Accommodation experience of visually impaired people
Korhonen, Raakel (2020)
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202003103275
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202003103275
Tiivistelmä
Visually impaired people are a customer segment that is often forgotten in the tourism industry, including accommodation businesses. This results in missing out on potential revenue for tourism businesses and visually impaired people feeling left out of tourism. In a world with increasing awareness about accessibility, this is a topic that should be given more attention.
This thesis aims to analyse the current tourism experiences of visually impaired people in Finland, focusing on accommodation, and based on those, make suggestions on how to improve the situation. It also explores whether there is interest in accommodation primarily for visually impaired people.
The first half of the theoretical framework introduces the topic of accessible tourism and considers it from multiple points of view. The second part discusses the role of senses in experiences, and how lacking one sense affects the whole experience.
The research method used in the thesis is quantitative. The data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with visually impaired people who travel so that they use accommodation services at least sometimes. The interviews were done in November and December 2019.
Based on the interviews, there are many aspects in the Finnish accommodation market that are in need of improvement. Accessibility is often thought of in terms of mobility-related disabilities, which means that visually impaired people frequently find it lacking. However, there is no significant interest in accommodation that is primarily targeted for visually impaired people as it makes them feel othered. Instead, there should be more focus on implementing universal design as it would benefit everyone, not just one customer segment.
As there is currently a lack of research on the accommodation experiences of visually impaired people in Finland, it would be beneficial for accommodation providers and researchers alike to continue work on this topic.
This thesis aims to analyse the current tourism experiences of visually impaired people in Finland, focusing on accommodation, and based on those, make suggestions on how to improve the situation. It also explores whether there is interest in accommodation primarily for visually impaired people.
The first half of the theoretical framework introduces the topic of accessible tourism and considers it from multiple points of view. The second part discusses the role of senses in experiences, and how lacking one sense affects the whole experience.
The research method used in the thesis is quantitative. The data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with visually impaired people who travel so that they use accommodation services at least sometimes. The interviews were done in November and December 2019.
Based on the interviews, there are many aspects in the Finnish accommodation market that are in need of improvement. Accessibility is often thought of in terms of mobility-related disabilities, which means that visually impaired people frequently find it lacking. However, there is no significant interest in accommodation that is primarily targeted for visually impaired people as it makes them feel othered. Instead, there should be more focus on implementing universal design as it would benefit everyone, not just one customer segment.
As there is currently a lack of research on the accommodation experiences of visually impaired people in Finland, it would be beneficial for accommodation providers and researchers alike to continue work on this topic.