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    Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues
    Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues
    Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues
    Ebook656 pages9 hours

    Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues

    By Dimitrios Buhalis and Simon Darcy

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    Inclusion, disability, an ageing population and tourism are increasingly important areas of study due to their implications for both tourism demand and supply. This book therefore sets out to explore and document the current theoretical approaches, foundations and issues in the study of accessible tourism. In drawing together the contributions to this volume the editors have applied broader social constructionist approaches to understanding the accessible tourism phenomena. Accessible tourism, as with any area of academic study is an evolving field of academic research and industry practice. As with other areas of tourism, the field is multidisciplinary, and is influenced by various disciplines including geography, disability studies, economics, public policy, psychology and marketing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChannel View Publications
    Release dateDec 23, 2010
    ISBN9781845412081
    Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues

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      Accessible Tourism - Dimitrios Buhalis

      Chapter 1

      Introduction: From Disabled Tourists to Accessible Tourism

      S. DARCY and D. BUHALIS

      Accessible Tourism Concepts/Issues

      Inclusion, disability, the ageing population and tourism are increasingly important areas of study due to their implications for both tourism demand and supply. This book therefore sets out to explore and document the current theoretical approaches, foundations and issues in the study of accessible tourism. Accessible tourism is an evolving area of academic study and industry practice. As with other areas of tourism, the field is multidisciplinary, with influences from geography, disability studies, economics, public policy, psychology, social psychology, organisational management, postmodern cultural studies, marketing, architecture and medicine, to name a few.

      In drawing together the 19 chapters and 25 contributors to this volume the editors have woven a broader social constructionist approach to understanding the dimensions of the accessible tourism phenomena. The rationale for this is a belief that disability is a social construct, which is characterised by varying cultural responses over different time periods. Within the tourism field, tourists with disabilities have a variety of motivations, desired experiences and support requirements. The heterogeneous nature of tourists with disabilities means that if managers are to pursue an enabling, inclusive approach to the provision of tourism products and services, they must approach tourists with disabilities in the same way that they would approach any other consumer group. They should be aware of the group characteristics through understanding the socially constructed nature of the accessible tourism phenomena, but tailor the individual’s experiences by discussing their needs directly with them.

      This chapter therefore presents an introduction to the book by examining the key concepts underlying the chapters to be presented. These concepts include:

      Defining tourism and the tourism system.

      Human rights.

      Social model, disability and embodiment.

      Disability/ageing nexus.

      Market segment.

      Enabling environments.

      Universal design.

      Defining accessible tourism.

      Defining Tourism and the Tourism System

      This book is focused on synthesizing a number of theoretical approaches to enrich our understanding of accessible tourism. Given this, it is essential to understand the parameters of the tourism phenomena before subsequently focusing discussion on the accessible tourism sector. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has defined tourism as a diverse industry, which is a central economic driver for socio-economic development in a number of areas/destinations throughout the world:

      Today, the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, food products or automobiles in many regions around the world. Tourism has become one of the major players in international commerce, and represents at the same time one of the main income sources for many developing countries. This global spread of tourism, especially in industrialising and developing states has produced economic and employment benefits in many related sectors – from construction to agriculture or telecommunications. (United Nations World Tourism Organisation, ND)

      The sheer range of industries that are represented under the banner of ‘tourism’, as well as the number of tentacles which exist between tourism and other sectors of the economy, has made tourism a difficult subject for stakeholders to achieve definitional consensus on. Weaver and Lawton (2010) note that it was only in the 1980s that the UNWTO managed to align the majority of countries to a standardised set of tourism definitions. Despite this, debate persists on a number of central issues relating to the study of tourism, including whether or not there is such a thing as a single identifiable tourism industry.

      The presence of complex inter-relationships between a diverse range of stakeholders and industry sectors has led some commentators to pursue a systems approach to the study of tourism management (Chan & Huang, 2004; Holden, 2008; Inskeep, 1991; Jamal et al., 2004; Jamal & Getz, 1995; Laws, 1991; Leiper, 1990; Page, 1995). Tourism system theories recognise that ‘all development sectors and support facilities and services are interrelated with one another and with the natural environment and society of the area’ (Inskeep, 1991: 27). One of the most commonly cited approaches to tourism systems study was proposed by Leiper (1990) who identified that they are composed of five interdependent elements:

      (1) At least one tourist.

      (2) At least one tourist-generating region.

      (3) At least one transit region.

      (4) At least one tourist destination.

      (5) A travel and tourism industry that facilitates movement within the system.

      Leiper’s systems model is often held up as the starting point for understanding how system philosophies can be applied to the study of tourism. Within Leiper’s model tourists are identified as being influenced by the human, socio-cultural, economic, technological, physical, political and legal environments in which they are operating (Weaver & Lawton, 2010). As accessibility is a social construct, the exact nature of the relationship between the tourist with disability and the rest of the tourism system is not constant. This issue will be explored in this volume in the context of the changing experience expectations amongst tourists with disabilities, as well as an increased level of acceptance of disabled people by other stakeholders in a tourism systems environment.

      Human Rights Approaches

      As Hurst (2004) suggests, international human rights conventions supported by nationally-based legislation can bring about substantial material change in accessible tourism when vigorously implemented. The most recent addition to the United Nations’ conventions is the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006, 2008). An unprecedented number of nations signed this convention. However, the relative success of the convention must be supported by nationally based legislation, not just in the areas of disability discrimination but also in the areas of national building codes, standards for access and mobility, and across administrator procedures. Even when these are in place, there still needs to be a political will to implement and enforce the legislation. While a number of countries have a significant history of having nationally based disability discrimination legislation, building codes and standards for access, there are significant institutional problems with their implementation (Handley, 2001).

      In the tourism context, a number of US, UK and Australian papers have identified the introduction of the human rights legislation as an important event for improving the tourism conditions for people with disabilities (Darcy, 2002b; Gallagher & Hull, 1996; Goodall, 2002; Goodall et al., 2004; Griffin Dolon, 2000; Miller & Kirk, 2002; Peniston, 1996; Upchurch & Seo, 1996). Yet, the number of disability discrimination complaints has continued to rise (Darcy & Taylor, 2009). While the reasons for this are not clear, there is no doubt that disability discrimination legislation, as an evolving set of benchmarks, means that interpreting the law is dynamic and ongoing. For example, there has been a greater number of complaints made against the providers of websites by people who are vision-impaired or blind and this has become one of the areas for research focus in tourism (Foggin et al., 2003; Oertel, 2004; Shi, 2006; Williams & Rattray, 2005; Williams et al., 2006; Williams et al., 2004). Lastly, there is recognition that there is a very different level of compliance between developed and developing world, East and West, and matters of cultural difference when it comes to defining disability, adopting and implementing human rights and associated legislation. Reports by the European Union and UN ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) have outlined the significant differences between countries within Europe and the Asia-Pacific respectively (Eurostat, 2005; Toegankelijkheidsbureau v.z.w Hasselt & LIVING Research and Development s.p.r.l. Brussels, 2001; UN ESCAP, 2008; USAID, 2009).

      Social Model, Disability and Embodiment

      As outlined in Chapter 2, this book takes a social approach to disability, which challenges the underlying discourse of identifying disability as medical problem. The medical model views the person’s impairment – their embodiment – as their disability, their ‘personal’ problem, which directly causes their deficit through disease, trauma or health conditions (Oliver, 1996). This requires medical intervention in the form of individual treatment to normalise their disabled body. Management of their disability is aimed at ‘normalising’ the person’s bodily functions. Health care is viewed as the main issue and at the political level, it is health care policy that is the focus of intervention.

      The social model of disability in contrast sees the issue mainly as the ‘socially constructed’ environment that excludes people with disabilities from participation. In this case, it is not the person’s impairment that disables them but the complex collection of social environments, practices and attitudes, which are imposed on top of a person’s impairment. Hence, the disability is created through the disabling social environment that requires social action to change and it is the collective responsibility of society to make the environmental and attitudinal modifications necessary for the full participation of people with disabilities into all areas of citizenship. The issue is, therefore, placed on the political, economic, social and attitudinal agendas and is primarily ideological. Social change is sought by people with disabilities through individual empowerment, collective advocacy and is supported at the political level through the United Nations’ Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities (2006) and national human rights legislation.

      Yet, this ideological transformation of a person’s impairment into their disability has further layers of complexity. Rather than being a one-dimensional construct, disability is multidimensional with an understanding of a person’s embodiment central to developing enabling practices to provide accessible environments and attitudes. Most human rights and legislative approaches enshrine a multidimensional construct of disability within their approaches. However, rather than focusing on a person’s deficits, as has historically been done within medical approaches (World Health Organization, 2002), the United Nations’ (2006) Convention focuses far more on the dimensions of disability as an outcome of their access needs. These dimensions of disability and their resultant access needs have been identified as:

      Mobility.

      Vision.

      Hearing.

      Intellectual/cognitive/learning.

      Mental health.

      Sensitivities – including respiratory, food and chemical.

      Other.

      The advantage of the above conceptualisation is that the focus is on the provision of the broad dimensions for access to create enabling environments, as advocated by social approaches to disability (Oliver, 1990, 1996; Swain et al., 2004; Thomas, 1999, 2007; Thomson, 1997).

      Disability and Ageing

      The US National Institute on Ageing identifies that in 2006 500 million people worldwide were 65 and older. However, by 2030 this is estimated to increase to 1 billion or one in every eight people, with the most rapid increase in the 65+ cohort in developing countries. This is an increase of 140% (Dobriansky et al., 2007). This situation is largely reflected in all Western developed nations with a noticeable difference in Asian countries where ageing is occurring at a faster rate (Altman, 1975; World Health Organization, 2007a). These trends have considerable implications for global tourism (Dwyer, 2005).

      What is often not as clearly understood is that there is a significant relationship between ageing and rates of disability (Uhlenberg, 2009). For example, the Australian data shows a person is 14 times more likely to have a disability at age 65 than they are as a four-year-old (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004). The best estimates suggest that about 10% of the world’s population has some form of disability and this equates to an estimated 650 million people worldwide (Sharma, 2008). The World Health Organization (WHO) has reflected concerns of ageing with the recent release of Global Age-friendly Cities: A Global Guide (2007a). The guide offers directions for urban planners, but also instils accountability through providing a checklist that older citizens can use to ‘monitor progress towards more age-friendly cities’ (WHO, 2007b). This is timely in that the approach taken mirrors a great deal of what disabled activists have been lobbying for over many years – accessible environments for ease of access. When the WHO document is read in conjunction with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (2009) it is clear that no city can be planning for a sustainable future unless it incorporates all elements of accessibility into city planning (see section on universal design later).

      Market Segment

      Accessible tourism, like other niche areas of tourism, has been described most commonly through an estimation of the market size (Keroul, 1995; Touche Ross, 1993) and, more lately, the estimation of the economic contribution of the group (Buhalis et al., 2005; Darcy, 1998; HarrisInteractive Market Research, 2005b; Neumann & Reuber, 2004). While providing a useful way for outsiders to understand the size of the group, it does little to assist in understanding the complexity of the market segment (Dolnicar, 2002). Quite simply, what are the characteristics of the accessible tourism market that may make it a distinctive market segment as opposed to a consideration across market segments in tourism? (Wedel & Kamakura, 2000).

      No papers have explicitly reviewed the market segmentation of accessible tourism – a rich area for further research. However, many papers have started to provide insight into the different aspects of the accessible tourism market through predominantly focusing on one dimension of disability or access – mainly mobility (Avis et al., 2005; Bi et al., 2007; Burnett, 1996; Burnett & Bender-Baker, 2001; Darcy, 2002a; Gallagher & Hull, 1996; Lovelock, 2010; Ray & Ryder, 2003; Woodside & Etzel, 1980). Within mobility or physical disability related research, the most notable areas of market segmentation occur due to the level of support needs of the individuals.

      Fewer studies or papers have looked at cross disability research due to the complexity of employing methodology across different dimensions of embodiment (Darcy, 2010; HarrisInteractive Market Research, 2005a). A number of chapters in this book will address embodiments not previously presented in the research literature. The book itself also opens discussion about whether accessible tourism is a specific market segment, contemplates the nature of the market segment, discusses the characteristics that may contribute towards the development of market segmentation for the group that may be pertinent and examines how industry has engaged with these groups.

      Enabling Environments

      Following from social model and social constructionist approaches came the seminal work that looked at articulating what disabling barriers are socially constructed and, most importantly, how to move beyond the negative to positive and create enabling environments (Swain et al., 2004). In attempting to outline and then operationalise the social change elements of the developing disability studies theory, Swain et al. (2004) use their collective experience across welfare, education, employment, built environment, the media, housing, technology, communication, leisure, independent living, organisational politics and others to show a way forward to enable environments, attitudes and society. Others in each of these fields have sought to move forward, empirically measure, challenge dominant institutional constraints and provide strategies for change within each context (Steinfeld & Danford, 1999). For example, there has been a great deal of work done on the creation of enabling practices to ensure accessibility of buildings and around cities (Imrie, 1996, 2000, 2005; Sawyer & Bright, 2006).

      In a tourism context, the most directly relevant work has come from the inclusion of leisure constraints theory, which is a distinct area of research within the field of leisure studies. Leisure constraints is concerned ‘... about barriers, non-participation in recreation activities and lack of leisure opportunities has always been an important progenitor of [public sector] park, recreation, and leisure’ (Goodale & Witt, 1989: 422). This non-participant focus has a rich resonance with disability studies where tourism studies has traditionally been predicated on the idea of the tourist as consumer and factors that stimulate or facilitate demand (see Darcy, 2004: 77 –84). Smith (1987) works from leisure constraints theory in the first examination and categorisation of barriers to leisure – travel for people with disabilities – intrinsic, environmental and interactive barriers. Once constraints are identified the field then focuses on a relative hierarchy of the constraints and how constraints are negotiated for those that still want to participate (Jackson & Scott, 1999).

      Leisure constraints theory became established through a series of studies focusing on the specific nature of tourism constraints (Darcy, 1998; Turco et al., 1998). However, many other studies by their nature identify barriers or constraints to the tourism experiences of people with disabilities without applying a leisure constraints framework (e.g. Burnett & Bender-Baker, 2001; Darcy, 2002a; Israeli, 2002; Ray & Ryder, 2003). The approach can also be garnered in an interpretive approach to provide a deeper understanding of the constraints faced and the way that they are negotiated in tourism. For example, Daniels et al. (2005) use leisure constraints theory to examine consumer travel stories from a disability travel website, concluding an interactive rather than a hierarchical relationship between constraint categorizations. The combination of Swain et al.’s (2004) disability studies approach to creating enabling environments and leisure and tourism constraints theory provides a rich foundation for better understanding accessible tourism. As we will see, a number of the chapters develop these ideas.

      Universal Design

      In bringing together some excellent work by a team of researchers from Hong Kong, disability is more than an access issue and there is a complex interplay between the individual, the environment and the tourism industry (Packer et al., 2007; Yau et al., 2004). Yet, an emerging concept within the disability, design and architecture literature is universal design (Preiser & Ostroff, 2001). Universal design moves beyond access and inclusion to incorporate:

      ... the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design … The intent of the universal design concept is to simplify life for everyone by making products, communications and the built environment more usable by more people at little or no extra cost. The universal design concept targets all people of all ages, sizes and abilities. (Center for Universal Design, 2009)

      This universal design philosophy was an important component of the Australian national research agenda for accessible tourism, which called for the industry to ‘operationalise universal design and easy living principles within tourism product development’ (Darcy, 2006: ix). To date, however, the application of universal design principles to accessible tourism has remained conceptual (Rains, 2004; Walsh, 2004) or applied specifically to the accommodation sector (Rossetti, 2009). Yet, the foundation of the concept is eminently applicable and sensible to a service industry like tourism. Universal design is based on seven principles to facilitate equitable access across the lifespan (Center for Universal Design, 2009; Preiser & Ostroff, 2001). They are:

      Principle 1: Equitable Use.

      Principle 2: Flexibility in Use.

      Principle 3: Simple and Intuitive Use.

      Principle 4: Perceptible Information.

      Principle 5: Tolerance for Error.

      Principle 6: Low Physical Effort.

      Principle 7: Size and Space for Approach and Use (Center for Universal Design, 2009).

      The implication of this design approach is that access would become central to design, rather than an add-on for compliance reasons. As indicated in Figure 1.1, by Darcy and Dickson (2009), it is not only those with access needs who benefit but all users as a universally designed environment considers occupational and safety issues, making it a safer environment for all as well as supporting more efficient operational management of facilities. There has been a call for the tourism industry to adopt universal design principles as a foundation to achieving greater social sustainability (Rains, 2004; Walsh, 2004). This foresight not only places the industry in a more appropriate, effective and efficient position to benefit from triple bottom line accountability but aligns the industry with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (United Nations, 2009).

      Figure 1.1 Universal design and accessible tourism beneficiaries

      Accessible Tourism: Towards a Definition

      It is interesting that while accessible tourism has been developing as an area of academic study and industry practice, there has been relatively little discussion defining the field. Most study has focused on the experiences of people with disabilities while travelling without an articulation of the defining elements of the field. The field has been variously described as disabled/disability tourism (Buhalis, 2005; Burnett & Bender-Baker, 2001; Daniels et al., 2005; Darcy, 2002a; O’Neill & Ali Knight, 2000; Shaw & Coles, 2004; Yau et al., 2004), easy access tourism (Cameron, 2000; Tourism New South Wales, 2005), barrier-free tourism (Cameron et al., 2003; Community Based Rehabilitation Development and Training Centre, 2000; ESCAP, 2000; Foggin et al., 2003; Vignuda, 2001), inclusive tourism (Buhalis et al., 2005; Shaw, 2007; Yates, 2007), universal tourism (Darcy, 2006) and, more recently, accessible tourism (Buhalis et al., 2006; Darcy, 2006, 2010; Darcy et al., 2008; Darcy & Dickson, 2009; Shaw, 2007; Wu & Cheng, 2008). For the purposes of this book, we are adopting the term accessible tourism and will briefly discuss the adopted definition.

      Definitions are dynamic and evolving and, hence, there is no real agreement as to one definition. Most definitions focus on the functional elements of tourism being accessible to all people. Darcy and Dickson (2009) provided an extension to this definition through the Whole of Life Approach to disability – the beneficiaries are identified in Figure 1.1. This approach has a nexus to universal design where access is not isolated to disability but is more broadly linked to people’s embodiment over their lifespan (United Nations, 2009; World Health Organization, 2007). This provided the opportunity to be far more inclusive of a broader group of people who benefit from access provisions. Yet, there needs to be recognition that for accessible tourism to occur, a process needs to be in place that is firmly based on values guiding the direction of development, products and services. In this context, the principles of universal design outlined above, together with the values of independence, equity and dignity provide a sound foundation on which to establish the functional elements required for individuals tourism experiences through the framework provided by the tourism system (Leiper, 2003) and its stakeholders (Weaver & Opperman, 2000). As such, the following definition is used for this book:

      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. (Adapted from Darcy & Dickson, 2009: 34)

      Book Structure and Chapter Summaries

      To begin the process of understanding the socially constructed nature of accessible tourism, Chapters 2 and 3 begin by defining the core terms of disability and accessibility. In Chapter 2, Darcy and Buhalis review the contemporary models and discourses of disability to provide a theoretical base on which to understand tourism from a disability perspective and, hence, the development of accessible tourism. An important aspect of this chapter is the canvassing of the different aspects of the medical and social conceptualizations of disability. The authors also provide a detailed breakdown of the dimensions of disability. Understanding the different dimensions of disability is a necessary precursor to understanding the ways in which disability may act as a barrier to participation. In Chapter 3, Eichhorn and Buhalis further characterise the various physical access, attitudinal and information barriers that govern disabled participation in tourism. The prevalence of barriers will vary throughout the world due to a number of external forces including situational disability legislation. In Chapter 4, Shaw and Veitch provide a case study analysis of the evolution of disability discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom, focusing on the recent uptake of the Disability Discrimination Act. In addition to focusing on the legislative context of their operations, operators must also be mindful of the benefits of using assistive technologies to ensure equitable access to information within a tourism marketing context

      With a generic understanding of some of the constraints and barriers that may govern disabled peoples’ participation in tourism, the next section of this volume fleshes out our understanding of the various experiences of tourists with disabilities. In Chapter 5, Small and Darcy consider the tourists with disabilities experience through the lens of critical theory in tourism studies and critical disability studies theory. Focusing on the lived experiences of tourists with disabilities the authors have sought to create a direct link between experience and needs, documenting their personal experiences of people moving through different stages of the tourism system. Further developing this idea of a personal relationship between experience and tourism participation, Foggin in Chapter 6 presents the results of research which has sought to examine the relationship between the inner (attitudes, feelings, etc.) and outer worlds (natural, built, political environment) of tourists with disabilities through the lens of Paul Ricoeur’s concept of life and narrative

      A core facet of much of the existing tourist experience research relates to the phenomenology of the tourist experience (Cohen, 1979; Mannell & Iso-Ahola, 1987) where it is proposed that tourists are heterogeneous with respect to how they engage with host cultures and landscapes. With this in mind Fullagar in Chapter 7 considers the experiences of people with mental health needs in the accessible tourism market. By seeking to consider the relationship between emotional distress and tourism experiences of 11 women suffering postnatal depression, the chapter contributes a feminist perspective to the growing body of research into wellness tourism. Understanding the experiences of distinct sections of the accessible tourism market is a necessary precursor to understanding the ways in which they relate to other actors within a tourism encounter.

      An important characteristic of Fullagar’s work is the notion that becoming travellers involves a transition from fear to freedom. This transition, for Fullagar, involves women taking ‘a number of emotional risks and confront[ing] fears such as risking upsetting their husbands and the assumed gender order of the household’. The lessons that can be learned from this discussion of how women travellers can become assertive and challenge traditional gender relations resonates with a broader debate of how stakeholders interact in an accessible tourism setting. In Chapter 8, Arola, Cooper and Cooper explore the experiences of people with disabilities on the tourism stage as they react to the presence of other actors. This study is undertaken in the context of the Goffmanian Approach. The ways in which tourists with disabilities interact with other actors is similarly canvassed by Poria, Reichel and Brandt in Chapter 9. In the course of a detailed study of blind people’s tourism experiences the authors identify that the relationship with tourism staff can serve as one of the core difficulties for blind people seeking to participate in tourism activities. The managerial implications of this study stress Darcy’s (2002a) reference to the social model of disability, which emphasises that attention should be given to addressing the way society approaches people with impairments rather than viewing a disability as a person’s shortcoming. The notion that the tourism industry should develop in a manner which encourages access for all is explored by Shaw and Veitch in Chapter 10. Through a discussion of the demographics of the accessible tourism market, the authors identify that constraints and barriers to disabled participation in tourism often have both physical and social (service and experience offerings) dimensions. The challenges for industry therefore become to provide inclusive tourism products, which emphasise links to mainstream tourism markets and play down the existence of contrived differences between disabled and mainstream travellers.

      The notion that tourists with disabilities seek an experience, as opposed to stylised and contrived access to a destination, is taken up by Patterson in Chapter 11 and Wang in Chapter 12. Both these chapters focus on the aged traveller’s participation in tourism activities. Through a discussion of aged traveller demographics, the tourism constraints of an ageing population, the aged traveller’s accessibility requirements and their desired experiences, the chapters draw attention to the need of the industry to understand the unique experience preferences of aged tourists. It is through such understanding that the industry can move to install appropriately trained staff and other facilities/infrastructure to allow mature travellers to fulfil their desired tourism experiences.

      The provision of access infrastructure is one of the most obvious visual features of any accessible tourism enterprise. Whilst disabled access points are necessary foundations for the provision of tourism experiences, they are not always practical in tourism environments, which are characterised by strict planning regulations. In Chapter 13, Pearn explores the uneasy relationship between heritage area conservation and the provision of accessible tourism environments. The impetus for this study was the notion that architectural constraints barriers to access for the disabled can have the effect of confining visitors with disabilities to back regions, a situation which is contrary to the principles of access for all.

      The final section of this volume concerns the tourism industry itself and the development of an economically profitable accessible tourism sector. In Chapter 14, Darcy and Dwyer present the results of national visitor data research, which considered the economic contribution of tourists with a disability to the Australian economy. Drawing together secondary data from sources including the Disability and Ageing and Carers Survey and the National Visitors Survey, the authors have provided information on the level of support needs, market segment comparison between disabled and non-disabled travellers, and the purchasing patterns of tourists with disabilities. Darcy and Dwyer note that a number of supply-side constraints, including accommodation requirements, visitor support needs and desired experiences, may underpin the performance of the disability tourism sector.

      Ensuring the sustainability of such a complex and diverse sector as tourism requires that industry actively engages with sustainability doctrines such as the triple bottom line and stakeholder analysis. By breaking down the often hazy notion of sustainability into more manageable economic, social and environmental components of development, the triple bottom line can be a means of both defining and operationalising sustainability. John Elkington formalised discussion of the triple bottom line in 1994. The early framing of the triple bottom line was with respect to business and sustainable capitalism, a product of Elkington’s work since late 1987 with the firm SustainAbility (see http://www.sustainability.com/). The triple bottom line gained widespread exposure with the 1997 publication of Elkington’s Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business (Elkington, 1999). Many of the principles behind the term had, however, already been canvassed in the 1975 Corporate Report (Gray & Milne, 2002) and The Green Consumer Guide (Elkington, 1989). The close relationship between business sustainability and the triple bottom line has perpetuated the notion of triple bottom line reporting (Sustain-Ability & United Nations Environment Programme, 2000). The triple bottom line is the focus of Darcy, Cameron and Pegg in Chapter 15 where they consider the business case for adopting universal design principles in the disability sector as a foundation to achieving triple bottom line sustainability. Core aspects of this work include the development of financial, as well as environmental and social, report cards for business. Understanding the range of stakeholders who may have a perspective on the composition of such sustainability instruments is the subject of Chapter 16. In this chapter Michopoulou and Buhalis elaborate on the possible range of accessible tourism stakeholders making reference to possible constraints on their participation, as well as developing a classification for mainstream, mixed and specialist service providers.

      The service providers identified in Chapter 16 include a number of well known businesses such as the Marriott Hotel, Lonely Planet and Thomas Cook Travel. In order for these and other organisations to provide appropriate services to the disabled there must be recognition of the changing nature of assistive technologies. An explanation of assistive technologies is provided in Chapter 17 by Pühretmair and Nussbaum. The volume then concludes with a chapter by Michopoulou and Buhalis, who consider some of the challenges inherent in ensuring inclusive/assistive technologies are embraced by the tourism sector. Several challenges were identified, including interoperability, content integration, personalisation and accessible design.

      Conclusion/Welcome

      Rather than concluding the chapter, we, the editors, would like to welcome you to an examination of an area that we are passionate about and we hope that you will engage in. Together we can contribute to the development of an emerging area of academic study and contribute to expanding upon some of the innovative industry practice that is already occurring around the world. While this book focuses on concepts and issues, a second book is published in parallel to present a series of best practice international case studies that highlight innovative industry practice, government policy approaches, national tourist office coordination strategies and provocative third sector advocacy of accessible tourism. The combination of the supply, demand and coordination/regulation perspectives creates an exciting environment for the mixed economy of accessible tourism. We strongly suggest that this book is used in conjunction with the international case studies to highlight the very practical implementation of complex concepts and issues. Let the accessible tourism journey begin ...

      References

      Altman, I. (1975) The Environment and Social Behavior. Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole Publishing Co.

      Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2004) Disability, Ageing and Carers – Summary Of Findings, 2003 (Cat No. 4430.0). Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.

      Avis, A.H., Card, J.A. and Cole, S.T. (2005) Accessibility and attitudinal barriers encountered by travelers with physical disabilities. Tourism Review International 8, 239–248.

      Bi, Y., Card, J.A. and Cole, S.T. (2007) Accessibility and attitudinal barriers encountered by Chinese travellers with physical disabilities. International Journal of Tourism Research 9, 205–216.

      Buhalis, D. (2005) Disability Tourism – OSSATE Links. On WWW at http://www.ossate.org/. Accessed 18.9.2005.

      Buhalis, D., Michopoulou, E., Eichhorn, V. and Miller, G. (2005) Accessibility market and stakeholder analysis – One-Stop-Shop for Accessible Tourism in Europe (OSSATE). Surrey: University of Surrey.

      Buhalis, D., Michopoulou, E., Michailidis, S. and Ambrose, I. (2006, 6–9 February) An eTourism Portal for the Disabled Tourism Market in Europe: The OSSATE Portal Design (One-Stop-Shop for Accessible Tourism). Paper presented at the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education Incorporated 16th annual conference – To the City and Beyond, Melbourne.

      Burnett, J.J. (1996) What services marketers need to know about the mobility-disabled consumer. Journal of Services Marketing 10 (3), 3–20.

      Burnett, J.J. and Bender-Baker,

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