Strategic approaches to accessible ecotourism: small steps, the domino effect and not paving paradise

Abstract This study examines how ecotourism providers might best serve the growing accessible tourism market. Ecotourism can be considered a special case of accessible tourism insofar as the challenges experienced by people with disabilities to participate in ecotourism, especially in its “harder” variants, may be greater than for general tourism, while the ethical basis to ecotourism also presents constraints to providers in terms of the introduction of assistive equipment and infrastructure into remote and often ecologically sensitive environments. Based on in-depth interviews with accessible ecotourism providers and consultants from several countries, as well as a review of current theoretical frameworks, the paper builds a new conceptual model for advancing research and practice in the area. The main finding is that rather than being hierarchical, the linkages between the constraints and barriers to ecotourism are fundamentally relational. This points to the need to take account of a complex and integrated network of connections when making provision for accessible ecotourism, which in turn favours providers adopting a strategic approach. Three potential strategic approaches are presented: cumulative, in which “small steps” are taken, compromise, which focuses on addressing the “domino effect,” and, comprehensive which aims to achieve universal access while not “paving paradise.”