Towards a tourism for diversity

Abstract

This article aims to synthesise a larger ethnographic work on the circumstances surrounding the experiences of people with specific accessibility requirements when they indulge in tourism, carried out during 2015 and 2016 on the Alicante coast – Santa Pola, Elche, Benidorm – and the south of Tenerife – Los Cristianos, Arona –. The effects produced by the physical and attitudinal barriers that they have to face are analysed. The objectives outlined in this paper are: to know the factors that act as invisible barriers preventing people with special needs from fully enjoying leisure and tourism; to know why businessmen in the sector show such little interest in attracting clients with special needs; explore whether the image and symbology of special needs has an impact on the tourist experience of people in this category and to clarify whether accessible tourism constitutes a niche or a new market segment. In this regard, we provide passages from the ethnography on which the study is based, through in‑depth interviews and participant observation. Likewise, the progressive application of new technologies to the travel chain accessibility is helping to set up, with greater security and dynamism, a tourism that has set a course towards diversity.