This book brings together global expertise in planning, design and management to inform and stimulate providers of travel, transport, accommodation, leisure and tourism services to serve guests with disabilities, seniors and the wider markets that require good accessibility. Selected country reports, detailed case studies and technical guidance from leading experts provide an essential resource for academics and practitioners.

This volume presents an international selection of invited contributions on policy and best practice in accessible tourism, reflecting current practices across a range of destinations and business settings. It brings together global expertise in planning, design and management to inform and stimulate providers of travel, transport, accommodation, leisure and tourism services to serve guests with disabilities, seniors and the wider markets that require good accessibility.
Accessible tourism is not only about providing access to people with disabilities but also addresses the creation of universally designed environments, services and information that can support people who may have temporary disabilities, families with young children, the ever-increasing ageing population, as well as creating safer work places for employees. The book gives ample evidence that accessible tourism organisations and destinations can expand their target markets as well as improve the quality of their service offering, leading to greater customer satisfaction, loyalty and expansion of business.

Review
“In 25 chapters, Best Practice in Accessible Tourism provides a ‘state-of-the-art” assessment of both theory and practice. This book establishes a new fi eld of study and provides the benchmark against which other contributions will be judged. It integrates the work of all the key players and should be read by academics, managers and government policy makers.”
Noel Scott, University of Queensland, Australia

“The editors have assembled an excellent compilation of thought provoking, cutting edge international chapters on best practice in accessible tourism. The text provides important insights into current practices and policies, but also critically reflects on what more needs to be done. This timely work is a must read for practitioners, policy makers and academics.”
David J. Telfer, Brock University, Canada

Author Information

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis is a Strategic Management and Marketing expert with specialisation in Technology and Tourism at Bournemouth University.

Associate Professor Simon Darcy is an expert in Inclusive Organisational Practice and Diversity Management specialising in tourism, transport and the cultural industries at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Ivor Ambrose is the Managing Director and co-founder of ENAT, the European Network for Accessible Tourism.

Contents

1. Ivor Ambrose, Simon Darcy and Dimitrios Buhalis: Introduction
2. Ivor Ambrose: European Policies for Accessible Tourism
3. Pieter Ghijsels: Accessible Tourism in Flanders: Policy Support and Incentives
4. Peter Neumann: Accessible Tourism for All in Germany – A Case Study
5. Nikos Voulgaropoulos, Eleni Strati and Georgia Fyka: Accessible Tourism in Greece: Beaches and Bathing for All
6. Laurel Van Horn: The United States: Travelers with Disabilities
7. Simon Darcy, Bruce Cameron and Stephen Schweinsberg: Accessible Tourism in Australia
8. Sandra Rhodda: Accessible Tourism in New Zealand
9. Mike Prescott: Universal Tourism Networks
10. Huong Le, Yuka Fujimoto, Ruth Rentschler and David Edwards: Tourism Victoria, Australia – An Integrative Model of Inclusive Tourism for People with Disabilities
11. Lilian Muller: Accessible Tourism in Sweden – Experiences – Stakeholder Marketing
12. Philippa Hunter-Jones and Anthony Thornton: The Third Sector Responses to Accessible/Disability Tourism
13. Caroline Walsh, Janet Haddock-Fraser and Mark P. Hampton: Accessible Dive Tourism
14. Andrew Wright: Tour Operating for the Less Mobile Traveller
15. Simon Darcy and Ravi Ravinder: Air Travel for People with Disabilities
16. Roland Krpata: Accessible Public Transport: Vienna City Tourism
17. Katerina Papamichail: Accessible Hotels: Design Essentials
18. Bruce Cameron and Simon Darcy: Wheelchair Travel Guides
19. Shane Pegg and Norma Stumbo: Accessing Desired Heritage Tourism Services
20. Bodil Sandøy: Norway VisitOslo: Supporting Accessible Tourism Content within Destination Tourism Marketing
21. Jesús Hernández Galán: Accessible Tourism in Spain: Arona and Madrid
22. Andrew Daines and Chris Veitch: VisitBritain: Leading the world to Britain
23. Tracey J. Dickson and Simon Darcy: Australia: The Alpine Accessible Tourism Project and Disabled Wintersport
24. Susana Navarro García-Caro, Arno de Waal and Dimitrios Buhalis: Special needs customer care training for tourism
25. Ivor Ambrose, Dimitrios Buhalis, Simon Darcy: Conclusions: Best Accessible Tourism Practice