Accessible Tourism Research

Research is only good if it brings about improved access and accessible experiences - Lessons from Dunedin, New Zealand

2011-12-07T15:43:00.001+11:00

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-12456728-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {} This blog is dedicated to showcasing research evidence for accessible

ADVANCE BOOK PUBLICATION NOTICE: BEST PRACTICE IN ACCESSIBLE TOURISM

2011-11-30T10:45:00.002+11:00

BEST PRACTICE IN ACCESSIBLE TOURISMInclusion, Disability, Ageing Population and Tourism Edited by Dimitrios Buhalis (Bournemouth University), Simon Darcy (University of Technology, Sydney) and Ivor Ambrose (European Network for Accessible Tourism - ENAT) DescriptionThis book brings together global expertise in planning, design and management to inform and stimulate providers of travel,

New Published Research from US on Motivations of people with acquired mobility disability to travel

2011-11-20T18:04:00.001+11:00

Surprisingly few studies have examined the motivations of people with disability to travel. The Shi, Cole and Chancellor (2012) newly published article applies Crompton’s (1979) push pull model of travel motivations to examine people with acquired mobility disability’s motivation to travel. The qualitative study undertook two focus groups at the 13th Congress of The Society for Accessible Travel

The embodied tourist experiences of people with vision impairment: Management implications beyond the visual gaze

2011-11-19T10:48:00.000+11:00

Adding to Richards, Prichard and Morgan's (2010) (re)envisioning of the tourist experience, Poria, Reichel & Brandt (2011) examination of 15 in-depth interviews of blind people’s experiences of air travel, hotels and restaurants, art museums and staff behaviour, comes a new study by Small, Darcy and Packer (2011). Building on Small & Darcy’s (2011) examination of embodiement, the study uses a

New Research Article based on Korean PwD: Influences of travel constraints on the people with disabilities' intention to travel: An application of Seligman's helplessness theory

2011-07-27T22:36:00.003+10:00

Full Reference Lee, B. K., Agarwal, S., & Kim, H. J. Influences of travel constraints on the people with disabilities' intention to travel: An application of Seligman's helplessness theory. Tourism Management, In Press, Corrected Proof. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2011.06.011 Lee, Agarwal & Kim's (2011) new research article based on Korean people with disability draws on leisure constraint theory

National Tourism Dialogue and Communiqué on Accessible Tourism

2011-07-13T22:04:00.001+10:00

The National Information Communication Awareness Network for the arts, sport, recreation and tourism (a.k.a. NICAN) recently held a National Tourism Dialogue that brought together stakeholders with an interest in the area disability, access and inclusive or accessible tourism http://www.nican.com.au/news/communique-national-tourism-dialogue The Dialogue was opened by Sen Jan McLucas the

World Report on Disability - The Travel Chain

2011-07-08T21:44:00.001+10:00

The World Health Organization (2011) has produced an extensive research report on disability, which reviews evidence about the situation of people with disabilities around the world. It draws together the most recent sources to present a comprehensive overview of the major areas that affect the lives of people with disability. The report consists of 10 chapters including:Introduction

Embodiment in the disabling built-environment: an experience of daily life in Thailand

2011-07-06T11:39:00.001+10:00

In another excellent contribution by a recently completed Ph.D. and Architecture Lecturer, Antika Sawadsri (2010) (Photo 1), we are provided with a compelling examination of the embodied challenges of a disabling built environment on a person's daily life in Thailand. In drawing on the rich body of knowledge from the geographies of disability (see Gleeson, 1999), the thesis creates a compelling

Attitudes within accessible tourism research - tourism, customer service and hospitality

2011-07-03T11:59:00.003+10:00

As outlined in the blog entry on leisure constraint theory, Smith’s (1987) the seminal work identified attitudinal barriers as a central constraint to accessible tourism. Darcy and Buhalis (2011) extend constraints through an understanding of social model approaches to disability, where 'hostile social attitudes’ are identified together with the disabling environments as foundation

Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games - a foundation for destination development

2011-06-25T17:37:00.002+10:00

Previous posts on the blog have examined the possible contribution of Olympic and Paralympic games to accessible tourism development. In particular, the recent Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games identified tourism and accessible tourism as one of five identified disability legacies (2010 Legacies Now, 2010a, 2010b). There is a growing body of literature on the specifics of

Blind People's Tourism Experiences: An Exploratory Study from Israel

2011-05-14T18:03:00.000+10:00

Adding to Richards, Prichard and Morgan's (2010) (re)envisioning of the tourist experience that provides a wonderful examination of tourism from a non-sighted perspective, comes an exploratory study by Poria, Reichel & Brandt (2011) from Israel. In a qualitative study, they sought to hear the "voice of the customer" (Pakdil & Aydin, 2007) through 15 in-depth interviews of blind people recruited

People with Hearing Impairment and Who Are Deaf: Creating an Enabling Tourism Environment through Hearing Augmentation

2011-04-03T21:11:00.001+10:00

Simone Fullager’s (2011, p. 123) article provided an understanding of the role that tourism could play in the recovery and re-empowerment of women with depression through providing a liminal space that “gave them hope, desire and the vitality to escape the weight of depression”. Simone’s paper contributes to the growing body of work on wellness tourism and provides insights into the intersection

Wellness Tourism, Women and Mental Health

2011-03-31T08:55:00.000+11:00

Small & Darcy (2010, p. 8) report on Australian National Visitor Survey figures that show that people with mental health issues report

(Re)Envisioning Tourism and Visual Impairment

2011-03-30T15:40:00.003+11:00

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-12456728-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {} As noted in the introduction to the previous blog on the concept of

The Embodied Tourist

2011-03-29T08:26:00.002+11:00

As noted elsewhere on the blog, a great deal of research that has been undertaken has been predominantly about mobility disability. A number of reports and articles have recently been published on other embodiments. What the studies recognise is that disability is not a homogenous constructs where there is an inherent complexity based on the dimensions of access and the level of support needs.

Marketing Accessible Information Provision For Destinations

2011-02-03T08:37:00.001+11:00

A number of previous blog entries have focused on the importance of accessible information provision for successful accessible tourism experiences and a great deal of the demand research has identified information provision as an important constraint (Avis, Card, & Cole, 2005; Bi, Card, & Cole, 2007; Daniels, Drogin Rodgers, & Wiggins, 2005; Darcy, 1998, 2002; Pegg & Stumbo, 2010; Smith, 1987;

Accessible Tourism Book now published

2011-01-07T14:31:00.001+11:00

Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce the publication of Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues that I have co-edited with Prof Dimitrios Buhalis of Bournemouth University and published with Channel View Publications. http://www.channelviewpublications.com/display.asp?isb=9781845411602 The book brings together the underlying concepts and

New Research Programme Area in Access Tourism at NZTRI/AUT a First for NZ

2010-11-21T18:32:00.000+11:00

Auckland University of Technology's New Zealand Tourism Research Institute has created a Research Programme Area in Access Tourismheaded by Dr Sandra Rhodda. The announcement states:"NZTRI’s Access Tourism programme aims to research and develop Access Tourism in NZ. Access Tourism is tourism, travel, and hospitality for people with permanent or temporary disabilities, seniors, parents with

Towards Strategic Intent: Perceptions of disability service provision amongst hotel accommodation managers

2010-10-30T23:22:00.001+11:00

As identified in a previous post on the accommodation needs of people with disabilities, Inherent Complexity, there were some 55 room components that made up the Hotel Accessibility Scale, where each one could be critical for any tourist with a disability. Photo 1 shows an accessible bedroom at a hotel where the bed height, circulation space beside the bed, the space between the floor and

A Call for Cool Accessible Tourism Photos - Get Published, Get Exposure!

2010-10-17T09:56:00.000+11:00

As outlined yesterday, we are finally about to publish two books on accessible tourism, one on concepts and issues, and the other on international case studies. Both these have been under preparation for some 2 to 3 years where calls went out for contributors. All up there are some 40 chapters. However, I am still looking for contributions for photographs to include on the front covers. The

Comparable levels of travel between PwD and the Nondisabled

2010-10-16T21:22:00.003+11:00

I was recently asked what were the compatible levels of travel between people with disabilities and nondisabled. Interestingly, there has been relatively little work done in this area. The earliest work was Woodside and Etzel (1980) who undertook the first empirical study on disability and tourism that sought to discover the role of physical and mental conditions on tourism vacation behaviour.

Accessible Tourism book due for Publication

2010-10-16T10:23:00.003+11:00

Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce an advanced publication notice for a book that I had co-edited with Prof Dimitrios Buhalis of Bournemouth University and published with Channel View Publications - http://www.channelviewpublications.com/display.asp?isb=9781845411602 The book titled, "Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues" seeks to

New Zealand Accessible Tourism Conference Follow-up: Excellent Podcast and Powerpoint Resource

2010-10-06T09:45:00.000+11:00

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-12456728-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {} The first New Zealand Accessible Tourism Conference was held last

New Zealand’s First Accessible Tourism Conference

2010-09-25T20:22:00.000+10:00

Sandra Rhodda and the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute are hosting New Zealand’s first accessible tourism conference on Monday 4 October Conference speakers include:Diana Palmer: Information on Disability Education Awareness Services (IDEAS), NSW, Australia. Diana has just returned from a Blakeney Millar Churchill Fellowship in North America, Europe, the UK, and parts of

Inherent Complexity: Accessible Accommodation Room Components

2010-08-04T23:12:00.000+10:00

After a short hiatus over June and July I am resuming the blog with recently published accessible tourism research on the accommodation sector. For people with specific access accommodation needs, locating accessible accommodation is the precursor to any trip. Hence, for destination management not to pay attention to this essential criteria suggests that they are not taking the accessible tourism