For Accessible Tourism Experience: Exploring The Blog Sphere of People with Disabilities

Abstract

In spite of the continuous growth of the tourism industry, the participation of people with disabilities (PwDs) remains a major challenge. Tourism constraints; which include three categories: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural; make delivering accessible tourism experiences more difficult. Despite the increased attention to travel blogs in recent years, sharing travel experiences through the blog sphere still need more research in tourism literature. Travel bloggers are now increasingly being seen as a trustworthy source of information for travelers’ decision-making. The authors of accessible travel blogs share their experiences, stories, and accessible travel tips and write reviews on accessible destinations from the perspective of tourists with disabilities. The objective of this study is to examine the different constraints that are experienced by disabled travel bloggers by applying the travel constraints adopted by Daniels et al., (2005). The second objective is to explore the negotiation strategies proposed by these travel bloggers to overcome travel constraints and to show disabled travelers that accessible travel is possible. The findings of the narrative analysis of 17 travel blogs revealed that among many constraints shared by disabled travel bloggers, structural constraints were the most difficult and their major concern.