Accessibility and attitudinal barriers encountered by travelers with physical disabilities in China

Abstract

In 2003, China Disabled Persons Federation [CDPF] estimated that there were more than 60 million people with disabilities in China. Eleven million were people with physical disabilities. Travel is beneficial for improving quality of life of people with disabilities. Eleven million people with physical disabilities represent a large potential market to China's tourism industry. Yet, very few studies were published on travelers with disabilities and none has been conducted in mainland China. This study examined the accessibility and attitudinal barriers encountered by Chinese travelers with physical disabilities in four sectors of China's tourism industry. Four contact persons from four cities of China: Beijing, Xí́'an, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou, conducted surveys on travelers with physical disabilities by the snowball sampling method. A profile of Chinese travelers and their travel patterns were delineated. Results of MANOVA tests indicated that functioning level has a significant influence on the accessibility and attitudinal barriers encountered; however, income and assistive devices were not good indicators of these barriers. Results of the study were also displayed and visually compared to the results of the U.S. travelers in the Accessibility and Attitudinal Barriers Model (AABM).