The Valencian Community, the Basque Country, Cantabria and Galicia lead the supply of accessible accommodation in Spain, according to a study prepared by Mabrian, the global tourism intelligence platform, part of The Data Appeal Company- Almawave Group. This analysis, presented during the IV TUR4All Congress, held in Valencia (Spain), focuses on the impact of physical and environmental barriers on the supply of accommodation, both in hotels and tourist rentals, one of the few open sources of big data to analyse the demand and supply of accessible tourism.
“One of the main reflections that we want to share with the tourism industry as a result of this study is the need to make accessible tourism visible through open data spaces that, with all the guarantees, allow for the unification of analysis and study criteria, and for a better understanding of the motivations, priorities and needs of travellers with disabilities and their companions,” explains Carlos Cendra, Partner and Director of Marketing and Communication at Mabrian.
The report analyses accessibility on three levels: first, a global classification of physical accessibility in hotels and tourist rentals in Spain, based on the DALCO criteria (UNE 17001 on Universal Accessibility - Spain) reported by accommodations in OTAs, considering accessible those hotels that meet at least 30% of these requirements and tourist rentals that reach 20%. On a second level, additional data dimensions were incorporated, such as satisfaction with the accommodation, geographical distribution at national and regional level, and affordability of prices. Finally, in the third phase, an accessibility model was developed using a relational matrix that analyses the concurrence of these factors in each autonomous community.
In Spain, the reduction of physical barriers and the adaptation of spaces reported by tourist accommodation reflects that accessibility remains a challenge, with only 8.3% of hotels and 1.2% of tourist rentals meeting minimum accessibility levels. Extremadura is the autonomous community that, proportionally, has the widest range of accessible accommodation in relation to the total number of hotels and tourist rentals available in its territory (10.1%), followed by the Basque Country (9.6%), Madrid and Aragon (both with 9.6% of the total in their community), the Region of Murcia (5.6%), the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands (5.8%), Galicia (4.8%) and Catalonia (4.6%).
Satisfaction and price: How to attract accessible tourism
Overall, satisfaction with the accommodation experience, measured using the Mabrian Satisfaction Index, is comparatively better among accommodations that meet physical accessibility criteria compared to those that do not, except in Castilla y León and the Valencian Community, both with a greater supply of accessible accommodation. It should be noted that, among destinations with a more limited accessible hotel offer in their territory, such as Navarra, Galicia or Asturias, the satisfaction index for accessible accommodations is up to +11.7 points higher (out of 100 possible) compared to non-accessible ones, a difference driven by hotels with fewer physical barriers.
Comparatively and on average, nightly prices are higher in accommodations with fewer physical barriers; however, the rates for accessible hotels and tourist rentals are similar. Thus, of the ten autonomous communities with the most affordable prices for accessible accommodation, the Region of Murcia, Galicia, Asturias and Aragon have rates below 100 euros per night on average; while in the case of Extremadura and Cantabria they are slightly above 100 euros; and in Andalusia and the Valencian Community they are above 120 euros per night.
Mabrian's study also considers other factors relevant to a barrier-free tourist experience, such as travelers' perception of the accessibility of public transport and Spanish tourist attractions. As The Data Appeal Company's D/AI Destinations indexes point out, Spain's Public Transport Accessibility Perception Index for 2024 was very good, at 78.8 points out of a possible 100, and the one for Tourist Attractions was moderately good, at 73.4 points out of 100. "The results of both perception indexes indicate that Spain is well positioned as an accessible destination, although it can improve in some important aspects that are repeatedly mentioned on various online platforms," says Cendra, "such as the reduction of physical barriers in access to public spaces or alternative mobility services."
Mabrian's spokesperson concludes that "the great challenge for the tourism industry in terms of accessibility is to take advantage of the power of data intelligence to better understand the supply and demand for accessible tourism." To this end, he proposes "conducting awareness campaigns to encourage accommodation of any type to report their accessibility criteria, empowering travelers to share their positive and negative experiences with accessibility, and promoting digital accessibility initiatives that create reliable data spaces on accessible tourism."
Fuente: Mabrian Technologies