Use of the Internet to Plan Tourism Trips by People With Special Needs

Abstract

This chapter aims to examine internet usage to plan a tourism trip by people with special needs (PwSN), particularly addressing differences in the intensity of internet usage according to their age and education level. To achieve these aims, a survey was applied to a sample of Portuguese people with special needs who have already undertaken tourism trips. Various bivariate statistical tests (chi-square, t test, ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis) were used to examine differences in internet usage according to respondents' age and education level. Results obtained reveal that the internet is the most important information source used by PwSN in planning their tourism trips. However, respondents report that they are not very satisfied with the online sources used. Moreover, online sources used to plan tourism activities vary according to PwSNs' age and education level.