Fourth International Conference on Tourism and Leisure Studies

Abstract

Underrepresented populations including people of color, LGTBQ, and people with disabilities, are growing markets in hospitality and tourism and make a significant economic impact on the industry. However, many of these minority groups are not properly represented in tourism marketing materials that traditionally cater toward White, cisgender, heterosexual and able-bodied men that perpetuate a White male touristic gaze (Alderman, 2013). This study focuses on people with disabilities since this minority is a fast-growing tourism sector that also includes the ageing baby boomer generation. Further identifying the significance of this target, a recent podcast from Skift (2017), the travel resource center shared that, “Statistics are scarce, but according to a study commissioned in 2015 by the Open Doors Organization, adults with disabilities in the U.S. spend $17.3 billion a year on leisure and business travel. Over the two years before the study, 26 million adults with disabilities took 73 million trips.” Much of tourism marketing and advertising still needs to be more inclusive of this growing minority target demographic. Thus, this presentation will explore how people with disabilities are represented, within southeastern U.S. tourism marketing materials including brochures and internal marketing (i.e. DMO / CVB, civic leaders, hoteliers and attractions) through a content analysis (Elo & Kyngas, 2008. Furthermore, provide foundational insights to answer the following research questions: In what ways are people with disabilities included in tourism and hospitality marketing materials? How can tourism and hospitality marketing materials be more inclusive for people with disabilities?