Developing Sustainable Approaches to Accessible Accommodation Information Provision: A Foundation for Strategic Knowledge Management

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The research consistently shows that the constraints to accessible accommodation identified by people with disability are firmly grounded in information provision. Information is the foundation on which people make their travel planning decisions and the provision of detailed and accurate accessible accommodation information is critical to the decision-making process for people with disability. To improve upon this current situation, this paper seeks to make the connection between accessible tourism, consumer needs, supply-side perspectives, government regulation/coordination, sustainability, accessible accommodation information provision and strategic knowledge management. First, demand research is examined to understand the specific constraints identified by consumers with disability and the specific accommodation criteria they seek when planning their trips. Second, the paper presents a summary of the supply-side research that presents the industry perspective on the consumer group and their accessible accommodation stock. Third, as with any tourism market development government regulation and coordination have very important roles to play brokering an industry-wide approach to accessible tourism. While tourism has been predominantly a market-driven sector with government support for infrastructure and marketing, an avenue to improve accessible accommodation information provision can be fostered through their coordination role to offer a more sustainable approach for consumers and the supply sector while progressing human rights outcomes. The paper concludes by presenting a case study of an Accessible Accommodation Assessment Template as a foundation to information provision on which to base a strategic knowledge management framework.