This article seeks to address a very sensitive issue in Romania, the disabled tourism. The natural question is whether tourism can respond and meet the needs of such people. Internationally, the researches in detail about tourism for people with disabilities are limited in this direction, and those who exist are focused more on lack of physical access to certain services in the hotel units.\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nAs for the problems (barriers) that a person with disabilities may face when seeking to participate in the act of travel there were found numerous internal and external barriers in trying to participate in tourism activities\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nThe study seeks to identify how normal people behave towards people with disabilities and aims to demonstrate the existence of correlations between the responses of the interviewees, which would lead to the presentation as close to the truth as possible of the results from the sample (section), transposed over the population from which the sample belongs and also lead to finding conclusions on which there could be made several proposals. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\ntourism, disability, social tourism, attitude, internal and external barries

Babaita Carmen

Filep Adrian Viorel

Nagy Andreea

English

Research Papers in Economics

201 
THE TOURISM BARRIERS OF THE DISABLED IN ROMANIA 
Băbăiìă Carmen Mihaela 
University of the West Timisoara, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration 
Nagy Andrea 
University of the West Timisoara, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration 
Filep Adrian Viorel  
University of the West Timisoara 
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration 
 
Abstract: This article seeks to address a very sensitive issue in Romania, the disabled tourism. The 
natural question is whether tourism can respond and meet the needs of such people. Internationally, 
the researches in detail about tourism for people with disabilities are limited in this direction, and 
those who exist are focused more on lack of physical access to certain services in the hotel units. 
As for the problems (barriers) that a person with disabilities may face when seeking to participate 
in the act of travel there were found numerous internal and external barriers in trying to participate 
in tourism activities 
The study seeks to identify how normal people behave towards people with disabilities and aims to 
demonstrate the existence of correlations between the responses of the interviewees, which would 
lead to the presentation as close to the truth as possible of the results from the sample (section), 
transposed over the population from which the sample belongs and also lead to finding conclusions 
on which there could be made several proposals.  
 
Keywords: tourism, disability, social tourism, attitude, internal and external barries 
Cod JEL: M10, L83 
 
1.Introduction 
Tourism in its current form appeared only in 
the XIX
th century. Actions related to social 
tourism  began  in  1936,  when  the 
International Labour Organization (ILO) 
agreed  that  the  on  access  to  paid  leave 
should  be  done  by  tourism  (Convention 
No.52.). In essence, this agreement has also 
been  mentioned  in  the  Universal 
Declaration  of  Human  Rights  in  1948, 
stating  that  “everyone  has  the  right  to  rest 
and  leisure,  including  reasonable  limitation 
of working hours and periodic holidays with 
pay”. 
Thus we can say that tourism has emerged as 
a social practice due to the ethical demands 
of  the  representatives  of  employees, 
justifying the legitimacy of a specific right, 
so thus the right to travel, as an extension of 
the  right  to  work,  to  rest  and  to  take  paid 
leave. 
However,  some  social  historians  say  that 
tourism has emerged a few decades earlier, 
with the opening of camps for disadvantaged 
children,  as  well  as  the  opening  of  the 
twentieth  century,  youth  hostels.  The 
emergence  of  hostels  and  bed  &  breakfast 
accommodation system occurred in the late 
nineteenth century. At that time, most tourist 
facilities where the ones in the private sector 
or  belonging  to  other  organizations  willing 
to  improve  tourist  access  to  a  much  larger 
number of people and making a profit. 
After  the  Second  World  War  ended  some 
social policies were implemented in several 
countries  as  subsidies  for  private  housing, 
their  renovation,  modernization  of 
equipment and infrastructure, and as well as 
aid  to  the  population.  Also,  many 
associations  have  been  created  under 
different  unions, travelling families , work 
councils,  etc.  all  had  as  main  objectives 
social  development  and  expanding  social 
tourism. 202 
 
2. Disabled tourism 
This article seeks to address a very sensitive 
issue  in  Romania,  the  disabled  tourism. 
According to the 448 / 6 December 2006 law 
,  people  with  disabilities  are  those  people 
who, because of physical illness, mental or 
sensory impairments, lack skills that prevent 
them  from    caring  out  normal  daily 
activities,  requiring  protective  measures  in 
support of recovery and social inclusion. 
The natural question is whether tourism can 
respond and meet the needs of such people. 
Internationally, the researches in detail about 
tourism  for  people  with  disabilities  are 
limited in this direction, and those who exist 
are focused more on lack of physical access 
to certain services in the hotel units. 
Very  few  studies  have  been  published 
concerning the issue of tourism and people 
with  disabilities  (Burnett  &  Baker,  2001, 
Darcy,  1998,  2002).  Some  academics 
specialized  on  tourism  were  concern  with 
this  problems  in  the  late  1980s  and  early 
1990s (Smith,1987; Muloin, 1992), Smith's 
work being one of the few works published 
in a major tourism publication. Since then, 
academics in the field of tourism have been 
silent on this subject. Also referring to the 
disabilities literature which is characterized 
by the lack of consideration of those issues, 
identify one or two studies. Various studies 
are  as  well  illustrated  by  the  Canadian 
Tourism  Commission  (1997),  Nurnett  and 
Baker's work (2001 ) in the U.S..  
The  broad  spectrum  of  disability  problem 
has become a field of study since the early 
50..  Typically,  these  studies  and  debates 
related to persons with disabilities ,in orbit 
around  the  social  model  of  disability, 
emerged in Britain in 1976 from the activity 
against segregation by the Physically Unfit 
Union . 
Disability is a generic term for diseases or 
disabilities,  activity  limitations  and 
participation  restrictions  as  defined  in  the 
international  classification  of  functioning, 
and health disability adopted and approved 
by the World Health Organization to show 
the  negative  aspect  of  individual  context 
interaction  (Law  448  /  6  December.  2006, 
Art. 5, pct.16). 
Researchers Hugh and Paterson (1997) say 
that  the  company  creates  an  environment 
that does not take into account the needs of 
those with disabilities. They tried to make a 
clear  distinction  between  those  with 
impaired  and  those  with  disabilities.  Such 
disorders refer to the normal functioning of 
the individual caused by mental or sensory 
dysfunctions  and  disability  is  the  loss  or 
limitation  of  opportunities  to  live  normally 
in society on an equal level with others due 
to physical barriers. The fact is however that 
until  nowadays  a  social  model  for  people 
with  disabilities  wasn't  treated  in  tourism 
literature. 
 
3.  OBSTACLES  IN  ACCESS  OF  THE  
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES 
As for the problems (barriers) that a person 
with disabilities may face when seeking to 
participate  in  the  act  of  travel  there  were 
found  numerous  internal  and  external 
barriers in trying to participate in tourism 
activities  .  These  barriers  can  be  classified 
as: 
Internal barriers are obstacles that must be 
overcome before a person becomes active in 
terms of tourism and that the individual has 
the  greatest  control  over  these  barriers.  In 
this way people with disabilities should be 
helped  through  institutionalization  at  the 
recovery units.  For example in Romania this 
aid  is  extremely  small  as  about  3.62%  of 
people benefit from institutionalization 
External barriers - which may inhibit their 
journey, they may limit the options or reduce 
satisfaction.  This  category  includes: 
architectural  barriers  such  as  stairs,  toilet 
accessibility,  accommodation,  and 
environmental  barriers  difficult  paths,  tree 
roots or other obstructions outside, means of 
transport,  especially  the  local  variety  of 
means  of  transport,  which  includes  cars, 
buses and taxis ; laws and regulations that 203 
prohibit the people with disabilities to bring 
necessary  equipment  with  them, 
communication difficulties both at home and 
at  the  receiving  person,  negative  attitudes 
from  service  providers  and  incorrect 
information. Tourists with a disability must 
consider  that  foreign  travel  agencies  must 
break down these barriers. 
In  2002,  Darcy  reveals  that  attitudes 
towards  individuals with disabilities,  and 
research undertaken on this market segment, 
in  particular,  have  evolved  significantly  in 
the  last  25  years.  Originally  attitudes, 
regarding disability were conceptualized in a 
framework of personal tragedy, concentrated 
on individual helplessness. The person was 
treated as an unfortunate victim. Since then, 
the  emergence  of  political  movements  for 
the  rights  of  persons  with  disabilities  have 
changed the overall impression of personal 
tragedy,  to  disability  as  a  form  of  social 
oppression. 
The  way  in  which  disability  is 
conceptualized and natural attitudes have a 
profound effect on society and people with 
disabilities.  First  of  all,  attitude  influences 
individual  behavior  regarding  people  with 
disabilities  Understanding  disability  as  an" 
abnormality" of a person rather than a social 
failure,  it  outlines  behaviors  that  lead  to 
isolation and marginalization. In many cases, 
certain  behaviors  are  not  intentional  but 
rather  are  rooted  in  social  practices  "non-
disabled".  Second,  attitudes  form  public 
opinions,  attitudes  which  influence  social 
and public policies, resource allocation and 
access to education, transportation, jobs, etc.. 
Finally,  prevailing  attitudes  influence  the 
perception  of  people  with  disabilities  of 
themselves .  
 
4. RESEARCH DIRECTIONS 
The  study  seeks  to  identify  how  normal 
people  behave  towards  people  with 
disabilities  and  aims  to  demonstrate  the 
existence  of  correlations  between  the 
responses of the interviewees, which would 
lead to the presentation as close to the truth 
as  possible  of  the  results  from  the  sample 
(section),  transposed  over  the  population 
from which the sample belongs and also lead 
to finding conclusions on which there could 
be made several proposals.  
Between  the  specific  objectives  we  find: 
knowledge  or  the  social  prerequisites, 
psychological  and  cultural  of  the 
interviewees;  discovering  the  causes  that 
lead  to  negative  feelings,  on  people  with 
disabilities,  eliminate  the  causes,  proposed 
ways of intervention and trying to change the 
behavior of the normal people. 
Knowing  the  psychological  assumptions 
helps  determine  the  way  people  act, 
understand the personal points view and also 
allows the identification of certain measures 
by  which  those  with  disabilities  could  be 
integrated and accepted in society. 
Discovering  the  causes  which  lead  in 
forming  an  opinion  regarding  people  with 
disabilities  could  be  one  of  the  most 
important secondary objective, this objective 
is important because it may act directly on 
the case and not on  the effect that results. 
Finally  the  directions  of  intervention  in  
modifying  behavior  of  the  normal  people 
towards  people  with  disabilities  should  be 
materialized at the end of the present study. 
The modeling of the behavior occurs when 
the  stimuli  are  identified,  the  basic 
behavioral  processes  are  analyzed,  the 
explanatory  variables  of  behavior  and 
behavioral response. 
 
5. RESULTS INTERPRETATION 
The research was conducted on the basis of a 
questionnaire. Sample size  was 100 people 
chosen  randomly.  The  sample  was 
structured: 40% of them are under 24 years, 
20% of people are between 25-30 years old, 
8% of people between 31-35 years old , 14% 
between 36-45 years and the rest, 18% are 
people  over  45  years.  Of  these  62%  were 
women and 38% were male. Regarding the 
marital  status  of  respondents  44%  aren't 
married, 34% are married and the rest belong 204 
to  other  categories  (divorced,  widowed  or 
living with partner). 
The  study  was  conducted  by  distributing 
questionnaires in urban areas, in Timisoara, 
and 62% of the respondents have completed 
either  a  college,  a  university  or  a  post-
graduate study, while 32% are high school 
graduates.  We  can  say  that  the  education 
level has a major influence in assessing the 
behavior of people with disabilities,  in the 
knowledge  that  education  is  directly 
proportional  to  the  positive  responses  in 
terms  of  acceptance,  understanding  and 
helping  these  people  with  disabilities.  This 
can be observed from the study because the 
question of concerning "helping people with 
disabilities", 94% of the respondents would 
be willing to help such a person and 72% of 
them, have done it already. 
Regarding    the  attitudes  of  normal  people 
towards people with disabilities in society, it 
is found that the opinions of those people are 
divided. On a scale containing five possible 
answers:  from  compassion,  mercy, 
acceptance,  restraint,  and  indifference  it  is 
found that compared to the normal version of 
acceptance  chosen  by  34%  of  respondents, 
there is a balance between compassion and 
restraint  (16%  of  the  responses  for  each 
question)  and  an  imbalance  between 
compassion  and  indifference,  they  have 
chosen  32%  and  2%  of  respondents  (an 
insignificant percentage). Because according 
to  the  glossary  "compassion"  is  associated 
with a sense of understanding and sympathy 
to  the  suffering  and  misery  concerning 
someone; positive feelings total overall 82% 
of  responses  ,  a  sign  that  these  people  are 
understood  and  are  given  support  from 
individuals.  
Regarding the people's situation in Romania, 
it  is  not  a  very  good  one  because  the 
perception  to  the  human  rights  of  persons 
with disabilities knows negative aspects. To 
analyze  the  situation  of  peoples  with 
disabilities in Romania there were developed 
three questions: 
1.  "Do  you  think  that  there  are 
respected  the  human  rights  of 
people  with  disabilities  in 
Romania?":  68%  consider that  the 
right  are  not  respected,  22%  said 
yes and 10% of them do not know or 
are not interested. 
2. "Do you consider that people with 
disabilities  should  receive  certain 
gratuities?": 84%, have replied yes 
and 16% said that they do not. 
3.  "Should  programs  against 
discrimination  of  the  disabled,  be 
introduced  in  schools?'':  62%  said 
yes, 16% said no and 22% believe 
that these things must be learned at 
home. 
In  conclusion,  the  Romanian  society  does 
not help people with disabilities in Romania 
and the fundamental rights are not respected. 
In principle these people would be helped by 
the  state  through  the  granting  of  gratuities 
and benefits. What is crucial is that programs 
against discrimination of the disabled should 
be introduced in schools, because it is known 
that  the  children's  education  must  contain 
rules  that  causes  them  to  act  ethically  and 
morally towards these people. 
When  asked  "What  do  you  think  the 
integration of disabled people in society", the 
answers "very important "  and "Important" 
occupy  the  largest  share  of  responses 54% 
and  28%.  We  can  say  that  82%  of  the 
respondents  believes  that  integration  of 
persons  with  disabilities  in  society  is 
extremely  important  and  agree  with  this 
point of view, and consider that such people 
should not be marginalized. 
Also on the problem in terms of employment 
chances  of  people  with  disabilities.  In  this 
sense 78% of people with normal capacity to 
work, inform that employers are reluctant in 
hiring these people. 80% of those surveyed 
said  they  have  colleagues  at  work  with 
disabilities and that there are no cooperation 
or social issues, but there exists a significant 
number  of  people  who  would  not  agree  to 
collaborate  at  work  with  them,  which  is 205 
concerning because 14% of them answered 
like this  
Regarding  the  participation  of  disabled 
people  to  the  act  of  tourism,  individuals 
answers were hopeful because even if, as the 
disabled  are  not  accepted  at  work,  the 
situation  is  different  in  a  hotel,  92%  of 
respondents  would  not  be disturbed  by  the 
presence of people with disabilities in a hotel 
where they were individually penned.  
When  asked  "What  do  you  think  about 
tourism  products  for  people  with 
disabilities?"  being  an  open  question, 
respondents were able to freely choose their 
answers without being restricted by answers.   
The  answers  to  the  questions  above  are 
different and presented in a special way by 
each  interviewee.  The  most  frequent 
response was "I have not heard about such 
products for people with disabilities" Those 
who have heard and know these products are 
of the opinion that the number of products is 
very  small  compared  to  the  number  of 
people  with  disabilities,  and  that  these 
products  are  not  known  even  by  the 
recipients, and are difficult to obtain even if 
you  belong  in  that  category  disabled.  The 
most important thing about these products is 
that  it  gives  people  with  disabilities  the 
opportunity  to  socialize  and  integrate  into 
the society. 
Another  view  of  respondents:  state 
organizations, regional and local ones do not 
offer aid to the disabled. 
Regarding the promotion of these products, 
media  channels  do  not  consider  this  as  an 
important  fact  and  do  not  promote  them 
because they do not obtain financial benefits. 
Existing  channels  that  promote  such 
products  are  local  ones  but  of  no  national 
importance. 
Other  opinions  say  that  those  people  with 
disabilities  should  receive  such  products 
irrespective  of  destination,  travel  time  or 
means  of  transport  chosen,  thus  a  social 
development  of  tourism  and  also  building 
access  roads  and  other  facilities  absolutely 
necessary  for  each  hotel  ,  motel,  resort, 
tourist destination. 
 
6. CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS 
Surrounded  by  negative  attitudes,  people 
with  disabilities  can  internalize  negative 
beliefs and attitudes. It is recognized that the 
nature  and  severity  of  disability  can  affect 
the scope of activities to which a person can 
participate, but may also influence how the 
tourist experience is formed. 
After  analyzing  the  data  we  can  say  that 
people  with  disabilities  are  accepted  in 
society by all other categories of people by 
supporting  the  integration  process, 
respondents  have  the  opinion  that  this 
process  is  of  great  importance  and  that  it 
should exist in any modern society; besides 
the fact that the states must be required to 
provide  the  disabled  and  give  certain 
financial gratuities and psychosocial help.  
Most  people  have  the  opinion  that  people 
with disabilities and people with disabilities 
face difficulties in finding jobs, qualified or 
unqualified. Their problems are accentuated 
and  supported  by  the  reluctance  of 
employers,  higher  health  costs  and  other 
types  of  insurances.  In  addition  to  these 
serious problems, these people are refused at 
interviews  because  of  their  condition. 
Although 86% of respondents would not be 
''bothered''  to  work  with  people  with 
disabilities that is not reflected in obtaining a 
job, from the individuals concerned. 
Granting  help  to  such  a  person  is  a  fairly 
widespread  phenomenon  in  Romania,  as 
reflected by the number of responses, which 
shows  a  great  solidarity  among  people 
belonging to all social categories and more 
than  10%  of  respondents  have  in  their 
families  people  with  disabilities  and  face 
with all the problems that such a person may 
have. 
The  most  important  person's    perspective 
refers to introducing these special programs 
against  discrimination  for  people  with 
disabilities in schools. These programs lead 
to changes in behavior and attitudes towards 

THE TOURISM BARRIERS OF THE DISABLED

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THE TOURISM BARRIERS OF THE DISABLED

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