Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Purpose - Focusing on the FGI research method, the current status and issues of barrier-free tourism in Gangwon State were identified, and specific activation plans were derived Design/methodology/approach - This study conducted in-depth interviews with 20 experts related to the tourism industry. The issues, current status, and activation plan of barrier-free tourism in Gangwon State recognized by experts in tourism policy, tourism administration, tourism management, and tourism service industry were derived. Findings - First, the tendency of businesses to be promoted based on the non-disabled by not recognizing the weak as the main tourism demand group, second, confusion caused by the unification of terms related to barrier-free tourism, third, lack of finding tourism constraints subdivided according to the type and degree of disability, fourth, tourism information and evaluation indicators provided by prioritizing the convenience of suppliers rather than consumers, and fifth, the nature of the project focused on improving access to physical infrastructure. Subsequently, the results of the analysis of the plan to revitalize the barrier-free tourism industry in Gangwon State were as follows. First, education and programs to improve disability awareness appropriate to local conditions were activated, second, related information was unified and project sustainability was improved by creating a control tower for the barrier-free tourism industry at the provincial level, third, to overcome the employment crisis based on finding locally tailored jobs related to tourism care professionals, and fourth, to continuously secure quantitative and qualitative data and establish utilization plans. Research implications or Originality - First, it presents theoretical implications for related fields by providing issues and activation measures related to barrier-free tourism from the perspective of experts who are still lacking in research in academia. The practical implications are that based on the opinions of experts working in the tourism field, more specific issues of the barrier-free tourism industry in the province were presented, and policy and practical solutions were presented accordingly, suggesting realistic alternatives that can be carried out in the actual field.
Kim et al. (Sat,) studied this question.