A Survey on the Opinion of Hospitality Industry Managers on Disabled Segment

Abstract

Disability can be defined as, 'a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'. The number of disabled people in the world is over 500 million. In Turkey, there are also more than 8.5 million disabled people. Nowadays people with disabilities and older people are becoming a growing group of consumers in the tourism industry. People with disabilities have a right too, and do want to enjoy travel and leisure experiences. Suitable infrastructure and good service quality are two prerequisites for disabled people to enjoy travel and leisure experiences. In this study, data from 252 hotel managers through internet indicates that the hotel managers have a positive point of view of the disabled market. Additionally, there exists a positive relationship between the number of the stars of hotels and the managerial point of view.

Keywords

• hospitality companies,tourism enterprises,attitude towards handicapped,handicapped persons,tourism marketing,marketing,disability

Konaklama İşletmeleri Yöneticilerinin Bedensel Engelliler Pazarına Bakış Açıları Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Öz

Engelli, 'uzun vadeli olarak fiziksel, zihinsel veya sağlık sorunları nedeniyle aktivitesinin çeşidi veya miktarı ile ilgili sınırları bulunan kişidir' (Disability Discrimination Act 1995). Dünyada engelli nüfusu 500 milyonu aşmaktadır. Türkiye'de ise, 8,5 milyondan fazla engelli bulun­maktadır (Mengüç 2002; Artar ve Karabacakoğlu 2003; UNESCAP 2000). Günümüz turizm endüstrisinde yaşlı ve engelli pazarı gelişmekte olan önemli bir pazar konumuna gelmiştir. Dünyanın en büyük seyahat pazar dilimini oluşturan engellilerin de dinlenmek, eğlenmek ve gezip-görmek amacıyla seyahate katılmaları diğer normal insanlar gibi en doğal haklarıdır. Bu hakkın etkin kullanılabilmesinin ön koşulu yeterli altyapının olması ile turizm sektöründe hizmet sunanların yeterlilikleridir. Bu çalışmada, en büyük engelli dilimini oluşturan bedensel engelliler pazarına konaklama işletme yöneticilerinin bakış açılarını ortaya koymak amaçlanmıştır. Otel yöneticilerinin bedensel engelli pazarına bakış açılarının olumlu olduğu söylenebilir. Ayrıca, otellerin yıldız sayısı arttıkça ilgili pazara bakış açılarının da olumlu yönde arttığı belirtilebilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• konaklama işletmeleri,turizm işletmeleri,engellilere karşı tutum,engelli kişiler,turizm pazarlaması,pazarlama,özürlülük

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