Conclusion: Greener and smarter for whom? A synthesis and research agenda for inclusive and green tourism

Purpose This paper concludes the themed issue “Inclusive and Green Future in Tourism: The Intersection of Accessibility, Sustainability and Technology”. It brings the eight contributions together through a thematic synthesis and sets out an agenda for future research and practice. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a thematic synthesis approach. The eight articles were read in full and coded against the issue's guiding question and three derived research questions, and the resulting codes were grouped into six cross-cutting themes, two for each question. The contributions include systematic, bibliometric and thematic reviews, documentary analysis of institutional publications, large-scale content analysis of platform listings and visitor reviews, a stakeholder interview study and an on-site accessibility evaluation combined with interviews with disabled visitors. Findings The synthesis shows that accessibility and sustainability are still handled as parallel agendas in research, institutional discourse and the marketplace and that this separation varies with context. Technology does not resolve the tension on its own; it carries the priorities of those who specify it. A large part of exclusion turns out to be informational rather than physical, although at historical sites physical barriers still keep many disabled visitors away altogether. Whether the two agendas can be brought together depends mainly on governance: on how projects are specified, how information is provided, how physical access is secured and how stakeholders coordinate. Originality/value The paper translates eight methodologically and geographically diverse studies into a shared framework built on three layers of integration (specification, information and governance), resting on a foundation of basic physical access, and a five-point research agenda for scholars, destination managers, heritage site managers, platforms and policymakers.