Inclusivity in Higher Tourism Studies: A Necessary Reality

Introduction

This article is made in the hope of providing a little more visibility to a situation that is there and is likely to be ignored by young university students. The White Book of Design for All at the university (2006), was a before and after to favour substantial changes in the curricula of the different Spanish universities. On the other hand, different public institutions explicitly support this current of thought and good work that support students and professors in supporting the University Training project in Design for All People. It is based on collaboration between different public administrations with private sector companies, both nationally and internationally (CRUE Spanish Universities, ONCE Foundation (National Organization of the Blind of Spain) and the Royal Disability Board). Also through the support provided to organisations, entities, specialists and promoters in studies, research and development, information, documentation and training (ONCE Fundation, CESyA, CENTAC).

Graduates in tourism during the exercise of their profession interact with people who may have mobility difficulties or pathologies that may make it difficult for them to approach and enjoy the tourist destination. Education, therefore, becomes the core of this research.

Currently, non-profit entities linked to specific groups and supported by state or supranational public organisations provide training courses on mobility and accessibility. In the case of this study, reference is made to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO): an international institution whose main objective is to promote tourism in a sustainable, responsible and ACCESSIBLE way for the enjoyment of all. It is directly linked to the United Nations, and defends the application of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism to minimise the impacts caused by the sector to the environment and society as a whole, giving additional educational importance to specific training in the making of ethical decisions, as Díaz del Campo defends (2012, p. 14). From here, it encourages teaching with active methodologies that motivate the student to train to increase and facilitate the inclusion and enjoyment of everyone in the tourism sector, both travellers and workers, in follow-up to the principles set by Munuera (2015). From here a conclusion is anticipated that refers to the importance of this knowledge acquired so that young people can be counted in the near future will be part of the tourism industry communicating daily with people who need specific and professional attention and taking advantage to this of its digital nativity (Alonso, et al., 2016) to compensate for the loss of relative importance of traditional media (Marta & Gabelas, 2013, p. 16; Bernal, 2010, p. 6) that would have played a more important role at the time of Sandoval (1998) or in the cases studied, by contrast, by Correyero (2003) and Infante (2014).

On the other hand, it is verified that in the Teaching Guides of the Degree in Tourism (2019-2020), issues concerning accessibility in the tourism field are hardly contextualised. Therefore it is understood that for students to be trained in this particular subject, the corresponding teacher training is essential so that they can program their subjects, including the present subject of study. The end goes beyond the purely academic because the graduate in Tourism must be able to manage, design and direct strategic plans for the improvement in accessibility of a hotel infrastructure of the beach, mountain, urban, a promenade, access to the cable car of a tourist resort, etc.

In 2014, the UNWTO published module I of the manual on Accessible Tourism for All, a work co-produced by the ONCE Foundation, and a year later the three remaining modules were published for professionals that make up the tourism sector. The manual details and bases the social inclusion of people with disabilities in Spain and in the European Accessible Tourism Network (ENAT). This is a manual in a digital version with easy access and recommended reading for students and teachers.