TY - JOUR
T1 - Leveraging accessible tourism development through mega-events, and the disability-attitude gap
AU - Duignan, Michael
AU - Brittain, Ian
AU - Hansen, Marcus
AU - Fyall, Alan
AU - Gerard, Simon
AU - Page, Stephen
N1 - © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
PY - 2023/12/30
Y1 - 2023/12/30
N2 - Able-bodied, and increasingly people with disabilities, represent a key audience for mega-events; occasions that act as crucibles where social problems endemic to host destinations can be exposed and tackled through targeted social policy. Drawing on the social model of disability, the paper examines how Japan utilised Tokyo 2020 as a field configuring event to disrupt systems of ableist thinking and tackle physical and attitudinal barriers restricting Persons with Disabilities (PwD) to accessible tourism. Qualitative evidence reveals national commitments to relegitimise, improve accessibility for - and acceptance toward - PwD in Japanese society, through transformations to the built environment, national awareness, and educational campaigns in the build up to Tokyo 2020. An over-emphasis on physical as opposed to social structural change mean negative attitudes often persist, where disability remains stigmatised, leading to PwD immobility and social exclusion. Our policy recommendations and managerial implications, alongside research directions attend to this disability-attitude gap.
AB - Able-bodied, and increasingly people with disabilities, represent a key audience for mega-events; occasions that act as crucibles where social problems endemic to host destinations can be exposed and tackled through targeted social policy. Drawing on the social model of disability, the paper examines how Japan utilised Tokyo 2020 as a field configuring event to disrupt systems of ableist thinking and tackle physical and attitudinal barriers restricting Persons with Disabilities (PwD) to accessible tourism. Qualitative evidence reveals national commitments to relegitimise, improve accessibility for - and acceptance toward - PwD in Japanese society, through transformations to the built environment, national awareness, and educational campaigns in the build up to Tokyo 2020. An over-emphasis on physical as opposed to social structural change mean negative attitudes often persist, where disability remains stigmatised, leading to PwD immobility and social exclusion. Our policy recommendations and managerial implications, alongside research directions attend to this disability-attitude gap.
KW - Accessible tourism
KW - Field configuring events
KW - Social model of disability
KW - Persons with Disability
KW - Physical disabilities
KW - Mobility-restrictions
KW - Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
KW - Tokyo 2020 olympic and paralympic games
KW - Persons with disability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85160038232&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104766
DO - 10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104766
M3 - Article
SN - 0261-5177
VL - 99
SP - 1
EP - 15
JO - Tourism Management
JF - Tourism Management
M1 - 104766
ER -