Entrepreneurship of People with Disabilities and Accessible Tourism in the Non-hotel Accommodation Sector in Italy

Abstract

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities establishes two fundamental rights: the right to work and the right to enjoy a tourist experience. Work employment is considered by the European Commission the fundamental way to social inclusion. Nevertheless, several studies highlight the difficulties of entering the labor market. The UNWTO (2020) has pointed out the priority role of accessibility in the tourist sector and the importance of providing accessible tourist services to all potential travelers is widely underlined in literature. This chapter analyses a form of entrepreneurship of people with disabilities, recently established in Italy, that favors their employment in the non-hotel accommodation sector and jointly promotes accessible tourism. By using a representative case study, the research identifies the distinctive features of this initiative; in addition to its aptitude to promote social inclusion, it highlights the intrinsic accessibility of the tourist offer, the strengths of the business model and the critical issues to manage for its possible diffusion in other territorial contexts.