Alas para el autismo: A study of the benefits of offering incentive travel

Abstract

The access to tourism activities is considered a right for everybody no matter their origin nor their condition. Consequently, accessible tourism is becoming more important in modern societies in order to create barrier free experiences which allow all individuals to experience this area of cultural life. However, due to the recentness of this phenomena there are not many academic studies and theories on the topic. This paper expands the literature on accessible tourism focusing on how to make hotel stays more accessible to individuals who present a disorder within the Autist Spectrum and to their families. To this aim, a self-administered survey based on the existing literature was created. A sample of 70 families who have a child that present a disorder identified within the Autism Spectrum were polled about their patterns, requirements and main barriers when traveling. The gathered data together with its posterior analysis and interpretation seem to suggest that the stronger demand of certain services, such as the availability of accessible rooms or food delivery promptness, may be related to the child degree of disability. The possible existence of a gap between what these families require and what they actually get when staying in a hotel may also be pointed out from the obtained results. Finally, price, lack of available information and lack of trust on the property might be seen as the most relevant barriers families traveling with a child with autism consider when choosing a hotel for their stay.