Yasmin Faezah Samsudin, Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Zahari, Mohd Hafiz Mohd Hanafiah, Feri Ferdian
Recognition of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) as a niche tourist market for scuba diving tourism is emerging. This paper empirically investigates the disabled scuba diver’s perception of the scuba diving destination’s readiness to serve the PWD market. We surveyed 284 certified local and international PWD scuba divers. The results show that facilities’ accessibility through flexibility in use, tolerance for error, size and space for approach and use determines scuba diving destination readiness to entertain PWD. In addition, service accessibility through communication support, information, and professionalism reflect scuba diving destination readiness to engage the PWD market. The paper encourages diving tourism operators to overcome the challenge of destination accessibility and readiness to entertain PWD in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 agenda. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Tourism Malaysia, Putrajaya, Malaysia; Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam, Malaysia; Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia
