Economics & Tourism

IMPROVING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF TOURISM THROUGH AN

INNOVATIVE EVALUATION TOOL FOR TOURISTS WITH

SPECIAL

NEEDS
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gheorghita Dinca 1
Lecturer Dr. Laura Cismaru 2
Prof. Dr. Gabriel Bratucu3
1,2,3

Transilvania University from Brasov, Romania

ABSTRACT
In the last years, improving accessibility in tourism and hospitality became one of the
central preoccupations of the European Commission. Several studies were funded by the
European Commission in order to offer a deeper understanding of what accessible
tourism means. Also, several research projects were supported to create accessible
tourism itineraries. In 2014, the European Excellence Awards for Accessible Tourism
rewarded the true commitment to accessibility of several European enterprises and
public authorities. Making European tourism more accessible is also directly correlated
with making it more competitive. In this context, the present article advances the idea of
creating an innovative tool, based on a friendly technology, offering the possibility to
destination management organizations to obtain direct information regarding the
accessibility of the tourism and hospitality facilities and services within destinations.
We used the literature review, the case study and the innovation, as qualitative research
methods. The first part of the article is an overview of the importance of accessibility
for the European tourism. In the second part of this paper, we presented the central role
of improving accessibility within the most recent European Tourism Indicator System
ETIS Toolkit for sustainable destination management which was launched in March
2016. In this context, a brief presentation of the research project called Destination
Intelligent Management for Sustainable Tourism (DIMAST) was included due to the
fact that it was conceived mainly based on the first European Tourism Indicator System
Toolkit for Sustainable Destinations, launched in 2013. We advanced the idea of
improving the Business Intelligence tool created within this project by conceiving an
innovative technology to obtain direct information from tourists with special needs from
Brasov County. Such approach can support the efforts of the local destination
management organization to improve the accessibility of tourism, hence making it more
sustainable and competitive.
Keywords: accessible tourism and hospitality, destination management, tourists with
special needs
INTRODUCTION
As noticed by European experts, more than 600 million people in the world live with
disabilities. Together with their families, this means that approximately 2 billion people
a third of the global population are directly affected by disability [1]. For all these
people, traveling can be a real challenge and specific policy measures have to be

3rd International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences & Arts SGEM 2016

adopted in order to offer them the real possibility to actually enjoy tourist experiences
just like other tourists with no disabilities or special needs, at no extra costs.
The concept of Accessible tourism, also known as Access Tourism, Universal
Tourism, Inclusive Tourism or Barrier-free Tourism has been recently defined as
the tourism and travel that is accessible to all people, with disabilities or not, including
those with mobility, hearing, sight, cognitive, or intellectual and psychosocial
disabilities, older persons and those with temporary disabilities [2].
Very often, tourists with special needs encounter specific problems within destinations,
about the lack or reduced accessibility related to accommodation establishments,
transportation or tourist attractions. Knowing about these problems is a matter of great
importance for local stakeholders, mainly for decision makers, such as Destination
Management Organisations (DMOs) in order to adopt appropriate policy measures to
increase destination accessibility. In this context, the present paper identifies a way of
improving communication between local DMO and tourists with special needs through
a friendly innovative technology for video response survey recently conceived by a
local Business Intelligence developer in Brasov, Romania.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCESSIBILITY FOR THE EUROPEAN TOURISM
Four priorities have been set by the European Commission within the most recently
adopted EU Tourism Policy [3]:
(1) Stimulate competitiveness in the European tourism sector;
(2) Promote the development of sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism;
(3) Consolidate the image and profile of Europe as a collection of sustainable and highquality destinations;
(4) Maximize the potential of EU financial policies and instruments for developing
tourism.
As it has been emphasized by European experts, improving the accessibility of tourism
services increases their quality, the enjoyment of all tourists and it also improves the
quality of life in local communities [1]. In this context, accessibility is part of what
high-quality tourism means, in a European interpretation. Providing accessible tourist
services is also a responsible approach. Recently, accessibility has also become a focal
concern within the EU initiatives related to the sustainable development of European
tourist destinations [2]. Taking into consideration the four European priorities set for the
EU tourism, improving accessibility can be therefore seen as an important source of
obtaining competitive advantage by European tourist destinations.
The European Commission true commitment to increasing accessibility of tourist
services and destinations is demonstrated through concrete actions and initiatives, which
can be grouped in the following categories [1]:
1. Accessible tourism itineraries
With the main aims of fostering adaptation of tourism products and services to the needs
of people with special access needs, improving skills and training with relation to
accessibility in the tourism supply chain and enhancing the quality and diversity of the
offer of accessible tourism experiences in Europe [4], the EU co-funded eight projects
related to the design, implementation, and marketing of accessible tourism itineraries:

Economics & Tourism

Tourism4All, Access for All, Accesstour, Smart Tourist Routes for Inclusive Groups
(STRING), Cosy4You, VIA REGIA, EWB 'Europe Without Barriers', Mobility
UNESCO Sustainable Tourism (MUST) [1]. In 2015, a second call for proposals has
been launched in order to select and co-fund several projects aiming to strengthen the
competitiveness and sustainability of the European tourism sector by encouraging the
extension of the tourism season, by diversifying the EU tourism product and by
enhancing its accessibility [5].
2. Studies on accessible tourism
Several studies have been realized and supported by the European Commission in the
field of accessible tourism since the beginning of the 2000s. In 2014-2015, a collection
of case studies of European accessible destinations has been created, including London
(UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Arona (Spain), Stockholm (Sweden), Lousa (Portugal),
Paris (France), Disneyland (France), Slovenia, Moravian-Silecian Region (Czech
Republic), Athens (Greece), Trentino (Italy), Shoenbrunn-Austria, Herault (France),
Barcelona Accessible Cruise Destination (Spain), Rovaniemi (Finland) [6].
3. European Awards for Accessible Tourism
The European Commission organized during the summer of 2014 the conference called
Mind the Accessibility Gap: Rethinking Accessible Tourism in Europe. At the end of
it, the European Excellence Awards for Accessible Tourism ceremony took place in
order to reward the efforts of private enterprises and public authorities in EU who have
made significant efforts to increase the accessibility of their services and facilities to
tourists with special needs [1]. Two prizes want to Romanian stakeholders. In the first
category, Accommodation and Catering, four prizes have been offered, one of them to
the Romanian business Complex President, Bile Felix, for offering quality treatments,
particularly for those with rheumatism and movement/joint issues [7]. In the second
category, Nature, Heritage, Culture, Entertainment & Leisure, three prizes have been
offered, one of them to the Piatra Neam Town Hall in Romania for offering a multitude
of leisure activities, with special features for people with disabilities [7].
THE CENTRAL ROLE OF IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY WITHIN THE 2016
EUROPEAN TOURISM INDICATORS SYSTEM TOOLKIT
In 2013, the European Commission launched the first version of the European Tourism
Indicators System (ETIS) Toolkit for Sustainable Destinations, as a result of several
years of hard work dedicated to identify the most appropriate set of indicators for
measuring the sustainability performances of tourist destinations [8]. As stated by its
creators, the ETIS system is an important management tool which supports all European
destinations willing to develop in a sustainable way through offering them the
possibility to monitor their performance related to sustainability using a comprehensive
set of indicators. In the 2013 version of ETIS there were included 67 indicators for
evaluating the sustainability development of tourist destinations. The indicators were
grouped in 27 core and 40 optional indicators. Core indicators can be the starting point
for all European destinations while optional indicators are more relevant to destinations
that have more advanced sustainability systems in place. The 67 indicators are grouped
in four sections: Section A: Destination Management, Section B: Economic Value,
Section C: Social and Cultural Impact and Section D: Environmental Impact. Within

3rd International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences & Arts SGEM 2016

Section C Social and Cultural Impact, four indicators (two core and two optional) are
grouped under the category called - C.3 Equality/Accessibility [8]:

C.3.1 Percentage of commercial accommodation with rooms accessible to

people with disabilities and/or participating in recognized accessibility schemes
(core indicator)

C.3.1.1 Percentage of destination served by public transport that is accessible to

people with disabilities and people with specific access requirements (optional
indicator)

C.3.2 Percentage of visitor attractions that are accessible to people with

disabilities and/or participating in recognized accessibility schemes (core
indicator)

C.3.2.1 Percentage of visitors satisfied with the accessibility of the destination

for those with disabilities or specific access requirements (optional indicator)

Based on the 2013 ETIS Toolkit, in Brasov County, Romania, in 2014 it was developed
and funded a research project called DIMAST Destination Intelligent Management for
Sustainable Tourism [9]. Its main aim is to create an innovative Business Intelligence
tool, based on the ETIS indicators framework, to offer real support to the local
Destination Management Organization (DMO) in the process of coordinating the
development of tourism in a sustainable way. Being a four years project, the DIMAST
Project is still in process. A key phase within DIMAST was to select the indicators
which are the most appropriate to monitoring Brasovs performance related to
sustainability [10]. This particular phase proved to be so important within the DIMAST
Project due to the fact that for most of the ETIS indicators there was no available data.
Nevertheless, Brasov is a leading destination when it comes to sustainability related
initiatives. For example, it is the first smart city in Romania regarding the street lighting
control since 2014 it has been using the inteliLIGHT remote street lighting control
solution [11]. Brasov is also a member of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart
Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC), an initiative supported by the European
Commission bringing together cities, industry, SMEs, banks, research and other smart
city actors [12]. In this context, the profile of Brasov was not the problem, but the
available data for the ETIS indicators was.
After comprehensive research [13], from the accessibility indicators presented above,
only the C.3.1. ETIS Indicator has been included within the DIMAST system of
indicators and it was formulated in a different manner, in order to find available data.
According to the initial ETIS formulation, the C.3.1 ETIS indicator measures the
percentage of commercial accommodation with rooms accessible to people with
disabilities and/or participating in recognized accessibility schemes. There is no
institution in Brasov which registers data regarding hotel rooms accessible to people
with disabilities or the implementation of accessibility schemes by enterprises in
Tourism and hospitality. Apparently, there was no possibility to find available data for
this indicator in Brasov. But, using a corroborative approach, it was proved that,
according to the Romanian legislation regarding the hotel classification, all four and
five stars hotels in Romania have to provide some accessibility facilities such as ramped
step free access or special equipped rooms for persons with disabilities [14]. In this

Economics & Tourism

context, the C.3.1 ETIS indicator was formulated in the DIMAST project as follows
[13]:

Percentage of Brasov hotels with accessibility facilities

Due to the fact that the only available data registered in Brasov are related to the
classification of hotels by the number of stars, the above mentioned indicator will be
measured as Percentage of four and five stars hotels in Brasov [14]. According to this
measurement approach, the real situation in Brasov is not completely covered because
there might be other hotels or accommodation buildings with less than four or five stars
which offer accessibility facilities. But, it was the only proactive approach to actually
include one ETIS indicator form the Accessibility category within the DIMAST Project.
In 2016, the European Commission launched a new, improved version of the ETIS
toolkit [2]. The 2016 ETIS system is composed of a set of 43 core indicators, core
being defined as indicators which cover the fundamental aspects of sustainability
monitoring and provide the basis for effective destination management. Due to the fact
that ETIS has as a main trait its flexibility, the possibility to consider supplementary
indicators has been offered to European destinations in order to tailor the system to their
own particular needs or profile. Several sample supplementary indicators are formulated
within the 2016 ETIS toolkit. The 43 core indicators are grouped in the same four
sections. Within the Section C - Social and cultural impact, a distinct category of
indicators has been conceived - C.4 Inclusion/accessibility. It includes the following
four core indicators [2]:

C.4.1 Percentage of rooms in commercial accommodation establishments

accessible for people with disabilities

C.4.2 Percentage of commercial accommodation establishments participating in

recognized accessibility information schemes

C.4.3 Percentage of public transport that is accessible to people with disabilities

and specific access requirements

C.4.4 Percentage of tourist attractions that are accessible to people with

disabilities and/or participating in recognized accessibility information schemes

Supplementary sample indicators related to accessible tourism, provided within the

2016 ETIS toolkit, are grouped in three categories:
1. Sustainable tourism policy

Percentage of the destination with an accessible tourism strategy/action plan,

with agreed monitoring, development control and evaluation arrangement

2. Equality/accessibility

Percentage of commercial accommodation with rooms accessible to people with

disabilities and/or participating in recognized accessibility information schemes

Does the destination have an identified accessibility management office or

person available to the public?

Percentage of businesses that have a budget for accessibility improvements

3. Reducing transport impact

3rd International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences & Arts SGEM 2016

Percentage of each category of transport in the destination that is accessible, i.e.

public transport and private hire coaches, minibuses, taxis or minicabs.

Supplementary sample indicators are only provided for three domains: 1). Maritime and
coastal tourism, 2). Accessible tourism and 3). Transnational cultural routes. In our
opinion, it indicates that the three fields are of topical importance for the European
Commission in the following period. Taking also into consideration the fact that almost
10% of the ETIS core indicators are accessibility indicators, we can conclude that
accessibility plays a central, a key role within the 2016 improved ETIS toolkit.
USING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE ACCESIBILITY
As mentioned above, the most important challenge within the DIMAST Project proved
to be identifying those specific ETIS Indicators for which there is available data in
Brasov. Several data sources have been taken into consideration within this process,
and, by the end, formal agreements for data provision have been signed with the
following institutions: the Association for Promotion and Development of Tourism (the
local DMOS, which is also partner in the DIMAST Project), the National Statistics
Institute (the local bureau in Brasov), the Consumers Protection Agency from Brasov
County, the Romanian National Authority for Tourism (the local bureau in Brasov) and
the National Agency for Environmental Protection in Romania (the local office) [13].
An important aspect regarding all indicators is related to the fact that Brasov County has
58 localities for which available data is needed. The entire County has many tourist
attractions, therefore most of its localities have accommodation establishments. Data for
the C.3.1. ETIS Indicator, as re-formulated in the DIMAST Project (Percentage of
Brasov hotels with accessibility facilities), will be provided yearly by the local bureau
of the Romanian National Authority for Tourism; thus it is an annual indicator in
DIMAST [13].
Taking into consideration the previous section which concluded that within the 2016
ETIS toolkit a special focus is put on the accessibility indicators, both core and
supplementary, the DIMAST team started to be preoccupied by this aspect.
Accessibility, as shown in the first section, is lately a matter of topical importance for
the European Commission, when it comes to tourism as well. In this context innovative
technology was taken into consideration regarding the possibility to improve data
availability for accessibility indicators within the DIMAST Project. The key partner
within DIMAST Project is a local software developer, SC BitSoftware SRL, which has
been chosen as a partner due to its research preoccupations as well as due to the fact that
it is one of the few Romanian enterprises which actually develop (and not only
implement) innovative Business Intelligence solutions. This year, the research team
from SC BitSoftware SRL developed and launched the Plotto innovative technology, a
flexible video research tool [15]. As stated by its creators, Plotto is actually the only
tool in the market that combines video gathering, online survey software, cognitive
analysis and showreel generation in a self-service, intuitive open-platform.
In this context, the research team from the DIMAST Project suggested to include and
make best use of the Plotto innovative technology in order to offer the real possibility to
tourists with special needs to give direct feed-back, through video responses, regarding
the accessibility (facilities) of local accommodation establishments (C.4.1.), public

Economics & Tourism

transportation vehicles (C.4.3.) and tourist attractions (C.4.4.). One of the most
important qualities of the Plotto technology is that it is a friendly way of performing
research and obtaining relevant qualitative data directly from the customers. For tourists
with special needs, using friendly technology is essential. Offering them the possibility
to provide video statements regarding the accessibility of different tourist services
within a destination is of great importance, because they will find it easier to give feedback, they will offer relevant and valuable information to other tourists with special
needs willing to visit that specific destination (Brasov) and they will also provide useful
information for the local DMO regarding the real accessibility of the destination.
Having access to this kind of qualitative information (video responses), the local DMO
will be able to adopt suitable policy measures regarding the accessibility improvements
within the destination, based on real status quo.
CONCLUSION
Sustainable tourism is tourism that is open to all and breaks down barriers to access,
offering equality of access for people with disabilities and special needs, also regarding
the quality of the tourist experience. It has been stated that monitoring accommodation
and attractions that are making provisions for people with disabilities/special needs
helps raise awareness of the need for these facilities. In this context, several indicators
measuring the accessibility of European destinations have been included within both
versions of the ETIS toolkits.
Starting 2014, in Brasov, Romania, the DIMAST Project aims to implement the ETIS
system of indicators in an innovative way, using Business Intelligence tools, in order to
offer the local DMO a really useful instrument in the process of managing the
sustainable development of tourism within Brasov County. Finding available data for
accessibility ETIS indicators proved to be a very difficult task and therefore only one
ETIS accessibility indicator was kept within the DIMAST indicators frame. The
DIMAST Partners tried to identify a way to address this important challenge, mainly
due to the fact that the 2016 version of ETIS toolkit transformed accessibility into a
central concern. In this context, innovative technology called Plotto, developed by one
of the DIMAST Projects partners, has been proposed to be used for qualitative data
gathering through conducting video responses surveys. The fact that Plotto is actually
offering to tourists with special needs a friendly way to provide useful information
related to accessibility, transforms it into a practical and beneficial tool for the local
DMO.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research presented in this paper is supported by the Romanian Executive Unit for
Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation, the Joint Applied
Research Projects PN-II-PT-PCCA-2013-4, under the contract no. 324/2014.

3rd International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences & Arts SGEM 2016

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