Assessing Sharm El-Sheik diving centers' ability to provide services for tourists with special needs

Magdy, Aya Mohamed; Khairy, Nesreen

doi:10.21608/jaauth.2024.256092.1538

Assessing Sharm El-Sheik diving centers' ability to provide services for tourists with special needs

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

aya mohamed magdy ¹
nesreen khairy ²

¹ Faculty of Tourism and Hotels ,Tourism Studies ,Department .Minia universit

² tourism studies department, Faculty of tourism and hotels, Minia university

10.21608/jaauth.2024.256092.1538

Abstract

Disability is an ancient concept that has existed for as long as people have existed. In various fields, tourists with special needs face various challenges and injustices. Recognition of tourists with special needs as a niche tourist market for scuba diving tourism is emerging. The diving activities have a huge impact on improving the quality of life of tourists with special needs. This research aims to determine the diving services provided for tourists with special needs by diving centers in Sharm El-Sheik and identify the obstacles facing diving centers to offer high-quality services for tourists with special needs. Moreover, many recommendations were suggested to improve diving services for tourists with special needs. To achieve this, the quantitative approach in this study depended on questionnaires that were prepared and distributed to all diving centers in Sharm El-Sheik. The questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, coefficient analysis with the support of SPSS 25.0. The study presented many findings; a few diving centers in Sharm El Sheikh provide services for tourists with special needs. Furthermore, there is a deficiency in providing diving services to tourists with special needs due to insufficient qualified instructors. On the other hand, there is also a lack of equipped boats. The research recommended that diving centers should pay attention to provide services to tourists with special needs and mitigate the obstacles for them as this market is a promising market that will generate significant income.

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