Accessible Tourism Concepts and Issues

Dimitrios Buhalis is an innovative tourism and hospitality researcher, teacher and adviser who conceptualises technology-enabled strategic management and marketing solutions on a global scale. He is Established Chair in Tourism and Deputy Director of the International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research (ICTHR) at the School of Services Management, Bournemouth University and Professorial Observer at the Bournemouth University Senate.; Simon Darcy is an experienced mixed methods researcher, lecturer and mentor who seeks to bring about strategic organisational change for diversity groups. His expertise in environmental planning, access auditing and operational planning has been used across the events, sport and tourism sectors to effect change for inclusive customer and employee practices. He is an Associate Professor and Research Director in the Faculty of Business's School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism where he is a core member of the Cosmopolitan Civil Societies research strength.

As one would expect from two scholars at the height of their academic abilities, Dimitrios Buhalis and Simon Darcy have delivered a hugely timely and much needed contribution to the under-served area of accessible tourism. Harnessing the best conceptual developments on the topic, Accessible Tourism is a scholarly yet hugely readable collection and readily communicates the various contributors' passion for and command of their subject. This collection is a must have text for anyone engaged in the theory, practice and policy of accessible tourism and will be essential reading on undergraduate and postgraduate courses across a range of disciplines and fields. I cannot speak highly enough of this endeavour and I'm sure it will take accessible tourism and universal design debates into the mainstream of academic enquiry and industry practice. Professor Nigel Morgan, The Welsh Centre for Tourism Research, University of Wales Institute, CardiffThe book Accessible Tourism: Concepts and Issues is one of a kind, and is the only book currently on the market which discusses the concept of accessibility in relation to disability and tourism. Furthermore, the book covers a wide range of topics which are important in the field of accessibility research...Overall, this book presents, in approximately 300 pages, a wealth of knowledge regarding accessible tourism. New researchers in this field can now be in possession of a book which not only introduces important issues for accessible tourism, but also is a valuable resource on which they can build and branch out. Valuable references are gathered together in one volume on specific topics in tourism and accessibility, as well as related literature...It is evident that much work has gone into writing the Chapters presented in the book, aswell as in organizing them into one logical and coherent volume. Thus, this book is a major contribution to the field of accessible tourism and also a valuable resource for both students and researchers interested in this field of study.Katarzyna Hano, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in Tourism Planning & Development, Vol. 8, No. 4, 467-470, November 2011