Exploring the obstacles and opportunities related to disability-inclusive diversity management in the local tourism sector of South Africa

The Global South has joined the debate on disability inclusion and tourism; however, a diversity management lens reveals a blind spot in the research. Therefore, the current study explored obstacles and opportunities for disability-inclusive diversity management practices in the local tourism sector. The phenomenological qualitative research design fostered group chat-guided interviews with persons with physical disabilities on Facebook groups. The study also included in-depth, face-to-face interviews with tourism educators and gatekeeper organisations (leaders) for persons with disabilities. Manual content analysis and the use of a computer-aided analytical tool such as ‘ATLAS.ti 8’ augmented the data analysis process. The results show that obstacle s emanate from overlooking disability in mainstream work policies. The failure of local government to consult meaningfully with persons with disabilities in developing its diversity management approach is a significant lacuna. Consultation can equalise the opportunities to interpret disability inclusion for organisational processes at the local tourism economic level. In conclusion, the article contributes to a sector-specific, disability-inclusive diversity management implementation framework and provides recommendations that can remove the gaps.