Story and video on accessible travel by Kahla Preston

Reprinted with permission from - http://babyzoomers.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/the-fight-for-accessible-travel/

THE FIGHT FOR ACCESSIBLE TRAVEL

October 14, 2012 · by Baby Zoomers · in Features, Kahla Preston. ·

Image: Kahla Preston

Does the tourism industry lack support and information for people with disabilities? Kahla Preston investigates.

The first baby boomers reached retirement age in 2011, and for many of them travel is a top priority. The largest outbound sector in Australia, this is a generation of adventurers who don’t see age as an obstacle.

Yet research conducted in 2009 indicates that the boomers face a higher rate of disability than previous generations. It’s estimated up to 40% will retire with a disability.

In this story, Baby Zoomers reporter Kahla Preston meets two Australians – Peter Negri, director of Ozmates, and Simon Darcy, one of the creators of Sydney For All -  who are passionate about making travel accessible for people with disabilities.  They’re providing the kind of support and information they say is lacking in the tourism industry.

Transcript

REPORTER: Sydney’s sunshine and harbour views are its most appealing features for many travellers. But for some, it’s all about the postcards.

(Peter Negri talking to tour member Liz about her postcards)

REPORTER: Liz is part of a tour from Melbourne to Port Stephens with  OzMates, a specialist Company providing supported holidays for people with a range of disabilities. Today she’s joined by fellow travellers Steve and Veronica,  along with OzMates carer Marlene, tour leader Lisa, and director Peter Negri.

PETER NEGRI (OZMATES DIRECTOR): OzMates was started by another guy, we’ve owned it for six years, my wife and I. In the last six years we’ve expanded significantly, we’ve gone from just having intellectual disabilities right through to now physical disabilities as well.

REPORTER: OzMates runs up to fifty trips per year, not including individual tours. Travellers can choose from a range of destinations in Australia and abroad.

PETER NEGRI: I wanted to take people away with a disability, didn’t matter what sort of disability, but to be able to offer them a holiday anywhere in Australia or overseas, at any time of the year. We’re a licensed travel agent and a fully registered, qualified tour company as well. So we can do anything, and go anywhere, that we want to do.

REPORTER: The last Bureau of Statistics survey indicated that almost one in five Australians have a disability. An increase is expected as the population grows and ages. Despite this figure, travelling with disability remains a challenge for many. The aim of OzMates is to provide disabled travellers with opportunities that may not be available to them otherwise.

PETER NEGRI: Our idea is that they should be able to do whatever you and I want to do. Just because they’ve got some kind of physical or intellectual disability doesn’t hold them back.

REPORTER: The effort is certainly appreciated by OzMates’ clients.

PETER NEGRI: We have repeat clients, they come back over and over again, because we’re one of the few companies that can just do it. We don’t say no. We might get off the phone and go, “How are we going to do this?”, but then we do our research. You can always do it.

REPORTER: The idea of a tour doesn’t appeal to all travellers, however. Many people who develop disabilities, particularly those related to ageing, don’t necessarily view themselves as having a disability. It’s an attitude likely to be carried by the adventurous baby boomers as they reach retirement and head abroad.

SIMON DARCY (DIRECTOR, COSMOPOLITAN CIVIL SOCIETIES RESEARCH CENTRE, UTS): If you think of your own family, that’s your uncle that’s had a knee replacement, the aunty that’s had the hip replacement, somebody you’re speaking a little louder to… They don’t associate with disability, they don’t see themselves as having a disability, but they’ve definitely got disabilities and they require different forms of inclusion to make travel that little bit easier for them.

REPORTER: Simon Darcy is a leading researcher in the field of accessible tourism based at the University of Technology, Sydney. Simon has been a power wheelchair user since incurring a spinal injury in 1983. He says a lot of preparation and research is required for disabled travellers to have confidence their trip will run smoothly.

SIMON DARCY: You really just can’t rely on somebody saying, “it’s accessible”, because what’s accessible to me is not accessible to the next person. And even amongst wheelchair users, different people’s abilities mean they look for different things in the hotel rooms, in transport and accommodation, and then open space areas like this one. So you look for a baseline of information and then check, check and double check.

REPORTER: Simon was part of a steering committee that created Sydney For All, an online portal designed to provide information on accessible locations and activities in Sydney.

SIMON DARCY: What we did was to take a different approach, an innovative approach that said, ‘What are those really cool things that anyone would want to do when they come to Sydney?’, identify those experiences that are accessible, and collaboratively market and promote those.  Everything as basic as getting on a ferry and going to Manly through to some things like the building we’re at now, Hyde Park’s Barracks Museum.

REPORTER: The information is targeted at four disability groups – those with mobility or cognitive disabilities, people who are deaf or have hearing impairment, and people with vision impairment or who are blind.

SIMON DARCY: You don’t have to accessible for all those groups, they’ve just got to be accessible for one of the groups and we clearly label that on the website.

REPORTER: Although initiatives like Sydney For All and OzMates help to make travel accessible for people with disabilities, there’s still some way to go. Peter Negri and Simon Darcy agree that changes to industry education and attitudes are vital steps in moving forward.

PETER NEGRI: There needs to be more education from the normal, run-of-the-mill travel agents and tour companies, so they understand what the clientele needs. We’re working on that in a big way, so we’re making a lot of inroads – we’ve got a lot of mainstream tour events and things like that to try and educate people.

SIMON DARCY: Most people with disability recognise that things aren’t going to be perfect. But want they want is somebody that’ll go, “Okay, but I think we can get maintenance up and we can take the hinge off the door and that’ll allow you to fit through. Then you’ll be able to enjoy that experience.”

A new article on perceptions of people with disability working in the tourism and hospitality sector

While the blog has examined the importance of customer service attitude for accessible tourism (click here to see previous post), what has not been examined is people with disability as employees in the tourism and hospitality sector. Foundation work by Goffman (1963) on stigma, institutions and disability examines the marginalising nature of social attitudes. Whether it is fear or aversion there is no doubt that people with disability are placed in marginalised positions because of the social attitudes people have to "the other" (Darcy & Buhalis, 2011; Wearing & Darcy, 2011). The literature has shown that the tourism and hospitality sector values the aesthetic of the image of its employees sometimes as much as performance whereby certain people get to work "front of office" while others will never get promoted from “back of office" duties (G. F. Ross, 2004). While Photo 1 shows an exception to the rule where Hotel Panda in Budapest is run by staff with disabilities, too often people with disabilities may not even make an interview due to discriminatory selection practices (Darcy, Green, & Taylor, 2011). Other research has also shown that those in management in tourism have become very good at "camouflaging" their attitudes to appear "politically correct" while still acting in a discriminating manner (G. A. Ross, 1994). A number of articles have focused on the importance of disability awareness training as a way of improving attitudes to disability (Bizjak, Knezevic, & Cvetreznik, 2011; Daruwalla & Darcy, 2005; Navarro García-Caro, de Waal, & Buhalis, 2012) as well as ethical frameworks for understanding discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities as employees (G. F. Ross, 2004). Yet, little work has actually been undertaken on people with disability who are employees in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Photo 1: Hotel in Budapest run by staff with disabilities (source:  http://disabilityhorizons.com/welcome-to-budapests-hotel-panda-%E2%80%93-a-hotel-run-by-disabled-staff)

A new article by Gröschl (2012) undertakes a study of employees with disability in the German Embrace hotel association by interviewing managers, employees and guests with and without disabilities together with observations. The study refutes a lot of the stereotypes that suggests that people with disabilities don't have the capabilities to meet industry specific work requirements and that they are too costly to employ. The study found that "employees with disabilities are loyal, are reliable, and on balance, require moderate accommodations" to the workplace. The study concludes by suggesting that a change in organisational culture from one of exclusivity and intolerance may provide opportunities for employees with disabilities to be integrated within the workplace in an effective and efficient manner. Given that the hospitality industry worldwide suffers from high turnover, high casualisation and labour shortage, there may be lessons to be learnt and collaborations to be made with the disability advocacy sector to create a win-win environment for both people with disability and the tourism and hospitality sector. Gröschl (Gröschl, 2005, 2007) has also made to other contributions to the study of disability within employment in the tourism and hospitality sector.

A link to the abstract and the article is provided below

http://cqx.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/07/26/1938965512453082.abstract

Gröschl, S. (2012). Presumed Incapable: Exploring the Validity of Negative Judgments about Persons with Disabilities and Their Employability in Hotel Operations. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. doi: 10.1177/1938965512453082

Abstract

Research has shown that managers in the hotel industry perceive persons with disabilities as people who lack the required innate capacities and attributes, are unable to meet industry-specific work requirements, and are too costly to employ. A case study of hotels within the German Embrace hotel association finds little support for those negative judgments. Based on interviews with forty-nine managers, employees, and guests with and without disabilities as well as nine days of observations, the study found that employees with disabilities are loyal, are reliable, and, on balance, require moderate accommodations. On average, more than 60 percent of Embrace hotel employees are persons with disabilities. Embrace’s employment concept is based on the integrative model, which aims to create employment opportunities for persons with disabilities who do not find employment in the regular labor market. Many disabilities had no effect on the mobility or shift work of employees. The processes of accommodating and training persons with disabilities were frequently associated with minimal costs, and expenses incurred for some accommodations were offset by German government grants. Moreover, the physical attributes of persons with disabilities did not negatively influence the experiences of guests. The findings indicate that developing an organizational climate of openness and tolerance, placing employees with disabilities at the center of managerial planning and operational processes, and investing in good human resources management practices are essential elements for the integration of persons with disabilities in the workplace.

References

Bizjak, B., Knezevic, M., & Cvetreznik, S. (2011). Attitude change towards guests with disabilities: Reflections From Tourism Students. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(3), 842-857. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2010.11.017

Darcy, S., & Buhalis, D. (2011). Chapter 2 - Conceptualising Disability: Medical, Social, WHO ICF, Dimensions and Levels of Support Needs. In D. Buhalis & S. Darcy (Eds.), Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues (pp. 21-44). Bristol, UK: Channel View Publications.

Darcy, S., Green, J., & Taylor, T. (2011). Disability Employment Practice: a human rights analysis. Paper presented at the The Future of Work and Organisations - the Australian and New Zealand Association Of Management (ANZAM), Amora Hotel, Wellington, New Zealand.

Daruwalla, P. S., & Darcy, S. (2005). Personal and Societal Attitudes to Disability. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(3), 549-570.

Goffman, E. (1963). Selections from Stigma. In L. J. Davis (Ed.), The Disability Studies Reader (pp. 205-215). London: Routledge.

Gröschl, S. (2005). Persons with Disabilities. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 46(2), 258-274. doi: 10.1177/0010880404273935

Gröschl, S. (2007). An exploration of HR policies and practices affecting the integration of persons with disabilities in the hotel industry in major Canadian tourism destinations. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 26(3), 666-686. doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2006.05.007

Gröschl, S. (2012). Presumed Incapable: Exploring the Validity of Negative Judgments about Persons with Disabilities and Their Employability in Hotel Operations. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. doi: 10.1177/1938965512453082

Navarro García-Caro, S., de Waal, A., & Buhalis, D. (2012). Special Needs Customer Care Training for Tourism. In D. Buhalis, S. Darcy & I. Ambrose (Eds.), Best Practice in Accessible Tourism: Inclusion, Disability, Ageing Population and Tourism (pp. 365-374). Bristol, UK: Channel View Publications.

Ross, G. A. (1994). Attitudes Towards The Disabled In Destination Marketing Organizations (Marketing Organizations). Ph.D Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Ph.D. Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  

Ross, G. F. (2004). Ethics, trust and expectations regarding the treatment of disabled staff within a tourism/hospitality industry context. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 23(5), 523-544.

Wearing, S., & Darcy, S. (2011). Inclusiveness of the "Othered" in Tourism. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 3(2), 18-34. 

World Report on Disability - The Travel Chain

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
• Understanding Disability
• Disability - the global picture
• Genera health care
• Rehabilitation
• Assistance and support
• Enabling environments
• Education
• Work and Employment
• Recommendations

Interestingly, addresses many of the key concepts discussed in the blog including constraints and barriers to participation, universal design and market dynamics but the report does not mention tourism specifically. It does, however, draw attention to United Nations’ (2006) Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and how the articles relate to the importance of participation in all areas of citizenship. While it could be argued that the key chapters discussed in the report cumulatively provide a guide for developing accessible destinations, there is no doubt that the overriding priority of the report in ensuring that all people with disability have accessible environments, services and attitudes in their place of residence. Of course, once this has been completed for local residents, then the same local areas become accessible to tourists with disability visiting the areas.

With regard to travel, the report discusses the concept of the "travel chain" that is defined as

The “travel chain” refers to all elements that make up a journey, from starting point to destination – including the pedestrian access, the vehicles, and the transfer points. If any link is inaccessible, the entire trip becomes difficult (81). Many mass transit providers, particularly in developing countries, have implemented accessibility only partially, for example by providing a limited number of accessible vehicles on each route, making improvements only to the main stations, and providing access only on new lines. Without accessibility throughout the travel chain, the job is incomplete. Inaccessible links require taking an indirect route, creating the barrier of longer travel times. The goal must be for people to have access to all vehicles and the full service area, as well as the pedestrian environment (82). But progressive realization may be the most practical short-term response (WHO 2011, p.179).

Photo 1: Blog Author Simon Darcy boarding low floor accessible bus that forms an important part of the "travel chain" since their introduction in many countries since the late 1990s (© Fiona Darcy 2000)

Photo 1 shows a low floor accessible bus that is one part of a "travel chain" that also needs to be supported by for example accessible timetables, continuous pathways, tactile ground surface indicators and disability awareness trained bus drivers to name a few. In recognising the inherent pragmatism required to ensure the travel chain, this report together with the World Health Organization (2007) Global Age Friendly Cities, provides an impetus for nations and city states to meaningfully address the disability and ageing issues through creating sustainable approaches to these issues as part of addressing disability citizenship across all areas of social participation. The World Health Organization documents can be used to provide a foundation for providing a global understanding within local contexts and to draw the attention of those who are resisting the addressing of these issues. The document concludes by asking three questions that need to be addressed in a policy context: What do we know about people with disabilities?; What are the disabling barriers? And. How are the lives of people with disabilities affected?. In conclusion, the report makes nine recommendations:

·        enable access to all mainstream policies, systems and services;

·        invest in specific programs and services for people with disabilities;

·        adopt a National disability strategy and plan of action;

·        involve people with disabilities;

·        improved human resource capacity;

·        provide adequate funding and improve affordability;

·        increased public awareness and understanding of disability;

·        improve disability data collection; and

·        strengthen and support research on disability.

Interestingly in my own first major report, Anxiety to Access (Darcy, 1998), these recommendations are not dissimilar and provide a sound blueprint for improving travel and tourism industry approaches to disability, access and accessible tourism.

References  

Darcy, S. (1998). Anxiety to access: tourism patterns and experiences of New South Wales people with a physical disability (pp. 76). Sydney: Tourism New South Wales. http://corporate.tourism.nsw.gov.au/Anxiety_to_Access_p783.aspx

United Nations. (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/convtexte.htm: United Nations General Assembly A/61/611 - 6 December 2006.

World Health Organization. (2007). Global Age-friendly Cities Guide from http://www.who.int/ageing/age_friendly_cities/en/index.html

World Health Organization, & World Bank. (2011). World Report on Disability, from http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/index.html

  

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

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 considerations for understanding the lived experience of people with disability. A great deal of research has been undertaken in the area of behaviour and attitudes towards disability across many industry sectors (Antonak & Livneh, 2000; Finkelstein, 1980). The importance of attitudes within accessible tourism is central to a customer service orientated industry (Buhalis & Darcy, 2011).

This is certainly borne out in the hotel accommodation sector, where Darcy (2010) identifies that across all disability groups a 'can-do customer service attitude’ is valued as part of the top five considerations for staying at a particular hotel. Within interviews for this research, it was suggested that while some hotel accommodation may not provide the level of access that a person requires, if the customer service attitude is right then adjustments to rooms are possible to make them workable for the individuals involved. As Darcy’s research suggests, good environmental design shown in Photo 1 needs to be reinforced through staff training about inclusive practices for people with disability to create a welcoming and hospitable service environment.

Photo 1: Height adjusted table provided for workshop participants - hotel staff provided a range of adjustments to ensure the smooth running of a disability related workshop at a major Sydney hotel  - Participants and research team from left to right: Peter Simpson, Greg Killeen, Bruce Cameron, Simon Darcy, George Laszuk, Glenn Bennett  & Emma Wong (© Fiona Darcy 2007)

Yet, as Groschl’s (2007) study concluded that in a review of human resource polices and practices in Canadian hotels identified no best human resource management practices regarding disability. Groschl further suggested that manager perceptions of people with disability were coloured by an industry discourse of aesthetics and self-presentation that adversely affected people with disability's chances of employment. This reinforced previous research that suggested that tourism marketing managers 'camouflaged' their true attitudes towards people with disability to provide a politically correct organisational response (G. A. Ross, 1994). This type of discrimination was further reinforced by a study on the ethics of treatment of people with disability by students studying tourism and hospitality (G. F. Ross, 2004).

The importance of a well structured measures to assess attitude toward and the delivery of disability awareness training across industry sectors is well established (Antonak & Livneh, 2000; Chan, Livneh, Pruett, Wang, & Zheng, 2009; Finkelstein, 1980). Daruwalla & Darcy (2005) study of tourism and hospitality students, and employees of a tourism marketing organisation examined the affect of disability awareness training on personal and societal attitudes towards disability. Their study suggested that personal attitudes were much harder to change than societal attitudes. Further, there is a greater impact to training when the intervention involves people with disability that could be considered the peer of those being trained. However, the effect of the training dissipates with time unless reinforced through workplace practices.

A new contribution to this area is the work of the Bizjak, Knezevic, & Cvetreznik (2011) titled Attitude change towards guests with disabilities: Reflections From Tourism Students. The paper identifies that no tourism based curriculum within Slovenia includes modules on people with disabilities as tourists. The method they employed involved designing an experiment to test whether attitudes towards disabilities could be changed through education interventions. They used a semantic differential scale to measure the changes in student attitude towards people with disability through a short education program and sessions about people with disability.

Abstract: (restricted to 10% of abstract due to copyright)…In our experiment, it was shown that the process of changing perception of tourism students towards people with disabilities was relatively simple…a range of topics on the disabled have the potential to improve attitudes of students towards people with disabilities as tourists.

Keywords: people with disabilities, tourism education, semantic differential, attitude change. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

References

Antonak, R. F., & Livneh, H. (2000). Measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation, 22(5), 211-224.

Bizjak, B., Knezevic, M., & Cvetreznik, S. (2011). Attitude change towards guests with disabilities: Reflections From Tourism Students. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(3), 842-857. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2010.11.017

Buhalis, D., & Darcy, S. (Eds.). (2011). Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues. Bristol, UK: Channel View Publications.

Chan, F., Livneh, H., Pruett, S. R., Wang, C. C., & Zheng, L. X. (2009). Societal attitudes toward disability: Concepts, measurements, and interventions. In F. Chan, H. Livneh, S. R. Pruett, C.-C. Wang & L. X. Zheng (Eds.), Understanding psychosocial adjustment to chronic illness and disability: A handbook for evidence-based practitioners in rehabilitation. (pp. 333-367). New York, NY.: Springer Publishing Co.

Darcy, S. (2010). Inherent complexity: Disability, accessible tourism and accommodation information preferences. Tourism Management, 31(6), 816-826.

Darcy, S., & Buhalis, D. (2011). Chapter 2 - Conceptualising Disability: Medical, Social, WHO ICF, Dimensions and Levels of Support Needs. In D. Buhalis & S. Darcy (Eds.), Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues (pp. 21-44). Bristol, UK: Channel View Publications.

Daruwalla, P. S., & Darcy, S. (2005). Personal and Societal Attitudes to Disability. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(3), 549-570.

Finkelstein, V. (1980). Attitudes and disabled people: Issues for discussion: International Exchange of Information in Rehabilitation.

Gröschl, S. (2007). An exploration of HR policies and practices affecting the integration of persons with disabilities in the hotel industry in major Canadian tourism destinations. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 26(3), 666-686. doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2006.05.007

Ross, G. A. (1994). Attitudes Towards The Disabled In Destination Marketing Organizations (Marketing Organizations).  Ph.D. Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  

Ross, G. F. (2004). Ethics, trust and expectations regarding the treatment of disabled staff within a tourism/hospitality industry context International Journal of Hospitality Management 23(5), 523-544.

Smith, R. (1987). Leisure of disabled tourists: barriers to participation. Annals of Tourism Research, 14(3), 376-389.

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

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 underside of the bed could be critical for wheelchair users. 


Photo 1: Accessible Bedroom at a Hotel

Source: © Simon Darcy 2007

The accessibility of the hotel room, bathroom and public spaces are critical to two interrelated aspects of a person's visit. First, can they access the premise generally (e.g. parking, drop-off, getting in the front door to reception, accessible reception desk (see Photo 2) etc.) and whether the room can meet the requirements for their personal care needs (e.g. circulation space, sleeping, bathing, use the toilet etc.). Second, if this first criteria can be met then the other public spaces of the hotel will determine their interactions with the staff and other guests and, hence, the overall quality of their experience in the hotel. 


Photo 2: Reception Desk with Dual Height Areas For Wheelchair Users or People with Short Stature

Source: © Simon Darcy 2007

Across all dimensions of access (mobility, vision, hearing and cognitive) the component people rated as "very important" and had the highest mean score was a "can-do customer service attitude". Yet, there has been very little examination in the literature of hotel and lodging manager's perceptions of servicing people with disabilities. An article has just been published that summarises the previous literature and undertakes a study of hotel managers perceptions of disability service provision.

Abstract

The tourism sector globally has become increasingly mindful of how an ageing population is reshaping how and in what form services should be offered. This is particularly true of accommodation operations where there is a now a growing recognition of the commercial value for providing market groups with exceptional service. With this in mind, this study sought to ascertain the perceptions of managers in the accommodation sector towards disability service provision with a view to identifying any current service gaps or failings. An inductive, qualitative approach was used with the data collection phase incorporating a series of one on one interviews and a focus group. The in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 managers of hotels deemed to have accessible rooms that complied with the relevant building codes and standards. A focus group comprised 22 managers of hotels located in the Sydney central business district, Australia. Study findings revealed five key themes that had not been previously discussed in the literature. They were: inclusive attitudinal approach; safety; the responsibility of people with a disability to communicate their needs to the hotel; perceptions of accessible rooms by the general public; and operational processes. Related themes that emerged from the data analysis that had previously been aligned with the literature included: legislative responsibility, policy and building codes; disability as a market segment; staff awareness/training; and language, marketing, and promotion information. Implications with respect to management of accessible rooms in the accommodation sector are outlined and further areas of research are proposed.

Crown Copyright©2010PublishedbyElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved.

Reference

Darcy, S., & Pegg, S. (2010). Towards Strategic Intent: Perceptions of disability service provision amongst hotel accommodation managers. International Journal of Hospitality Management, In Press, Corrected Proof. doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2010.09.009

New Published Research from NZ on Mobility Disability and Attitudes to Motorised Access of Wilderness

An interesting new article that analyses the comparative attitudes of people with mobility disabilities and the general public to the provision of motorized access to wilderness environments in New Zealand.

Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

Planes, trains and wheelchairs in the bush: Attitudes of people with mobility-disabilities to enhanced motorised access in remote natural settings

Brent A. Lovelock^a

^a Centre for Recreation Research, Department of Tourism, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

Abstract

Managers of remote and wilderness environments have been among the last to accommodate the needs of tourists with mobility-disabilities…(shortened due to copyright restrictions).

Keywords: Mobility-disability; Motorised; Access; Wilderness; Nature; Environmental attitude


Full reference:

Lovelock, B. A. (2010). Planes, trains and wheelchairs in the bush: Attitudes of people with mobility-disabilities to enhanced motorised access in remote natural settings. Tourism Management, 31(3), 357-366.