Adapting destinations to be accessible to all forms of tourism: the challenge of blind tourists

Abstract

The access to tourism activities is considered a right for everybody no matter their origin or 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 the needs and challenges of blind and visually impaired people in tourism. To this aim, different interviews based on existing literature were created. A sample of three people who are blind and one person from the professional sector related to accessible tourism were interviewed about their requirements and main barriers when travelling and motivations to travel. The gathered data together with its posterior analysis and interpretation seem to suggest that ​accessibility elements (models of monuments, tactile pieces, information in braille and audio guides) implementation is needed to provide an adequate and complete experience to blind tourists. There is an existence of a gap in the literature about tourism for blind people, likewise, in the information available from professionals of the sector. Finally, awareness about blind people as travellers have to increase to remove the barriers they face travelling and to cover their needs and requirements.