Tourism For All NZ Research Group

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https://hdl.handle.net/10292/14433

Professor Alison McIntosh, Dr Brielle Gillovic, AUT Adjunct Professor Simon Darcy (University of Technology Sydney) and AUT Visiting Scholar, Dr Cheryl Cockburn-Wootten (University of Waikato) coordinate the Tourism for All NZ Research Group.

Initially funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development Think Differently Fund, NZ Tourism For All is a project to champion accessible tourism in New Zealand. The investigation recognises the citizenship rights of people with disabilities and those living with chronic or terminal illness to tourism as an inclusive leisure activity. Current projects include accessible beach tourism; accessible hotel restaurants; tourism and carers; disability employment and entrepreneurship; terminal illness and travel; and disability, tourism and sustainability.

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Tourism For All NZ at UD2024

The Tourism for All NZ Research Group recently presented a discussion of our lessons about making tourism accessible and inclusive in NZ and Australia to an international audience of delegates at the 2024 Universal Design Conference, Norway, hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality.

View the video online or download the presentation.

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The Tourism for All NZ Research Group recently presented a discussion of our lessons about making tourism accessible and inclusive in NZ and Australia to an international audience of delegates at the 2024 Universal Design Conference, Norway, hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality.

View the video online or download the presentation.
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Key Facts and Figures about Accessible Tourism

Tourism For All New Zealand have collected useful, evidence-based facts about accessible tourism in New Zealand. Read them here, and keep up to date with our industry-relevant research.

Did you know that 83% of people with access requirements regularly engage in domestic travel?

Key Facts and Figures Read our Industry-relevant research

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Browsing Tourism For All NZ Research Group by Author "Ramanayake, U"

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    The ‘MeBox’ Method and the Emotional Effects of Chronic Illness on Travel
    (Taylor & Francis, 2019) Ramanayake, U; Cockburn-Wootten, C; McIntosh, A
    Within tourism studies, there has been a gap in attempting to understand chronic illness within the context of travel. Researchers examining affective tourism have noted that much of everyday life endeavours to create order through ‘ontological security’ for individuals. In creating this sense of order, positivity and emotional security are emphasised, while taboo issues such as death, pain and chronic illness are ‘bracketed off’. Despite these attempts at bracketing, travel experiences can prompt individuals to reflect on their own mortality, existence and purpose, which in turn may reshape their travel experiences. For senior travellers, chronic illness may be part of their everyday reality, challenging the individual’s sense of self, time and relationships with places, things and people. These topics can be challenging for data collection, because such experiences can be hidden, emotion-laden, difficult to articulate or difficult for others to observe. Researchers have noted the methodological challenges with the use of traditional data tools and have turned to creative visual methods to facilitate and gain deeper understandings of participants’ experiences of chronic illnesses. We used one creative visual tool, the ‘MeBox’ method, to study the hidden aspects of chronic illness and to understand the embodied experience of chronic illness in the context of their travel. The ‘MeBox’ method was created to understand and communicate the participants’ multifaceted experience of chronic illness. The ‘MeBox’ method contributes to tourism scholarship, particularly for sensitive topics, by facilitating the inclusion of participants’ voices to capture their affective travel experiences. This method usefully represents the deeper emotionality of tourists’ lived experience that may have otherwise remained invisible to others.
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    When Words Become Difficult: A Critical Reflection of the ‘MeBox’ Method in Understanding Senior Travellers’ Responses to Loss
    (Edward Edgar Publishing, 2021-05) Ramanayake, U; Cockburn-Wootten, C; McIntosh, A
    Multiple dimensions of our experiences such as visual, embodied and sensory experiences cannot always be easily expressed in words. Traditional qualitative methods may struggle to access these deep-rooted complex and emotional aspects. Tourism scholars have called for innovative methodologies to unravel layers of diverse meaning in phenomena. This article critically reflects on a visual tool called the ‘MeBox’. It was adopted in our study to explore senior travellers’ responses to loss following a major life event. The ‘MeBox’ method enabled participants to express embedded and tacit knowledge to reflect on their lived experiences. We critically review the ‘MeBox’ methodology, and provide practical learnings for scholars who may want to adopt this method as a means to under-stand lived experiences that are difficult to express in words.