Accessible Tourism – An Expression of Social Responsibility

Accessible tourism involves the provision of customized tourist services for people requiring special conditions (disabled, seniors, and young children). Everyone has the right to travel, thus, by creating these conditions, both public administrations and private enterprises should express their Social Responsibility. Due to the fact that in recent years accessibility has become a topic frequently debated at an international level, those involved in the Romanian tourism industry and political leaders have begun to show interest in supporting the development of a "tourism for all". In other words, a tourism where everyone can participate equally, regardless of the locomotor or sensory capacities. The present study presents the results of an assessment of the development stage of accessible tourism in Romania. We have interviewed people who have a direct implication in this niche of Romanian tourism, namely a representative of the President Complex in Baile Felix (awarded by the European Commission for accessibility) and the representative of the Sano Touring Agency, the only Romanian member of the European Network for Accessible Tourism).Success in this respect can come as a result of an appropriate professional approach to a number of factors that could lead to improved tourist offer with accessible services but also to encourage demand. In order to have a positive evolution, accessible tourism involves four steps: the awareness stage, the early stage, the development stage and the consolidation stage. In this paper we are going to analyse the stages that are currently taking place in Romania, namely: the awareness and the early stages.

Keywords

Accessible tourism, Social Responsibility, accessibility, tourism for all, ethical tourism

JEL Classification

L83, M14

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