Accessibility in Inclusive Tourism? Hotels Distributed through Online Channels

Eva Martin-Fuentes, Sara Mostafa-Shaalan and Juan Pedro Mellinas
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Eva Martin-Fuentes: Business Management Department, University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Sara Mostafa-Shaalan: Business Management Department, University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Juan Pedro Mellinas: Business Management Department, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, 30201 Cartagena, Spain

Societies, 2021, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: There is a lack of comprehensive international studies on accommodations for people with disabilities; only small, local-level studies exist. This study aims to show the status of the tourist accommodation sector through the online distribution channel in terms of accessibility to offer more inclusive tourism. A descriptive analysis has been carried out with more than 31,000 hotels from the online travel agency Booking.com, in the 100 most touristic cities in the world. For the first time, an accurate picture of adaptation in the hotel sector for people with disabilities is presented. Results show that the adapted hotel infrastructures by countries are uneven. The main adaptations are those that help to avoid mobility barriers, and in contrast, hotels offer very few adaptations for sensory disabilities such as visual disabilities. Moreover, this study shows that, worldwide, countries with the highest income per capita, such as the United States of America, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, have the highest degree of hotel adaptation.

Keywords: inclusive tourism; accessibility; disability; Booking.com; hotels (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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