Accessibility, tourism

Accessibility refers to ease of access. Given that tourists are heterogeneous in terms of culture, age, gender, health, physical strength, mobility, vision, hearing, and mental or physical disability, not all products and destinations can easily be accessed by all tourists, especially for tourists with disabilities. Through user-orientated design, management, and building adaptations (or a combination of these), access for all can be improved.

The principle of non-exclusion or universal design has been adopted in the built environment to enable equitable access. More specifically, through the application of technology by “designing for all,” much can be done to enhance tourism accessibility (Buhalis and Darcy 2011; Buhalis et al. 2012). Through planning and application of the principle of purposefully nonrestrictive design, the client base can be expanded and in turn greatly enhances the users’ experience and satisfaction.

Information and communication technologies and assistive...