Accessible tourism in Greece: What is the current status?

Year 2019, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 33 - 42, 31.07.2019

Evangelia Kasimati , Paris Ioakeimidis

Abstract

Accessible tourism is a new emerging segment of
tourism in Greece, as well as worldwide, related to the tourist activity of
disabled people and elderly age groups. Travelers with disabilities and elderly
people have their special needs when engaging in tourism. This paper attempts
to present the existing status of the accessible tourism in Greece. More
particularly, our research focuses on the travel needs and barriers faced by
people with disabilities in order to evaluate the current accessibility level
of the Greek tourism industry, as well as the quality of infrastructure,
tourist services and products offered to disabled and aged people throughout
the Greek tourist chain. For this purpose, questionnaires with experts involved
in the Greek tourism industry were undertaken and a quantitative analysis has
been used to present our results. Whenever it was possible, our results have
been compared with those of other academic studies, conducted for Greece or
other similar tourism destinations. Our results show that, first the “accessible
tourism” product of Greece is not entirely satisfactory; therefore, demand for
accessible tourism in Greece remains low, as the Greek tourist destinations
lack the appropriate infrastructure and easy access to public transport; and second
the dynamics and size of the accessible tourist market is not fully understood
by the Greek tourist industry. Our findings enrich the existing limited
literature by providing some valid conclusions for the accessible tourism in
Greece, since similar academic research has not been conducted before.

Keywords

Accessible tourism, disabled and elderly people, Greece, tourism

Accessible tourism in Greece: What is the current status?

Abstract

Accessible tourism is a new emerging segment of tourism in Greece, as well as worldwide, related to the tourist activity of disabled people and elderly age groups. Travelers with disabilities and elderly people have their special needs when engaging in tourism. This paper attempts to present the existing status of the accessible tourism in Greece. More particularly, our research focuses on the travel needs and barriers faced by people with disabilities in order to evaluate the current accessibility level of the Greek tourism industry, as well as the quality of infrastructure, tourist services and products offered to disabled and aged people throughout the Greek tourist chain. For this purpose, questionnaires with experts involved in the Greek tourism industry were undertaken and a quantitative analysis has been used to present our results. Whenever it was possible, our results have been compared with those of other academic studies, conducted for Greece or other similar tourism destinations. Our results show that, first the “accessible tourism” product of Greece is not entirely satisfactory; therefore, demand for accessible tourism in Greece remains low, as the Greek tourist destinations lack the appropriate infrastructure and easy access to public transport; and second the dynamics and size of the accessible tourist market is not fully understood by the Greek tourist industry. Our findings enrich the existing limited literature by providing some valid conclusions for the accessible tourism in Greece, since similar academic research has not been conducted before.

Keywords

Tourism, Greece, Accessible tourism, Disabled people and elderly people

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