Abstract:
ABSTRACT
Despite offering countless tourism services, scanty research has been
dedicated to examining how National Parks are accessible to persons with
disabilities (PwDs). This study assessed the accessibility of Kakum and Mole
National Parks to PwDs. The embedded mixed method approach and an
exploratory design were adopted. A total of 81 frontline employees as well as
two mangers of the parks were purposively selected for the study. Four
instruments namely; Accessibility Audit Checklist, Questionnaire and two In Depth Interview Guides were used. The Accessibility Audit Checklist
explored the physical accessibility conditions of the parks. The questionnaire
measured frontline employees’ attitude towards PwDs and the in-depth
interviews unearthed contextual issues. Data was analysed using descriptive
statistics, Chi-square, Kruskal Wallis, Mann-Whitney tests and inductive
content techniques. The study observed that both parks’ core products are not
physically accessible to PwDs. Five main factors emerged as drivers of
physical accessibility at the two parks. Further, the study found that frontline
employees have favourable attitude towards PwDs as 96.3%, 91.5% and 96%
of the employees held positive cognitive, affective and behaviour dispositions
respectively towards PwDs. Finally, socio-demographic and work-related
factors shape employees’ attitude towards PwDs. The study recommends that
management re-adjust the designs of the core products to allow for
independent use by PwDs. Also, GTA should incorporate the PwDs Act, 2006
(Act 715) requirements and accessible tourism measures into their monitoring
and evaluation criteria and mount strict enforcement to ensure the two national
parks are made physically accessible to PwDs
