Article: French versus Canadian Tourism: Response to the Disabled

This article provides further contributions to cultural understandings of disability and accessible tourism coming from France and Canada. The study used a qualitative approach of in-depth interviewing and drew the sample from predominantly people with disability   and agency directors. The French sample comprised 23 people with disability and 2 agency directors, whereas the Canadian sample included 20 people with disability and 4 agency directors. The findings examined the commonalities and contrasts between the barriers experienced, which were divided into physical, financial, attitudinal and communication. Recommendations are provided to improve the accessibility of both the French and Canadian responses to the group.

Freeman, I., & Selmi, N. (2010). French versus Canadian Tourism: Response to the Disabled. Journal of Travel Research, 49(4), 471-485. doi: 10.1177/0047287509349268

http://jtr.sagepub.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/content/49/4/471.abstract

Abstract Copyright © 2012 by SAGE Publications

"Both France and Canada rank as highly developed tourist destinations. This study compares the underexplored area of the needs of tourists who are disabled in France (n = 25) and Canada (n = 24). The authors examine Canada’s and France’s accommodation to both domestic and international tourists who have disabilities, giving the study a unique perspective in comparing and contrasting results to the same questions across similar populations in two countries. The results indicate that neither country’s tourism industry has developed an effective policy to accommodate tourists who have disabilities indicated by significant barriers existing that exclude segments of the disabled population. This article takes the words of those with disabilities to recommend steps necessary to improve the tourism opportunities with this population".

Given previous inclusions on the blog with respect to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, it would be interesting to research whether the initiatives introduced by the Vancouver Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (VANOC) have had a lasting legacy on accessible tourism. A series of physical infrastructure, disability awareness training, information, promotion and marketing strategies were implemented to improve the accessibility of the games experience for athletes, spectators, volunteers and employees alike. Photo 1 shows some of the accessible facility infrastructure built for the Vancouver Games. Disability awareness training was part of the volunteer training that was discussed by the volunteers as part of a research project investigating the volunteer management practices of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (Dickson, Edwards and Darcy, 2010).

Photo 1: Accessible Ski Facilities

Source: VANOC 2010 - A Barrier Free Experience Presentation

References

Coward, D. & Konstantinidis, L. (2010) Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter games - a barrier free experience. VANOC, Vancouver.


Dickson, T., Edwards, D., Darcy, S., Benson, A., & Blackman, D. (2010, Feb 19). Olympic and Paralympic Legacies: the 2010 Volunteers’ Story. Paper presented at the Third International Sport Business Symposium - Economics and Management of the Olympic Games, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Freeman, I., & Selmi, N. (2010). French versus Canadian Tourism: Response to the Disabled. Journal of Travel Research, 49(4), 471-485. doi: 10.1177/0047287509349268

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

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 understanding of social rather than medicalised approaches to understanding disabling environments and the impact upon an individual's citizenship. An abstract of an article is provided with permission from the author.

Photo 1: The researcher - Antika Sawadsri

Abstract

The approach to the inaccessibility of the built environment for disabled people in academic research has been heavily focused on legislating for access requirements and providing technical solutions. The spatial experiences of disabled people tend to be disregarded or taken as a peripheral form of knowledge. This article draws on an in-depth study of the lived experience of one wheelchair-using volunteer. It reveals that the majority of the physical and psychological difficulties encountered by disabled people are the result of inaccessible environments rather than their impairment. There is a need to understand the built environments of disabled people by regarding different forms of negotiating with a disabling environment, acquiring capital, the social agency of disabled people as well as attitudes towards them and discriminatory constructions.

Keywords: Spatial experience, disabling environment, lived experience, disabled people, agency for change

One of the strengths of the research was an understanding of how Turn, the individual the thesis is based on, negotiates accessibility to challenge the disabling nature of their local environments. One such example, was where upon discussing the access challenges that the Turn was facing, the local neighbours collaboratively got together to remove parts of the disabling streetscape to provide a continuous pathway. Photo 1 is an example from the thesis of Turn's ongoing process of negotiation that is indicative of people with disability's continual negotiation of accessibility on a daily basis.

Photo 2 The place where the street hump in Tum's village was removed on her behalf by neighbours

I am conscious that a great deal of the research and literature on accessible tourism is only from the English-speaking world and I implore readers of this blog to encourage researchers from non-English-speaking countries to submit English language abstracts so that we can promote their research and get a better cross-cultural understanding of the embodied nature of disabling environments. Congratulations Antika!

Readers can contact Antika on antika@gmail.com

Lecturer, School of Architecture

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand

References

Gleeson, B. (1999). Geographies of Disability. London: Routledge.

Sawadsri, A. (2010). Accessibility and Disability in the Built Environment: negotiating the public realm in Thailand. Doctor of Philosophy, Newcastle University, Newcastle.  

TRANSED Accessible Public Transport and Tourism Conference, Hong Kong China 2-4 June 2010

One of the great experiences of working within universities, academia and the international research environment is the opportunity to attend conferences, share ideas and network with people from all over the world. One such opportunity is the TRANSED 2010 – 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Person to be held in Hong Kong, China 2-4 June  2010. The conference has stream on accessible tourism research and policy that brings together perspectives from all over the world. I am lucky enough to be a plenary speaker and I am looking forward to the conference as a first time visitor to Hong Kong and experiencing the delights of one of Asia’s great cities. The conference incorporates a series of opportunities to undertake field visits to a variety of accessible transport and tourism offerings and I will be availing myself of these opportunities. As a person with high support needs, I will also report on my experiences as a traveler with disabilities to Hong Kong. It is excellent to see that the Hong Kong Tourism Board (2010) at least has a page on Accessible Hong Kong.

In continuing from Rafael de Castro's (2010) research, Hong Kong is a city where east meets west in so many ways yet there has been very little examination in the literature of cross-cultural accessible tourism issues. In disability studies more generally, there is a recognition that disability has a cultural construct that must be factored into the way that Western disability studies theory is applied in non-Western systems. For example the work of Miles (1982, 2000, 2001), has critiqued the different value systems between eastern and western philosophies and the implications that this has for policy implementation. There has been research completed on accessible tourism in an Asian context (Bi, Card, & Cole, 2007; McKercher, Packer, Yau, & Lam, 2003; Packer, McKercher, & Yau, 2007; Yau, McKercher, & Packer, 2004) but interestingly this work has not discussed cross-cultural considerations within accessible tourism research.

As a western traveller to Hong Kong, I will report back on my observations of cross-cultural considerations that I experience as well those of my fellow travellers. If you like a personal ethnography or more correctly a heuristic inquiry that draws on the researchers experience of the phenomenon and the essential experience of others who also experience the phenomenon (Patton, 1990, p. 71).

Photo 1: Hong Kong Tourism Board website page image

Source: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/trip-planner/hongkong-disabled-traveller.html

References

Bi, Y., Card, J. A., & Cole, S. T. (2007). Accessibility and Attitudinal Barriers Encountered by Chinese Travellers with Physical Disabilities. Int. J. Tourism Res, 9, 205-216.

de Castro, R. T. (2010). Accessibility of Tourists with Special Needs to Air Transport Unpublished Masters, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro.

Hong Kong Tourism Board. (2010). Accessible Hong Kong.   Retrieved 23 May, 2010, from http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/trip-planner/hongkong-disabled-traveller.html

McKercher, B., Packer, T., Yau, M. K., & Lam, P. (2003). Travel agents as facilitators or inhibitors of travel: perceptions of people with disabilities. Tourism Management, 24(4), 465-474.

Miles, M. (1982). Why Asia Rejects Western Disability Advice. International Rehabilitation Review, 4th Quarter, www.pcs.mb.ca/~ccd/disbookl.html.

Miles, M. (2000). Disability on a Different Model: glimpses of an Asian heritage. Disability & Society, 15(4), 603-618.

Miles, M. (2001). ICIDH Meets Postmodernism, or Incredulity toward Meta-Terminology. Disability World E-Zine (March/April), 2001(7), www.disabilityworld.org/03-04_01/resources/icidh.shtml.

Packer, T. L., McKercher, B., & Yau, M. (2007). Understanding the complex interplay between tourism, disability and environmental contexts. Disability & Rehabilitation, 29(4), 281-292.

Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Yau, M. K.-s., McKercher, B., & Packer, T. L. (2004). Traveling with a disability: More than an Access Issue. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(4), 946-960.

Research from the non-English-speaking World: Airport accessibility in Brazil

I am regularly contacted by undergraduate and graduate students from around the world interested in accessible tourism and disability related issues. One of the reasons for creating this blog was to point people to the literature and research resources of common requests such as economic contribution, constraints and national patterns of participation. One such student was a Master of Science in transport engineering student from Rio de Janeiro, Rafael Teixeira de Castro who was interested in air transport accessibility. Rafael wanted some direction with the literature generally, social approaches to disability specifically and methodology as he was studying under a transport engineering faculty where these issues were outside the scope of his supervisors. I am happy to say that Rafael completed his dissertation and has provided an English language abstract that is provided below.

ABSTRACT FROM THESIS

The difficulties faced by people with special needs in air transport are countless. Many authors have investigated this issue; however, only few researches were dedicated to observing, perceiving and listening to these individuals’ needs. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the accessibility of people with special needs in air transport as a factor for social inclusion. By interviews and interaction with people with special needs, “flowchart models” were developed with the objective to understand the real difficulties imposed by the terminals. The methodology used was a qualitative research based on questionnaires and interviews to people with mobility impairments in partnership with NGOs in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The findings point to the essentiality of airport planners, designers and managers hear the voice of these costumers in order to provide the service they wish to have which is guaranteed by the legislation. Listening to these people, learning about their differences and how to deal with them, is of great value for the development of accessible airport facilities (de Castro, 2010).

I am also conscious that a great deal of the research and literature on accessible tourism is only from the English-speaking world and I implore readers of this blog to encourage researchers from non-English-speaking countries to submit English language abstracts so that we can promote their research and get a better cross-cultural understanding of accessible tourism. Congratulations Rafael!

Readers can contact Rafael on rafatcastro@yahoo.com.br

Photo 1: The researcher - Rafael Teixeira de Castro

References

de Castro, R. T. (2010). Accessibility of Tourists with Special Needs to Air Transport Master of Science Masters, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro.