Özet:

This study aims to determine the awareness, enlightenment and practical activities of the accommodation establishments operating in Denizli in order to ensure the access of the people with disability to tourism and evaluate these activities in the context of responsible tourism. The study also intends to offer solutions to eliminate the deficiencies in the access of the people with disability to accommodation establishments. The “Tourism Management Certified Facilities” list of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism was taken as a basis within the scope of the research. Accordingly, 33 official websites and 10.370 posts in 27 social media accounts of accommodation establishments with tourism management certificates in Denizli were examined. In this regard, it was ascertained that only five hotels had a total of 12 content related to the disability on their official website, and 58 posts were shared in 16 social media accounts. Texts and visual data about the people with disability were analyzed and interpreted with content analysis and semiotic analysis methods. The results of the research indicated that the sharing of accommodation establishments regarding accessibility regulations is extremely limited. More posts are shared on social media accounts than on websites, but almost all of these shares aim to give a “social message” only. Disability, both perceptually and operationally, is associated with physical disability and the symbol of wheelchair. There is no distinction considering the type of disability in the existing practices and shares. Besides, none of the examined websites were designed for the access of the people with visual disabilities.

Anahtar Kelimeler: