Destination Management Systems: Technical Challenges in Developing an eTourism Platform for Accessible Tourism in Europe

This paper demonstrates how destinations can utilise ICTs to strengthen their competitiveness and capture profitable market segments; in particular the accessibility requiring market. Sixteen focus groups conducted during three workshops and interviews, provided qualitative data on the disabled user requirements regarding tourism information. In order to accommodate these requirements and serve this market effectively, an e-Portal that provides accurate, relevant, reliable and accessible tourism information is required. Building and operating such a portal entails four critical technical challenges, namely: Interoperability, Content Integration, Accessible Design and Personalisation. Results indicate a number of trade-offs that system developers need to decide upon when incorporating user requirements in the design process. The paper concludes by demonstrating how destinations need to utilise ICTs in order to effectively address the disabled traveller requirements and capitalise on this market.

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