Gillovic, BrielleMcIntosh, Alison2026-01-272026-01-272025-09-22In N. Halpern, J. Rickly, B. Garrod & M. Hansen (Ed.), Handbook of Accessible Tourism. Chapter 13. (pp. 203-216). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111316130 eBook ISBN: 9783111316130 Hardcover ISBN: 9783111314488 This book is Volume 14 in the series De Gruyter Studies in Tourism.http://hdl.handle.net/10292/20549[from Introduction] Increasingly, tourism researchers are questioning how tourism, and its inquiry, might drive an agenda for a more inclusive, responsible, and sustainable future (see Gillovic & McIntosh, 2020). In New Zealand, this too is the case. Tourism has long been an important export earner for the country, however, the nature of tourism considerations remains overwhelmingly environment-centric and largely devoid of a social imperative (Gillovic & McIntosh, 2015). Destination management organisations, with significant involvement in, and influence over, the management and marketing of New Zealand, need to prioritise accessibility to remain competitive, especially given the changing demography of domestic and major inbound visitor markets. Despite local accessibility champions calling for more strategic leadership in this space, there remains no coherent or coordinated strategy relating to accessible tourism development in New Zealand (Cockburn-Wootten & McIntosh, 2020).This is the Author's Accepted Manuscript of a chapter in a book © De Gruyter Brill, 2025. The Version of Record can be found at DOI: 10.1515/9783111316130-013TourismAccessibilityDisabilitiesDiversityInclusivityChapter in BookOpenAccess10.1515/9783111316130-013