The contribution of tourism to create an inclusive society requires the adoption of new approaches and strategies that promote the accessibility of tourism destinations, allowing all people, regardless of their health condition, to enjoy tourism experiences. To accomplish this objective, it is of utmost relevance to promote the active involvement of all stakeholders of the tourism system (demand, supply, government entities, and educational institutions) in the creation of accessible and adapted tourism products. However, the scarce literature in this area suggests that the people working in the tourism industry are not usually aware of several needs and travel constraints of persons with disabilities and that the information delivered by traditional information sources to this market is frequently inadequate, inaccurate, or incomplete. Therefore, the information and communication technologies (ICTs) may have a crucial role to overcome the several travel constraints that these people face to plan and carry out a tourism trip as well as to enable supply agents to develop accessible tourism products. Despite this, although in recent years research regarding accessible tourism has increased, the number of studies on the contributions of ICTs for the development of accessible research is scarce.

ICT Tools and Applications for Accessible Tourism provides theoretical and practical contributions for accessible tourism in the growing tourism market for social responsibility issues and as an excellent business opportunity. Chapters within this critical reference source cover the academic discussion of global accessible tourism, increased knowledge of disabilities, ICTs that can be used, and emerging technologies. This book is intended for all practitioners in the tourism industry along with IT specialists, government officials, policymakers, marketers, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in the latest tools, technologies, and research on accessible tourism.

Coverage:

The many academic areas covered in this publication include, but are not limited to:

Accessible Tourism
Assistive Technologies
E-Travel Agencies
Information Communication Technologies
Museum Accessibility
Smart Cities
Tourism Information Systems
Tourism Websites
Universal Access of ICTs
Virtual and Augmented Reality

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Editor/Author Biographies

Celeste Eusébio is an Associate Professor of Tourism and a researcher at the GOVCOPP Research Unit at the University of Aveiro (Portugal). She holds a Degree in Tourism Management and Planning from the University of Aveiro (1995), a Master in Economics from the University of Coimbra (1998) and a Doctoral Degree in Tourism, also from the University of Aveiro (2006). Her research interests include tourism economics, tourism impacts, tourism forecasts and consumer behavior in tourism.

Leonor Teixeira graduated in Industrial Engineering and Management, received a M.Sc. degree in Information Management, and a PhD in Industrial Management (Information Systems area), in 2008, from the University of Aveiro, Portugal. She is currently an Assistant Professor of the Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering at the University of Aveiro and teaching subjects related to Information Systems, Information Technologies to undergraduate and post-graduate studies. She is also a researcher at the Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering (IEETA) of University of Aveiro. Her current research interests include Information Systems applied to Industry, focusing on Requirement Engineering, Software Engineering and Usability Engineering. She has several publications in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and proceedings, and oral communications at international scientific conferences. She serves as a member of Program Board and Organizing Committees for several Scientific Committees of International Conferences. She is associated with IIIS, IEEE and EMBS.

Maria João Carneiro is Assistant Professor of Tourism at the University of Aveiro (UA) (in Portugal) and researcher at the Governance, Competitiveness, and Public Policy (GOVCOPP) research unit at this University. She holds a Degree in Tourism Management and Planning from UA, an MBA from New University of Lisbon and a PhD in Tourism from UA. She is the Vice-Director of the degree program (licenciatura) in Tourism of the UA. She has published papers in several journals and conference proceedings, and has also presented several works in conferences and seminars. Her research interests are competitiveness of tourism destinations, consumer behaviour in tourism and destination marketing.

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