Accessibility of Thermal Hotels for Disabled and Elderly Tourists: The Case of Afyonkarahisar, Turkey

Introduction

Thermal hotels, specialized accommodation enterprises focused on balneotherapy and other medical applications, are one of the important enterprises for elderly and disabled tourists. As it is well-known, thermal hotels are generally established at the nearest location to natural thermal water resources, and the thermal water resource used by the hotel is the determiner of the services. In a thermal hotel, various thermal-SPA services are delivered to the guests. These services include swimming pools with thermal water, skincare services and aromatic baths, mud bath, ozone therapy, solarium, a variety of massages with special oils, clinical treatments, and a fitness center. Hence, they promote themselves with various thermal water treatments based on minerals and ingredients of the thermal water. In other words, those hotels segment the target market based on the characteristics and curative effects of thermal springs they have. By the way, they also need to deliver their relevant services to appropriate age groups strategically determined. At this point, the age groups of the tourists become prominent for the marketing efforts and economic sustainability of the thermal hotels.

Tourism is a right of every human being. For this reason, it is essential to consider accessibility in the configuration of the physical structures of all tourism enterprises and the service production and delivery processes. This requirement is more important for hotels established for thermal tourism. Because due to its nature, thermal tourism is a type of tourism in which a large group of people with health problems and access barriers tend to as well as healthy people. Thusly, thermal hotels should be designed and managed to meet the needs of groups with different demands and expectations. In addition, thermal hotels are mainly providing supportive cure treatment services. This treatment requires an average stay of 2-3 weeks. The extension of the accommodation period due to the length of the cure period requires that the activities be designed in larger areas, and the cure and recreational areas are designed as separate units.

Due to the need for human movement in larger areas and the limited mobility of the target market, accessibility is one of the main issues in thermal hotels because the target group generally has health problems and is primarily elderly people. The correct planning and steps in this manner will directly affect the satisfaction of the relevant groups benefiting from the services of the thermal hotels. Human beings are self-sufficient and happy to meet their wants and needs without needing anyone else. This characteristic goes for both the elderly and the disabled. In this context, the applications of thermal hotels to facilitate accessibility will not only please the individuals in the relevant groups who benefit from the services but will also encourage the potential guests to turn into repeat guests.

World Health Organization statistics present that the world population is rapidly aging, and the number of people aged 60 and older will increase to 1.4 billion by 2030. Moreover, current environmental hazards and deteriorated natural life conditions threaten our health (WHO, 2021). As a result, scores of people, especially seniors, seek health through different establishments such as hospitals, private clinics, and specialized hotels delivering thermal and medical treatments. Even healthy elders need curative treatments to actively sustain their routines and social roles in the community. In this aspect, thermal hotels are not only the favored places for health-seeking seniors but also famous tourism enterprises for healthy elders. Thus, a market segmentation process performed in a thermal hotel should also focus on senior tourists.

Although senior tourism is a significant segment for thermal hotels, this segment will not provide satisfying profitability. Hotel managers must diversify targeted markets with other social groups to decrease the potential risks of the one-segment operation. Within this context, disabled people could be an excellent segment to enable diversity in market segmentation. Hence, contrary to general belief, numerous people live in communities with disability status, whether natal or ensuing. Although they have some special needs in a social environment, disabled people need to be integrated into all aspects of social life. Based on this reality, all social facilities and atmospheres should be accessible for disabled people.