Social capital as a driving force for accessible tourism

ABSTRACT

People with disabilities face environmental, economic, informational and intrinsic barriers that affect their choice of tourism goods by inducing a self-selection problem. This problem may generate a biased measure of their tourism participation probability. Given this consideration, the aim of the present study is twofold. First, the theoretical impact of barriers on tourism choices for a person with disabilities and how such barriers can generate a self-selection problem are presented. Second, the role of social capital in reducing these barriers is investigated. A Heckman selection model is employed to verify and address these issues using microdata concerning the Italian population. The results show the importance of social capital, through bridging and linking networks, in reducing the barriers to tourism participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Accessible tourism
• social capital
• tourism participation
• Heckman selection model
• leisure participation

Acknowledgements

This study uses data from the national sample survey on ‘The social inclusion of people with functional limitations’ by the Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT). The data supporting this study’s findings are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Massimiliano Agovino

Massimiliano Agovino works as a Full Professor in Economic Policy at the Department of Economic, Legal, Computer and Sports Sciences of the University of Naples Parthenope, Italy. The main topics covered by his research activities include the evaluation of active labour market policies for the inclusion of disadvantaged workers, the policies aiming to bridge gender differences, the evaluation of environmental policies, and the analysis of convergence applied to environmental problems.

Katia Marchesano

Katia Marchesano works as a Research Fellow in Political Economy at the Department of Economic, Legal, Computer and Sports Sciences of the University of Naples Parthenope, Italy. She authored articles in international journals and chapters in books on disability and the labour market, efficiency analysis and impact evaluation of social and labour inclusion policies, effectiveness evaluation of waste management process, circular economy and social economy.