{"title":"Towards an inclusive society in Ghana: An analysis of challenges persons with disabilities face in participating in tourism in the Ashanti region","authors":"S. A. Mensah, Eric Badu, M. Opoku","doi":"10.36251/JOSI.85","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Participation in tourism brings individuals, families and communities together, making it an important social inclusion strategy. Negative perceptions about persons with disabilities could make it difficult for them to access public places. Therefore, this study served to examine tourism challenges for persons with disabilities (PwDs) in the Ashanti region of Ghana. A cross sectional study with quantitative data collection was conducted with PwDs. Structured questionnaires were administered to 120 PwDs using a convenience sampling technique. Descriptive statistics were explored using SPSS version 20. The study found that PwDs faced barriers to facilities and structures at tourist destinations. The barriers to tourism included lack of income, negative attitudes of the public and physical barriers such as a lack of adapted toilet facilities, tables and chairs, inaccessible routes for wheel chair users, inability to climb walkways and an absence of canopy walk-ways. The study supports the evidence of challenges faced by PwDs at tourism destinations. Redesigning and resourcing tourism facilities to be more PwD friendly could remove barriers faced by PwDs in tourism, creating greater social inclusion for this population.","PeriodicalId":42982,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Inclusion","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2015-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Social Inclusion","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.36251/JOSI.85","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"SOCIAL ISSUES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Participation in tourism brings individuals, families and communities together, making it an important social inclusion strategy. Negative perceptions about persons with disabilities could make it difficult for them to access public places. Therefore, this study served to examine tourism challenges for persons with disabilities (PwDs) in the Ashanti region of Ghana. A cross sectional study with quantitative data collection was conducted with PwDs. Structured questionnaires were administered to 120 PwDs using a convenience sampling technique. Descriptive statistics were explored using SPSS version 20. The study found that PwDs faced barriers to facilities and structures at tourist destinations. The barriers to tourism included lack of income, negative attitudes of the public and physical barriers such as a lack of adapted toilet facilities, tables and chairs, inaccessible routes for wheel chair users, inability to climb walkways and an absence of canopy walk-ways. The study supports the evidence of challenges faced by PwDs at tourism destinations. Redesigning and resourcing tourism facilities to be more PwD friendly could remove barriers faced by PwDs in tourism, creating greater social inclusion for this population.
参与旅游业将个人、家庭和社区聚集在一起,使其成为一项重要的社会包容战略。对残疾人的负面看法可能使他们难以进入公共场所。因此,本研究旨在研究加纳阿散蒂地区残疾人(PwDs)面临的旅游挑战。对残疾患者进行了定量数据收集的横断面研究。采用方便抽样技术对120名残疾人进行结构化问卷调查。描述性统计使用SPSS version 20进行研究。研究发现,残疾人士在旅游目的地的设施和构筑物上面临障碍。旅游业的障碍包括缺乏收入、公众的消极态度和物理障碍,如缺乏适应的厕所设施、桌椅、轮椅使用者无法进入的路线、无法爬上人行道和缺乏天篷人行道。这项研究证实了残疾人士在旅游目的地所面临的挑战。重新设计旅游设施,为残疾人士提供更方便的资源,可消除残疾人士在旅游方面面临的障碍,为这一群体创造更大的社会包容。