June 11, 2012

A study by Ben-Gurion researchers about the difficulties people with disabilities face during their hotel experience was voted a Highly Commended Award Winner at the Literati Network of Emerald Publishing House Awards for Excellence 2012.

Prof. Yaniv Poria, Prof. Arie Reichel of the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management and Yael Brandt, a graduate of the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management’s MBA, focused on the challenges wheelchair users, individuals using crutches and blind people face in the hotel environment.

The study was published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

The BGU paper offered recommendations for hotel management with regard to specific physical as well as interpersonal means to alleviate difficulties faced by people with disabilities in their hotel experiences. One example found that hotel employees treat people with disabilities as if they were intellectually inferior by responding to their companion rather than directly to them.

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