Problems and Prospects of Accessible Tourism in India- Report (original) (raw)

Responsible Tourism in India: Special Reference to People with Disabilities

International Journal of Management Studies, 2018

The annual growth rate of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) in India in 2014 was 10.6% which was higher than the median annual growth rate of 4.7% globally, indicating impressive growth (Ministry of Tourism, Annual Report, 2014-15). The Government of India has taken several initiatives to improve this growth rate through schemes like PRASAD, HRIDAY, Swadesh Darshan and Incredible India campaign. However the significant strata of tourists with disabilities has been heavily ignored in these initiatives. Globally, almost 1 billion persons with diverse disabilities are there-physical, mental and sensory. More than 2 billion persons are their family members (WHO, World Report on Disability 2011). The total number of disabled persons in India is 26,810,557 which are 2.21% of the total population of India (Census Report 2011). According to Lonely Planet, if disabled people are provided appropriate facilities wherever they travel, 50% more of them will travel. Another study shows that in United States alone, adults with disabilities annually spend 13.

From tourism and disability to accessible tourism: a perspective article

Tourism Review, 2020

Purpose This paper aims to examine the development of disability and tourism to the conceptualising and defining of accessible tourism. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a limited review of the literature as its main approach. Findings In reviewing the development of the field from disability and tourism to accessible tourism, it became apparent that there has been a change in focus on the accessibility of the key sectors of tourism (e.g. transport, accommodation and attractions) to incorporating an embodied understanding of tourism in developing accessible destination experiences that provide an equality of offering to that of nondisabled tourists. Originality/value This paper makes a contribution by clearly following the development of the field from papers that only considered tourism and disability to conceptualise and define the accessible tourism field. It then goes on to identify a significant challenge due to an underlying empirical data gap through a lack of natio...

Factors Affecting Accessible Tourism – A Case of Pilgrimage Destinations in Andhra Pradesh

Atna Journal of Tourism Studies

Every tourism attraction ought to provide a sense of safety and accessibility for visitors. The UNWTO's 2016 motto and vision statement, "Tourism for everyone," states that an accessible tourism component must be a part of every country's tourist policy. The issue suggests that approximately 16% of the Indian population has a disability, so the governments should implement the essential measures for accessible tourist development. The over-60 age demographic is expanding at a greater rate than any other age group due to rising life expectancy and falling birth rates. The current research endeavors to ascertain the elements that influence the travel habits of the elderly and those with disabilities who travel to the temples in Andhra Pradesh as pilgrims. The statistics also indicate that 5.8% of Andhra Pradesh's population is comprised of people with disabilities. In order to examine the factors and satisfaction level of senior citizens and physically challenged...

People with Disabilities: Accessible Tourism Introduction to the Special Thematic Session

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2006

The Special Thematic Session is organized to provide a forum to discuss major issues related to Accessible Tourism, to identify existing barriers as well as technologies, strategies and approaches to promote Accessible Tourism. The more Information Communication Technologies and Assistive Technologies increase the potential to enable people with disabilities to take part in almost any area of life, the more eInclusion and eAccessibility become a common responsibility of the mainstream tourism industry. The European Commission appreciates this fact and therefore supports different activities to raise the awareness of the impact and the business opportunities that Accessible Tourism introduces. The forthcoming process of demographic ageing will lead to a growing number of tourists with needs for more accessibility and higher service quality also in tourism.

The ability to support accessible tourism in

This research aimed to study the readiness of Chiang Mai to support the market of those who are disabled in some way and need special access. This article considers the support of marketing management for this group of tourists by referring to the tourist attractions that have cited the preparation for accessing the market of this group of people. The research was qualitative and the sample group consisted of 5 sample groups as follows. A group of tourists with special access demands, product and service providers in that place or the attraction, tour guides and tour agencies, government agencies and NGOs. The results from the visitors' point of view show that all the seven studied places in Chiang Mai are still not ready to be accessed because they lack facilities such as ramps, designated parking lots, pathways and suitable toilets. Moreover, from the research results according to the visitors' experience, it cannot be concluded that all these seven places have the readiness to provide the accessibility information and would in any way be able to contribute to the visitors in providing this because none of the visitors are also not prepare themselves to collect all the needed information relating to disability provision from these places before their trips. The results show that most of the tourists do not pay attention to systematically learn about their targeted destinations. Nevertheless, all the servicers are gradually developing and venues are slowly improving their services in both the needed physical aspects and data service access in order to provide more convenience to all the tourists in Chiang Mai.

Paving the Way to Accessible Tourism

2010

People do not normally get interested in the problems of limited mobility, unless they experience the problem themselves or they personally know someone who does. In my case, it took 28 years of my life until the second possibility occurred. Craig Grimes was that person. But in his case, he not only suffered the lack of access in travel, he also decided to do something about it and created his own company. This was very inspiring. Soon I realised that not being disabled was nor precisely an advantage to carry out this research. Many 'ableist' misconceptions and misrepresentations were allocated in my imaginary. Moreover, I had to overcome a complete lack of knowledge about disability, impairment and accessible tourism. At the same time, it was so easy to say the wrong word or to make unjustified assumptions. Although I have not suffered the problem, I started to empathise with those who did and I learn to see with their eyes. I did not like what I saw. For some people, every time they want to travel by public transport, go to the pub, stay in a hotel or enjoy a tour they must ask themselves: is it accessible? And worst of all, most of times the answer is "No" or "I don't know". Even when it's "yes" they cannot really be sure! According to what I heard from people who suffered the lack of access, despite some advances, there is still a lot of frustration. I felt the gratitude of many when they knew about this research. To them it is dedicated. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE REPORT 5 2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 5 3. GLOSSARY AND TERMINOLOGY 6 4. BACKGROUND 8 4.1 DISABILITIES 8 4.2. DISABILITIES AND TOURISM 9 4.3 BENEFICIARIES OF ACCESSIBILITY 5. RATIONALE 6. LITERATURE REVIEW 6.1 CONCEPT OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN 6.2 ACCESSIBLE TOURISM RESEARCH 6.3 SOCIAL AND INCLUSIVE TOURISM 6.4 BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE 6.5 LEGISLATION 6.6 CONCLUSION 7. RESEARCH METHODS 7.1 METHODOLOGY 7.2 METHODS 8 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS 8.1 QUESTIONNAIRE 8.2 CASE STUDIES 9 DISCUSSION 9.1 PwLM TRAVEL 9.2 OPPORTUNITIES FOR DESTINATION 9.3 ENGAGING BUSINESSES 10. RECOMMENDATIONS 11. CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES ANNEX 1 ANNEX 2

Foreign Direct Investment and Accessible Tourism in India

International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2013

Disability is an important public health problem especially in developing countries like India. The problem will increase in future because of increase in trend of noncommunicable diseases and change in age structure with an increase in life expectancy. The issues are different in developed and developing countries, and rehabilitation measures should be targeted according the needs of the disabled with community participation. In India, a majority of the disabled resides in rural areas where accessibility, availability,and utilization of rehabilitation services and its cost-effectiveness are the major issues to be considered. In modern society, making a holiday trip is one of most popular leisure activities which enhance the quality of life not only for non-disabled individuals but also for individuals for disabilities. As more and more people with disabilities are keen to travel "accessible tourism" has emerged as a potential market segment for the tourism industry .The indian government is also working hard to elevate the situation of people with disabilities. As a result of the implementation of several laws regarding people with disabilities, their social and economic status has improved. In spite of the Indian government's effort to develop India as a barrier-free destination, the market of traveller with disabilities has been given little attention by India's tourism industry. Therefore this study attempts to investigate the current situation of tourist facilities and service for visitors with disabilities in tourist destinations to improve barrier-free tourism in India. Several problems concerning accessibility to serve disabled visitors and a few recommendations to minimize the accessibility barriers were discussed. It is hoped that this paper will assist the development of barrier-free tourism in India by providing useful guidelines to improve the facilities and service for the tourist with disabilities.Foreign direct investment in the field of accessible tourism is a keen and important step to improve the quality of tourism development in India.

Accessible Tourism–The Ignored Opportunity

Annals of Faculty of Economics, 2010

To create a positive visitor experience, a key factor in obtaining economic benefits, the tourism industry must pay attention to all the elements that contribute to it, especially to accessibility. Visitor accessibility encompasses all tourism markets including seniors and people with disabilities, who have been defined through accessible tourism. This article offers a short presentation of the term accessible tourism, the existing research in the field and the main reasons why the worldwide tourism industry is seemly unaware of this particular market.

ASSESSMENT OF EXPECTATIONS AND TENDENCIES ON DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE TOURISM: A STUDY ON DEMAND

Disability is a phenomenon that has received a growing level of academic and governmental attention for a number of demographic and social factors. Accessible tourism is able to reach large populations with its universal design, and ensures that independent. The number of people with disabilities is expected to increase. In this the tourism demands of people with disabilities, a group which composes the largest minority in the world (almost 15% of the wor study is to investigate the advantages and obstacles relating to accessible tourism, and enable people with disabilities to benefit from tourism activities equally and honorably by producing suggestions for meeting the expectations of this demanding group, thus extending tourism over the whole year.