Accessibility of thermal hotels for disabled and elderly tourists: The case of Afyonkarahisar, Turkey

This study explores how thermal hotels are considering the accessibility of facilities and adjustments for disabled and elderly tourists during service production. Within this scope, observations were made in thermal hotels and semi-structured interviews were held with the senior managers of thermal hotels in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. Thermal hotels were chosen as research areas because their potential guests are generally elderly and disabled tourists, and there may be more arrangements for disabled people in these hotels. As a powerful method of analyzing qualitative data, a thematic analysis was conducted on the data set. Results show no specific arrangement was made for the visually impaired guests, and participants think that physical regulations regarding accessibility may adversely affect the functionality of the service delivery process. In addition, arrangements for disabled people are focused on legal requirements.