A New Framework for Accessible Tourism Mobile Application Development

Recentyearshaveseenanincreasingrealizationoftheimportanceandpotentialofaccessibletourism. Tosupportit,theICTindustrieshaveprovidedmanydifferentapplications,especiallyformobile computingframeworks.Ananalysisoftheseapplicationsallowsustoidentifysomeissuesthatare notyetfullyaddressed.Theseincludetheabsenceofcollaborativefeatures;thelackofinvolvement ofallstakeholders;theinexistenceofsynergies;thelackofwidelyaccessiblegeographicdatabases andthelimitedscopeoffocuswithinthedisabilityrange.Totacklesomeoftheseissues,theauthors propose a common framework for development of tourism accessible related applications. This frameworkstoresandmanagestourisminformationandmakesthisinformationavailabletobeused bymobileapplicationsdevelopersthroughspecificwebservices.Thisapproachcanrepresentan importantcontributiontoaccessibletourism,bydecreasingthecostandfacilitatingthedevelopment ofnewapplicationssupportingnewproductsandservices. KeywoRDS Accessible Tourism, Common Framework, Integration and Sharing, Stakeholders Involvement, Tourism Services

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