Sociology

Business

Qualitative research

Value (mathematics)

Social science

Knowledge management

Epistemology

Machine learning

Marketing

Philosophy

Political science

Tourism

Psychology

Originality

Quality (philosophy)

Digital ecosystem

Public relations

Computer science

Strengths and weaknesses

Social psychology

The TQM Journal

Purpose Despite a growing interest in accessible tourism, delivering high-quality tourism experiences to people with disabilities (PwD) remains a major challenge. Beyond a number of acknowledged barriers (e.g. cultural, architectural, relational), the main issue is the lack of coordination amongst the many actors participating in the co-creation of tourism experiences. This paper intends to advance available knowledge on this issue by conceptually suggesting a solution that draws on the concepts of the tourism experience and digital ecosystems. Design/methodology/approach This paper is developed as a conceptual contribution, drawing also on an illustrative example that considers a tourist with mobility disability as the focal actor. Findings The results indicate that a digital ecosystem could contribute to making tourism locations more accessible by enabling information sharing and coordination amongst all actors that co-create the tourism experiences. Moreover, the analysis underlines that tourism locations should be designed to be useable by all people, drawing on the principles of the universal design. Research limitations/implications This paper describes a path to fostering accessible tourism, drawing on local authorities, particularly municipalities and universities. The suggested solution would benefit from future empirical analyses to assess its strengths and weaknesses. Originality/value By drawing on the concept of digital ecosystems, this paper is amongst the first studies to suggest a path to making tourism locations more accessible to all tourists (with or without disabilities) based on technology.

Finding a way towards high-quality, accessible tourism: the role of digital ecosystems