A Study on the Impact of Scenic Area Accessibility Design on Tourism for Disabled Groups: Taking Xi'an Tang Paradise Scenic Area as a Case Stud
Author: Tianchu Wei
0 Commentries
Abstract
China is known as the late comer to the industry of accessible tourism, and the environment for people travelling with physical disabilities in China is not very promising compared to developed countries in the world. Despite the efforts of some of the tourist attraction sites in installing accessible facilities to improve the travelling experience of people with physical disabilities, the situation remains the same, wherein disabled people are discouraged from travelling. By taking Tang Paradise Scenic Park as a case study, this paper investigates the impact of accessibility design to the travelling experiences of disabled people. It finds that the accessible facilities in China’s attraction sites are either lacking or being inadequate. Therefore, improvements should be made within the arena of regulations, training of specialised personnel, and information-sharing.
Key words: Tourism, Disability, Accessible Facilities
This paper investigates the overall travelling experience of disabled people in China with a special focus to Tang Paradise Scenic Park based in Xi’an, the capital city of Shaanxi Province. China’s tourism industry has entered a new era in 2000s with the emphasis of the needs of travel for people with physical disabilities. The accessible tourism was formally categorised as an important industry by China’s State Council in 2001. Twenty years on, there is still little research trying to pay attention to the development of accessible tourism industry as well as the travelling experience of people with physical disabilities. This paper aims to fill in this gap by providing a thorough analysis to the current situation of accessible tourism industry in China.
This paper first introduces the current situation of the tourism market in China with people travelling with physical disabilities. It finds that the number of people who are suffering from physical disabilities are more unlikely to travel compared to people without any physical disabilities. Only a tiny proportion of people with physical disabilities have travelled at least once a year in China in 2022 according to the survey conducted by Qu. Indeed, only 11% of people with disabilities in the survey have had travelling experiences. This suggests the gap for building a friendly travelling environment for disabled people in China is still huge.
This paper then goes on to define the main problems which prevent disabled people from travelling in China by taking Tang Paradise Scenic Park in Xi’an as a case study. This paper finds out that there are four major problems exist in the Scenic Park in terms of the installation of accessible facilities for people with physical disabilities. Firstly, there is incredibly low degree of barrier-free facilities in the Scenic Park for disabled people. Secondly, only small proportion of tactile paving can be found at the entrance of the Park, meaning the accessible facilities are unevenly distributed across the Park, impairing disabled people’s ability in travelling across the Scenic Park. Thirdly, accessible facilities in the main tourist attractions within the park are lacking; and, finally, majority of the accessible facilities are installed inadequately, making them less useful to disabled people.
The developed countries are doing a better job in providing accessible facilities for people who are travelling with disabilities. This paper takes the accessible tourism in USA as an example to illustrate how the USA is able to provide a better care to disabled people in their tourist attractions. Firstly, 390 national parks in the USA have proper accessible facilities in place in various types: from accessible toilets to tactile paving. More importantly, they are reasonably distributed across the entire site. Secondly, accessible accommodations are established around the major tourist attractions to accommodate people who are travelling with disabilities. Thirdly, the USA has implemented laws and regulations in major cities such as New York and Los Angles to improve the social awareness of the need of disabled people to travel. Lastly, accessible facilities are properly installed in major transportation settings to make travelling become easier for disabled people in USA.
Drawing on the successful experiences from the measures taken by the USA to improve disabled people’s travelling experience, this paper has made a fivefold recommendations to further improve the travelling experiences of people with physical disabilities in China. Firstly, this paper suggests that laws and regulations in relation to accessible tourism must be in place to force the establishment of proper accessible facilities across major tourist attractions in China. As the establishment of such facilities do not normally generate economic interest, only laws and regulations could make sure attractions have such facilities in place. Secondly, professional organisations aiming at helping people with physical disabilities while travelling should be established to protect the rights of disabled people and to investigate the needs of those people as they travel. Thirdly, specialised training to staffs working at tourist attractions should be in place to help people with physical disabilities. Fourthly, the government should try to promote the social awareness of the existing problems disable people are facing while they are travelling. Indeed, not everyone in China is aware of the difficulties of travelling with physical disabilities. Last but not least, a mechanism should be established amongst disabled people for information sharing so that they could have a better idea about the situation of accessible facilities of their intended destination.
Key References:
Bi, Y., Card, J.A. and Cole, S.T., 2007. Accessibility and attitudinal barriers encountered by Chinese travellers with physical
disabilities. International Journal of Tourism Research, 9(3), pp.205-216.
Dash, S.K., 2017. An analysis of customer needs and satisfaction: Application of Kano model. IUP Journal of Business Strategy, 14(3), pp.58-67.
Ermagun, A. and Levinson, D., 2015. Accessibility and transit performance.
China is known as the late comer to the industry of accessible tourism, and the environment for people travelling with physical disabilities in China is not very promising compared to developed countries in the world. Despite the efforts of some of the tourist attraction sites in installing accessible facilities to improve the travelling experience of people with physical disabilities, the situation remains the same, wherein disabled people are discouraged from travelling. By taking Tang Paradise Scenic Park as a case study, this paper investigates the impact of accessibility design to the travelling experiences of disabled people. It finds that the accessible facilities in China’s attraction sites are either lacking or being inadequate. Therefore, improvements should be made within the arena of regulations, training of specialised personnel, and information-sharing.
Key words: Tourism, Disability, Accessible Facilities
This paper investigates the overall travelling experience of disabled people in China with a special focus to Tang Paradise Scenic Park based in Xi’an, the capital city of Shaanxi Province. China’s tourism industry has entered a new era in 2000s with the emphasis of the needs of travel for people with physical disabilities. The accessible tourism was formally categorised as an important industry by China’s State Council in 2001. Twenty years on, there is still little research trying to pay attention to the development of accessible tourism industry as well as the travelling experience of people with physical disabilities. This paper aims to fill in this gap by providing a thorough analysis to the current situation of accessible tourism industry in China.
This paper first introduces the current situation of the tourism market in China with people travelling with physical disabilities. It finds that the number of people who are suffering from physical disabilities are more unlikely to travel compared to people without any physical disabilities. Only a tiny proportion of people with physical disabilities have travelled at least once a year in China in 2022 according to the survey conducted by Qu. Indeed, only 11% of people with disabilities in the survey have had travelling experiences. This suggests the gap for building a friendly travelling environment for disabled people in China is still huge.
This paper then goes on to define the main problems which prevent disabled people from travelling in China by taking Tang Paradise Scenic Park in Xi’an as a case study. This paper finds out that there are four major problems exist in the Scenic Park in terms of the installation of accessible facilities for people with physical disabilities. Firstly, there is incredibly low degree of barrier-free facilities in the Scenic Park for disabled people. Secondly, only small proportion of tactile paving can be found at the entrance of the Park, meaning the accessible facilities are unevenly distributed across the Park, impairing disabled people’s ability in travelling across the Scenic Park. Thirdly, accessible facilities in the main tourist attractions within the park are lacking; and, finally, majority of the accessible facilities are installed inadequately, making them less useful to disabled people.
The developed countries are doing a better job in providing accessible facilities for people who are travelling with disabilities. This paper takes the accessible tourism in USA as an example to illustrate how the USA is able to provide a better care to disabled people in their tourist attractions. Firstly, 390 national parks in the USA have proper accessible facilities in place in various types: from accessible toilets to tactile paving. More importantly, they are reasonably distributed across the entire site. Secondly, accessible accommodations are established around the major tourist attractions to accommodate people who are travelling with disabilities. Thirdly, the USA has implemented laws and regulations in major cities such as New York and Los Angles to improve the social awareness of the need of disabled people to travel. Lastly, accessible facilities are properly installed in major transportation settings to make travelling become easier for disabled people in USA.
Drawing on the successful experiences from the measures taken by the USA to improve disabled people’s travelling experience, this paper has made a fivefold recommendations to further improve the travelling experiences of people with physical disabilities in China. Firstly, this paper suggests that laws and regulations in relation to accessible tourism must be in place to force the establishment of proper accessible facilities across major tourist attractions in China. As the establishment of such facilities do not normally generate economic interest, only laws and regulations could make sure attractions have such facilities in place. Secondly, professional organisations aiming at helping people with physical disabilities while travelling should be established to protect the rights of disabled people and to investigate the needs of those people as they travel. Thirdly, specialised training to staffs working at tourist attractions should be in place to help people with physical disabilities. Fourthly, the government should try to promote the social awareness of the existing problems disable people are facing while they are travelling. Indeed, not everyone in China is aware of the difficulties of travelling with physical disabilities. Last but not least, a mechanism should be established amongst disabled people for information sharing so that they could have a better idea about the situation of accessible facilities of their intended destination.
Key References:
Bi, Y., Card, J.A. and Cole, S.T., 2007. Accessibility and attitudinal barriers encountered by Chinese travellers with physical
disabilities. International Journal of Tourism Research, 9(3), pp.205-216.
Dash, S.K., 2017. An analysis of customer needs and satisfaction: Application of Kano model. IUP Journal of Business Strategy, 14(3), pp.58-67.
Ermagun, A. and Levinson, D., 2015. Accessibility and transit performance.