CHALLENGES FACING ACCESSIBLE TOURISM IN CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES: THE CASE OF VILLAGE MUSEUM IN TANZANIA

Abstract

Serving people with disabilities is vital to fully attain equality and equity, which are pillars of sustainable tourism development. However, this is not a straightforward endeavour as sites are faced with challenges, including the dilemma of site modification versus preservation concerns of experts. By drawing largely on the Village Museum site in Tanzania, this study uses the barrier approach to examine the challenges faced by cultural tourism sites in their endeavour to cater for people with disabilities as visitors. By employing mainly a qualitative case study, the study found that, to a certain extent, the site caters for people with disabilities, although inadequate designated facilities are among the challenges that the site faces, as well as inadequate funds, and lack of personnel skilled in communicating with visitors with disabilities. The barrier approach revealed the presence of doubts about jeopardizing the heritage's authenticity when installing specially designed facilities. The paper recommends that the site and the cultural tourism sector at large takes appropriate measures to address the concerns and barriers that the disabled encounter when visiting the sites. It also provides recommendations for further research.