International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Determinants of Travel Participation and Experiences of Wheelchair Users Traveling to the Bodrum Region: A Qualitative Study Ezgi Özcan 1, Zehra Güçhan Topcu 2,* and Hüseyin Arasli 3 1 Faculty of Tourism, Eastern Mediterranean University, 99628 Famagusta, Cyprus;
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[email protected] Abstract: Although the number of people with disabilities and types of disability increases day by day, a sufficient point has not been reached regarding accessible tourism. The participation rate of people with disabilities (PWDS) in tourism activities is low, and there is a big gap in the travel and accommodation sector in this regard. Studies of previous scholars have concluded that the accessible tourism market is a significant and profitable area, but determinants of participation to travel and process of travel, such as wheelchair user expectations, are consistently ignored by the tourism industry. The main purpose of this study is to determine the determinants of travel by examining the motivations, expectations, processes and experiences of PWDS using wheelchairs to Citation: Özcan, E.; Güçhan Topcu, participate in tourism. Research was performed in Turkey’s Bodrum district; 25 wheelchair users Z.; Arasli, H. Determinants of Travel were included in the study. The keywords that emerged in the theoretical framework in light of the Participation and Experiences of answers given to 39 open-ended questions online were coded in the Nvivo program.