ACCESSIBLE TOURISM IN THE REGION OF VALENCIA. ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF USERS WITH FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY.

september 2020- september 2022

At  we are aware of the effort that the Valencian region has been making in recent years to offer quality, accessible and inclusive tourism that takes into account social diversity and offers services on equal terms to all citizens.

Our aim is to know the real impact that the actions undertaken in the field of accessible tourism in the Comunitat Valenciana have on the perceptions of people with functional diversity who visit our community. Is the quality of the offer really improving? Is it becoming more inclusive? How are the tourist experiences of people with functional diversity who choose the Comunitat Valenciana as a tourist destination?

Objectives

? To study the legislation and public plans and actions regarding accessible tourism in the province of Valencia.

? To examine the business initiatives of the Valencian tourism sector aimed at achieving accessible and inclusive tourism.

? To know the opinion that the Valencian associative network related to functional diversity has regarding the actions that are being carried out in the field of accessible tourism

? To record and interpret the tourist experience of the different profiles of people with functional diversity who visit the province of Valencia

? To determine the real impact that the initiatives implemented are having on people with functional diversity visiting the province of Valencia

Let us tell you a little bit more

Our project on accessibility in Tourism consists of several phases.

In phase 0, we have carried out an exhaustive documentary analysis with the aim of getting to know the legislation and the public plans and actions that affect the Comunitat Valenciana in terms of accessible tourism. In addition, we have examined the business initiatives of the Valencian tourism sector aimed at achieving accessible and inclusive tourism.

We are currently closing phase 1, which consists of holding discussion groups in which different people with functional diversity present, discuss and analyse their particular tourism experiences. Throughout the sessions, we have been able to establish the categories of analysis that are important and really affect the life of each of these people, in relation to tourism and leisure. In addition, together with these groups, we have designed and validated the star tool of our second phase, the questionnaire.

In the coming months, we will pass the questionnaire on accessibility of Tourism in the Valencian Community, for people with Functional Diversity, thus reaching the second phase.

The third and last phase consists of making tourist experiences with users with functional diversity, what we call in Anthropology, participant observation.