Lake Balaton as an accessible tourism destination : the stakeholders` perspectives
This paper discusses the situation in the emerging field of accessible tourism at the Lake Balaton destination. The main objective of the study was to explore the current situation of accessible tourism at Lake Balaton, focus-ing on the perspectives of tourism stakeholders. Various issues were reflected upon, such as: a) the %general% accessibility of the destination in terms of the current state of accessibility of the destination as well as the ac-cessibility of information, transportation, accommodation, food and beverage services, tourist attractions, funds and know-how; b) factors that make the destination Lake Balaton competitive as an accessible destination; and c) general attitudes of tourism stakeholders towards accessible tourism. The research focus was on the destina-tion itself, not on individual attractions or tourism service providers. In order to assess the current situation and future prospects for accessible tourism at Lake Balaton, an exploratory quantitative online survey among stakeholders was conducted between 5 September and 5 October 2020. A total of 39 stakeholders participated in the survey, including 11 local municipality stakeholders, 8 local destination management organisations, and 20 tourism service providers (accommodation, catering or attractions/sights). The results show that the Lake Balaton destination accessibility is currently at an early stage of development and tends to target groups with low accessibility needs. Among the factors of destination competitiveness for the accessible tourism market, supportive factors (e.g. accessibility, infrastructure, and the commitment of stakeholders) are ranked first, fol-lowed by resources and attractions (landscape, climate, activities, culture, history, tourism service providers, and events) and the quality factor (including value for money, safety, perception and image). Planning and management (including positioning and branding) is the lowest ranked factor even though such aspects are critical factors and foundations for the development of accessible tourism.
(c) 2021 Zorana Medarić, Judit Sulyok, Szilvia Kardos, Janja Gabruč
2021
2021-10-26 11:58:47
1033
tourism, accessible tourism, stakeholder analyisis, tourism services, providers, lake Balaton
turizem, turistične destinacije, dostopni turizem, analiza deležnikov, turistična ponudba, turistični ponudniki, turistične storitve, Blatno jezero
Zorana
Medarić
70
Judit
Sulyok
70
Szilvia
Kardos
70
Janja
Gabruč
70
UDK
4
338.48:338.48-4
ISSN pri članku
9
2064-5147
DOI
15
10.15201/hungeobull.70.3.3
COBISS_ID
3
81850371
0
Izvorni URL
2021-10-26 11:58:51
0
Izvorni URL
2022-08-02 11:19:31