Travelling with a mobility impairment : Exploring the relationschip between travelling, agency and identity

Abstract: In tourism studies, people with a disability are often portrayed as rather passive. However, there is more to their story. There are many tourists travelling with a physical impairment and they have found ways to do so. The purpose of this study is to explore travelling with a mobility impairment, and what this means for agency and identity. More specifically the study focuses on three research questions.   What do tourists with a mobility impairment find important when travelling? What are the travel experiences of tourists with a mobility impairment? How does travelling relate to agency and identity for tourists with a mobility impairment?   A qualitative study method has been used for answering the research questions, and twelve semi-structured interviews have been conducted. The study found that travelling can be seen as the background in which agency plays out, and provides opportunities for the creation of new identity narratives. Tourists find themselves in situations they have never been in before, and come across new challenges. Moreover, people with a mobility impairment pointed out many different identities. It depends on the context whether the individual would identify with their impairment and to what extent.