Planning a trip involves searching for information about the destination and the services offered there.
For persons with disabilities it is essential to have information about accessible resources that they can enjoy. Being able to access that information and hire those services means having a guarantee that the services will have the necessary quality and flexibility to meet the customers’ needs, so that customers may demand and evaluate the services provided.
Given the frequent lack of information, an indispensable resource are travel agencies and tour operators that offer information on all kinds of tourist services and products satisfying stringent accessibility criteria at a reasonable and competitive price as compared with other tourist market prices.
The expectation is that all agencies will eventually have this type of information. However, specialized travel agencies are currently the focus.
The services offered by travel agencies with regard to accessibility are an economic opportunity in terms of job creation and offerings of services tailored to their customers, as is the case of other specialized travel agencies.
Currently there are not many agencies specializing in accessible tourism offerings. However, there is an increasingly widespread trend in the creation of inbound tourism companies. These companies provide specialized services welcoming tourists with disabilities, meeting their needs while at the same time promoting the accessible services and infrastructure existing at that destination.
The basic premise of both of these modalities – travel agencies or inbound tourism companies at the destination – is that persons with disabilities or specific access requirements are not the “objects” of social tourism, but, rather, subjects of tourism in the broadest sense. Just like any other tourist, they are willing to pay for services and activities, but they are also entitled to be treated in a way that is appropriate for their needs and their financial outlay.
