Accessibility Information and Rhetoric: An Evaluation of the Website Communications of Three New Zealand Hotels

Abstract

Previous scholarship highlights the physical, social and informational barriers to participation in tourism and hospitality for people with disabilities. The provision of reliable and up-to-date information, especially via websites, is crucial to ensuring accessibility and inclusion in hospitality services and experiences as it enables essential pre-visit planning. It also establishes a communication platform for wider social advocacy. This study sought to examine the website communications of three case study hotels known as being accessibility champions in New Zealand to evaluate how well they communicated information about inclusion and the accessibility of their hotel services, including in-hotel dining experiences, to customers with disabilities. An evaluation of the website communications of accessibility champions may reveal wider lessons for other hotels to improve their provision of information as well as contribute to broader social change in the hospitality industry. This interpretive study employed Greenwood et al.’s three-phase analysis process to analyse the design, content and rhetorical elements of the website communications. Findings of the study reveal common themes, strategies and tactics for the design and delivery of accessibility information on the hotel websites. Rhetorical analysis reveal how the three websites used persuasive communication to create a common social narrative around inclusive hospitality.