluating accessible tourism policies and practices in order to deliver a better product for tourists with disabilities and reduced mobility.
Laurel Van Horn, (Chapter 6) addressing the US market of travellers with disabilities gives a thorough review of survey and market data. The findings indicate that, despite long-standing legislation and policies in support of Americans with disabilities, there are still many barriers which restrict the frequency of travel and the types of long distance travel which individuals with disabilities are willing to undertake. Despite the very large size of the disability travel market, both in terms of numbers and market value, persons with disabilities report that their travel is very much hampered by physical barriers and poor service levels.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Best Practice in Accessible Tourism by Dimitrios Buhalis, Simon Darcy, Ivor Ambrose. Copyright © 2012 Dimitrios Buhalis, Simon Darcy, Ivor Ambrose and the authors of individual chapters. Excerpted by permission of Multilingual Matters.
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Table of Contents
Editors xii
Contributing Authors xv
Acknowledgements xxiii
Foreword xxv
1 Introduction Dimitrios Buhalis 1
Introduction 1
Universal Approaches to Accessible Tourism 3
Structure of the Book 5
Section 1 Policies and Strategies for Accessible Tourism 6
Section 2 Networks and Partnerships 8
Section 3 Accessible Tourism Value Chain 10
Section 4 Destination Development 12
Section 5 Accessible Tourism Experiences 13
Moving Forward 14
Section 1 Policies and Strategies for Accessible Tourism 17
2 European Policies for Accessible Tourism Ivor Ambrose 19
Introduction 19
Objectives for Accessible Tourism Policies in Europe 21
Coordination of Accessible Tourism Policies 24
European Accessible Tourism Policies 25
Future Policy Needs and Targets for Accessible Tourism Policies 28
A Road Map for Accessible Tourism Policies in Europe 29
Conclusions 34
3 Accessible Tourism in Flanders: Policy Support and Incentives Pieter Ghijsels 36
Introduction 36
Accessibility of Tourism Infrastructure 38
Reliable and Available Information on the Accessibility of Tourism Infrastructure 39
Development of a Label 42
Conclusion 45
4 Accessible Tourism for All in Germany Peter Neumann 46
Introduction 46
Stage of Development and Structures of Accessible Tourism for All in Germany 47
Conclusion 52
5 Accessible Tourism in Greece: Beaches and Bathing for All Nikos Voulgaropoulos Eleni Strati Georgia Fyka 55
Introduction 55
Key Management Structures of Greek Tourism 56
National Strategies for Accessible Tourism 57
Accessible Beaches and Bathing in Greece 59
The Need for a Strategy for Accessible Tourism 60
Conclusion 62
6 The United States: Travellers with Disabilities Laurel Van Horn 65
Introduction 65
Open Doors Organization (ODO) Travel Market Studies 66
Travel Frequency and Overall Expenditure 67
Internet Use 67
Air Travel 68
Other Modes of Transportation 70
Hotels 71
Restaurants 72
Destinations - Domestic and International 73
BTS 2002 National Transportation Availability and Use Survey 74
Discussion 76
Conclusion 77
7 Accessible Tourism in Australia Simon Darcy Bruce Cameron Stephen Schweinsberg 79
Introduction 79
Rationales for Government Involvement in Tourism 80
Tourism and the Role of Government 82
Disability Tourism Strategies/Disability Action Plans 91
Industry Awareness Campaigns 93
Tourism Disability Research 97
Conclusions 98
Appendix 7.1 Commonwealth Government Initiatives 109
Appendix 7.2 State and Local Government Initiatives 111
Appendix 7.3 Private Industry Key Initiatives 113
8 Accessible Tourism in New Zealand Sandra Rhodda 114
New Zealand Tourism 114
Accessible Tourism in New Zealand 115
Accessible Tourism Businesses in New Zealand 118
Why New Zealand Needs to Improve its Accessible Tourism Offer 120
Actions to Develop Accessible Tourism in New Zealand 121
Conclusions 122
Section 2 Networks and Partnerships 125
9 Universal Tourism Networks Mike Prescott 127
Introduction 127
Meeting the Challenge 128
Accessibility Principles 129
Network analysis 134
Application to Accessible Tourism 137
Future Trends 141
Conclusion 142
10 Tourism Victoria, Australia - an Integrative Model of Inclusive Tourism for People with Disabilities Huong Le Yuka Fujimoto Ruth Rentschler David Edwards 144
Introduction 144
An Overview of Stakeholder Theory 145
Research Methods 146
Victorian Policy Framework: Macro Level 148
Victorian Accessible Tourism Plan 2007-2010: Meso Level 150
Evidence from the Field: Micro Level 151
Implications for Policy and Practice 153
Conclusion 154
11 Accessible Tourism in Sweden: Experiences, Stakeholders, Marketing Lilian Müller 157
The Development of Accessible Tourism in Sweden 157
Accessible Tourism in Sweden - Strengths and Weaknesses 158
Actors for Accessible Tourism in Sweden 159
Marketing of Accessible Tourism in Sweden - in Mainstream and Target-Group-Oriented Channels 160
Accessible Tourism Strategies 162
Experiences from the Municipality of Askersund 164
Conclusions: Accessible Tourism in Practice 166
12 The Third Sector Responses to Accessible/Disability Tourism Philippa Hunter-Jones Anthony Thornton 168
Introduction 168
Accessible/Disability Tourism 168
Tourism and the Charitable Sector 171
Research Methods 173
Findings 173
Conclusions and Agenda for Future Research 176
13 Accessible Dive Tourism Caroline Walsh Janet Haddock-Fraser Mark P. Hampton 180
Introduction 180
Definition of Disability and Accessibility 181
History and Scope of the Disabled Dive market 182
Stakeholder Perspectives on Disabled Dive Tourism 185
Volunteer Dive Tourism and Disabled Divers 187
Conclusions 190
Section 3 The Accessible Tourism Value Chain 193
14 Tour Operating for the Less Mobile Traveller Andrew Wright 195
Introduction 195
The Tour Operation 195
Elements of the Overseas Holiday Journey 197
The Resort 198
The Next Stage 200
The Way Forward 202
Conclusion 205
15 Air Travel for People with Disabilities Simon Darcy Ravi Ravinder 207
Introduction 207
The Low-Cost Carrier Model 207
A Note about Language and the Cultural Context of Disability 209
People with Disabilities, Seniors and the Accessible Tourism Market 210
Methodology 212
The Low-Cost Carrier Model (Southwest Airlines) 212
Conclusion 217
16 Accessible Public Transport: Vienna City Tourism Roland Krpata 222
Introduction 222
The Viennese Model 222
Development of New Low Floor Vehicles 224
Re-design of Accessible Tramway and Bus Stops 225
The Lift Retrofitting Programme 227
Accessible Station Furniture 229
Visual Guiding System of the Vienna Lines Developed in 1969 230
Tactile Guiding System of the Vienna lines 233
POPTIS - A Navigation System for Blind and Visually Impaired Users 234
Real Time Information Accessible Even for Blind and Visually Impaired Users 236
Qando - A Web-Based Route-Planner 237
MofA or mobility4all 238
Quo Vadis Feasibility Study 238
Conclusions: Achievements and Further Developments 239
17 Accessible Hotels: Design Essentials Katerina Papamichail 241
Introduction 241
Accessible Hotels: Taking Away the Myths 243
Checklist 245
Conclusions 261
Section 4 Destination Development 263
18 Wheelchair Travel Guides Bruce Cameron Simon Darcy 265
Introduction 265
What is a Travel Guide? 265
Some Issues for Travel Guides 266
Iconography 267
Rating Systems 270
The Australian Case 270
Self Assessment versus Provision of Information 271
The United Kingdom Case 273
Europe for All 276
Mapping 276
A Strategic Approach 278
Conclusions 282
19 Accessing Heritage Tourism Services Shane Pegg Norma Stumbo 285
Introduction 285
Rethinking Service and Product offerings in the Heritage Tourism Sector 286
Dealing Effectively with a Diverse Range of Clients 288
Moving Towards More Inclusive Heritage Tourism Services 291
Conclusion 293
20 VisitOSLO, Norway: Supporting Accessible Tourism Content within Destination Tourism Marketing Bodil Sandøy Tveitan 297
Introduction 297
VisitOSLO's Accessible Tourism Strategies 298
The OSSATE Project: Planning and Implementation and Key Ingredients for Success 299
New Ways of Presenting Tourism Information Data 303
Strategic Issues and Problems in Data Integration 305
Conclusions and Key Success Factors 307
21 Accessible Tourism in Spain: Arona and Madrid Jesús Hernández Galán 310
Introduction 310
Arona: a Tourist Destination based around the Sun and the Sea 310
Madrid: a Cultural Tourism Destination 315
Conclusions: Learning from Madrid and Arona 319
22 Visit Britain: Leading the World to Britain Andrew Daines Chris Veitch 322
Introduction 322
Increased Provision of Tourism Product Information in Relation to Access 323
Access Statements 326
National Accessible Scheme 327
Product Development 329
Bosworth Battlefield, near Market Bosworth, Leicestershire 329
The Hytte, Bingfield, Northumberland 332
Conclusions 334
Section 5 Accessible Tourism Experiences 337
23 Australia: the Alpine Accessible Tourism Project and Disabled Winter Sport Tracey J. Dickson Simon Darcy 339
Introduction 339
Project Background 340
Outdoor Activity Focus 341
Ageing Population 342
Informing the AAT Project 343
Research Design 349
Case Study Background 350
Project Details 354
Discussion 356
Project Recommendations - Success by Design 360
Conclusion 361
24 Special Needs Customer Care Training for Tourism Susana Navarro García-Caro Arno de Waal Dimitrios Buhalis 365
Introduction 365
Why Train the Tourism Sector on Accessible Tourism and Leisure? 365
Accessibility and its Importance in Tourism Training 367
Difficulties in the Tourism Sector in Spain 368
Towards an Educational Training System Focused on Total Quality 369
Trainers for Accessible Tourism?
Training Methodologies, Content and Use of New Technologies 370
Conclusions 373
25 Conclusions: Best Accessible Tourism Practice Ivor Ambrose Simon Darcy Dimitrios Buhalis 377
The Language of Accessible Tourism 378
Social Responsibility or Business Interest - Why Not Both? 379
Delivering Personalized, Accessible Experiences 381