Digitalization in inclusive tourism

Summary of the study

Although information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer a variety of opportunities to improve and expand access to tourism services for people with disabilities, their added value, both social and economic, continues to be neglected by the industry. While the existing literature considers stakeholder collaboration as an essential element to promote sustainable product and service development, a substantial discussion on the subjective perceptions of the stakeholders involved regarding digitalization for inclusive tourism is still lacking. In order to achieve a common strategy in this regard, this paper provides a qualitative investigation of collaboration patterns and potential pathways towards smart accessible tourism. The results of this study show a common understanding of accessible tourism within the stakeholder groups of (1) persons with disabilities, (2) organizations of persons with disabilities, (3) accommodation and tourism service providers (H&T service providers) and (4) government agencies.

The lack of standardization of existing websites, mobile applications, booking platforms and social media in the quest for inclusive tourism was widely criticized. While collaboration here is visible at the regional level, stakeholders at the national level favor superficial information sharing over true, in-depth collaboration aimed at a common goal. This tends to lead to a lack of clarity as to who should have the authority to define and control digitalization for inclusive tourism. In the past, this has led to the implementation of numerous information and communication platforms without taking into account those that already exist.

Key findings

• The added value of digitalization for inclusive tourism is often not perceived. The study highlights that essential tools for the implementation of ICTs - such as multilingual websites, mobile applications and booking platforms - aregenerally underestimated.
• Lack of standardization of digital offerings: Existing digital offerings for inclusive tourism, such as websites, mobile applications and booking platforms, are insufficiently standardized and uniform. This leads to mistrust and confusion among potential users. Users often have to click through numerous websites that provide contradictory or differently rated information. There is a clear need for a standardized digital information base and a central information platform.
• Superficial cooperation instead of deep collaboration: Although there is a common understanding of inclusive tourism among stakeholders (people with disabilities, their organizations, accommodation and tourism service providers and government authorities), there is a superficial exchange of information (cooperation) at national level rather than real, deep cooperation (collaboration) aimed at a common goal.
• Unclear responsibilities and governance of digitalization: It remains unclear who should have the authority to define and steer digitalization for accessible tourism. In the past, this has led to numerous information and communication platforms being implemented without taking existing ones into account.