Manager´s knowledge and awareness towards accessible tourism in the Region of Murcia

Abstract

Traditionally the issue of Accessible Tourism has been approached in order to consider people with disabilities’ demands regarding the practice of tourism. However, little has been said about the manager’s perception or knowledge about the phenomenon.  This research targets the managers as the main focus of interest in order to know how the different properties adapt to the growing sector of accessible tourism.  In order to do so, a survey was conducted to measure the level of knowledge and attitudes towards Accessible Tourism presented by managers (n=318) of properties in the southeastern Region of Murcia (Spain). The results show that only 1 out of three managers are familiar with the concept, most of them (67%) does not provide the customers with an accessible website, only 38% adapt the property infrastructure for better accessibility and most of them (90%) never took training courses on the topic. Training courses, awareness campaign and funding by the Administration are needed in order to totally achieve a total universal design in tourism.