Heritage sites experience design with special needs customers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of including customers with special needs in the design of cultural and heritage services before the actual experience takes place. Design/methodology/approach Inclusive research through co-creation took place in the city of Barcelona, Spain, in 2017, comparing the effect of including (Route 2) or not including (Route 1) customers with visual and learning difficulties in the service design process of heritage walking routes. Findings The results show that the most important encounter in the heritage site context is communication, although the usage and service touchpoints were also significant. In addition, results showed that the ideal encounter or touchpoint should take place before the stay. Originality/value This paper contributes to learning about the designing of cultural and heritage experiences and including people with special needs in the service design process before the actual experience takes place.

Towards an Inclusive Museum Management Strategy. An Exploratory Study of Consumption Experience in Visitors with Disabilities. The Case of the CosmoCaixa Science Museum

“…Specifically, in the inclusive management context we found that, even in the case of a museum with a high degree of accessibility and inclusiveness, museum management needs to be aware of specific factors that are memorable to the visitor with disabilities: allocation of proper resources; importance of staff communication, service encounters, and relevance of information provision as a support tool for participants with communication and learning difficulties; and application of universal design before the visit takes place [56]. More importantly, in their encounters with museum staff, visitors with disabilities felt that having to explain their disabilities and wait for service resulted in exclusionary situations, where they were unintentionally treated differently from other customers without disabilities because of their condition.…”

“…Another fundamental element in terms of accessibility is quick, easy access to quality information. Interestingly [56] in their study of inclusive heritage experience, found that adapted information made available beforehand enhances the heritage site experience.…”

A Study on the Relationship between Tourists’ Experience and Experience Value and Satisfaction in Taiwan’s Farmer’s Markets

“…Agricultural experience value is what visitors feel after participating in agricultural activities [39]. It is a positive and unforgettable experience that visitors receive through experiential activities [40], whose main activities include production activities [41], farming, picking plants [42], food tasting [43], guided tours, DIY activities [44], social interaction [45], education, agritourism, and rural life [46]. This study's farmer's market in Taiwan is experienced primarily through rural life [13,47].…”

Family travel among people with autism: challenges and support needs

“…Autistic people may also face barriers accessing accommodation services (Freund et al , 2019). Few travel practitioners have explored the needs of autistic people and their families (Cerdan and Binkhorst, 2019), despite advocacy to train practitioners to improve their reception of such travelers (Freund et al , 2022).…”