A research on the people with disability's tourism experiences: The case of Alanya

The purpose of this thesis is to determine the people with disability' perceptions and satisfaction levels towards their tourism experiences visiting Alanya destination. The questionnaire technique was used in this study to collect data. Questionnaires were applied to 19 accommodation facilities in Alanya between the dates of October 2013 and December 2013. The questionnaire was applied to 151 tourists with disability as a result of the implementation. People with disability were determined to be happy and satisfied of their vacations in Alanya, destination facilities, accommodation facilities and services of travel agencies in general. It was determined that there are four factors that affect perception and satisfaction of tourists with disability as a result of factor analysis conducted within the study. These factors are named as "destination facilities", "overall features of the facility", "on-site accessibility" and "services of travel agency". In addition, it was determined for tourists with disability as a result of the study that they have a high revisit intention to Alanya destination and may recommend the destination to their other disabled friends after their vacations. While there is a significant relationship between the four factors mentioned above and "overall holiday satisfaction" and "intention to recommend", a relationship between "intention to revisit" and factors named "overall features of the facility" and "on-site accessibility" was also been determined. In addition, it was also determined that "overall features of the accommodation facility" has priority to be effective on overall holiday satisfaction, intention to recommend and intention to revisit of tourists with disabilities. It was determined in the study that the type of disability does not make a difference in perceptions and satisfaction of these individuals in terms of their tourism experiences. Alanya destination seems to have started to enjoy the return of investments that have been made before due to many applications devoted to people with disability. Alanya destination and tourism facilities in the destination that want to have a voice and word in constantly developing and improving tourism industry in which competition intensity is also increasing to give importance to applications devoted to people with disabilities will contribute to expansion of existing markets and increase customer satisfaction and quality standards. Keywords: Accessible Tourism, People with disability, Alanya, Tourism Experience, Disability