The accessibility of beaches for blind people and their guide dogs: accessible tourism and inclusion in Spain

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this research is to analyse the accessibility of Spanish beaches for blind people and their guide dogs as an inclusive tourist destination for national and international tourists. Design/methodology/approach This empirical research used a quantitative and qualitative methodology from public and private organizations, which intends to give voice to blind people to improve their quality of life. Findings This study presents a new and surprising contribution to the issue of accessibility of beaches for blind people and future studies related to this topic. Findings revealed that Spain has only nine adapted beaches for blind people, and most Spanish tourist destinations exclude blind people and its guide dogs from enjoying the beach and the sun and their facilities. In Spain there are in total 3,547 beaches; 10.3% of these are adapted beaches for people with reduced mobility, whereas only 0.25% are adapted beaches for blind people. Indeed, results also suggest that more efforts are required in response to the needs of blind people in tourism and transport activities by researchers, academics and government bodies. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is especially important for the management of the accessibility of Spanish beaches for blind people and their guide dogs by public and private organizations.

Constructing Spanish smart destinations: a new guide for the tourism industry

“…First, DMOs must be aware of the importance of air and ground accessibility terms to be designed as a STD. It is very important to add smart mobility practices at cities for the accessibility management (Marchesani et al, 2023), as well as people with disabilities (Florido-Benítez, 2023a). Second, urban cities that want to become a STD need to know the local residents’ needs and have a voice in decision-making processes.…”

“…Fourth and last, since the six Spanish smart destinations were certified as STDs, we implemented updated data (2015–2022) from INE (2020, 2023a, 2023b), AENA (2023), EU (2020, 2022), SEGITUR (2020, 2023), Spanish Secretary of State for Tourism (2023) and Smart Tourist Destinations (2023a, 2023b) organisations to analyse the most important tourism demand and supply indicators (see Figures 3 and 4) and how these have impacted the territory. We selected in this research the number of passenger arrivals (Florido-Benítez, 2023a, 2023b), hotel and room indicators (Ndou et al, 2023; Perić et al, 2022) and hotel occupancy rate indicators (Benítez-Aurioles, 2022a) because these are the most frequently used measures of tourism demand and supply. Aguirre et al (2023) note that the number of hotel and room, hotel occupancy rate and passenger and tourist arrival indicators are necessary to measure the sustainability in STDs (Gehlot & Singh, 2022; Zamorano et al, 2020).…”

“…Figure 2 presents the main measures implemented by the six Spanish smart destinations based on sustainable development, innovation and competitive advantages, according to the UNE 178601:2022 [4] and UNE 178501:2018 [5] requirements, respectively. We like to highlight the importance of guaranteeing universal accessibility (physical and digital) for people with disabilities in tourist activities at Spanish smart destinations (Destino Turístico Inteligente, 2023; Florido-Benítez, 2023a, 2023b; Buhalis et al, 2023b). STDs consist of the adaptation of traditional destinations to new realities, making them innovative and accessible spaces for all (Fernandes & Bernier, 2021).…”

Metaverse cannot be an extra marketing immersive tool to increase sales in tourism cities

“…However, tourism cities cannot be understood as a metaverse space for tourists and companies and separated from social, economic and governance factors. Cities are open complex giant systems, that first need to address the issues of their citizens' concerns, such as climate change, reduce CO 2 emissions, reduce youth unemployment, provide excellent transport and health services for residents and people with disabilities and improve the local and regional economies (Morrison & Coca-Stefaniak, 2020;Maxim, Morrison, Day, & Coca-Stefaniak, 2023;Florido-Benı ´tez, 2023b;Buhalis O'Connor, & Leung, 2023b). Lv, Wen-Long, & Mohsen (2022) noted that the metaverse also needs to create experiences and services for residents in the urban cities to connect residents, cities, companies and tourists, making tourism cities more attractive, open and interoperable for all.…”

“…City tourism is one of the fastest-growing travel segments worldwide, and it occurs in urban areas like metropolitan destinations and the great cities of each country (Gurung & Gowreesunkar, 2023), generating substantial economic and social benefits for local communities (UNWTO, 2020). London, Paris, NY, Tokyo, Barcelona or Sidney tourism cities have developed new strategic and sustainable plans to address the major current issues in their urban areas, such as reducing CO 2 emissions, traffic, climate change, gentrification, overcrowding and enhancing residents' needs (Maxim, 2017;Florido-Benı ´tez, 2023b). As stated by Guizi, Breda, & Costa (2020) tourism cities need to find ways to protect the rights of their residents and ensure that tourism benefits everyone, as well as that local communities must be involved in the city's urban planning to improve the sustainability of the tourism industry in cities (Elorrieta, Cerdan Schwitzguebel, & Torres-Delgado, 2022;Mihalic, 2024).…”