Social barriers in the area of tourism

Purpose: Tourism is the act and process of spending time away from home in search of recreation, relaxation and pleasure, while enjoying the commercial provision of services. This text pays special attention to social barriers having spatial expression, although the spatial expression of a social barrier is not always physical. Design/Methodology/Approach: The article, is an excerpt from a broader study under the banner of universal design (Design for All), initiated by participation in a university project (Accessibility zone POWR.03.04.00-00-KP04/21-00). Closer to the final section there is an attempt to portray the tourist and there is an emphasis on the need to level and remove social barriers evident in the relationship between parties with conflicting interests, between the seller and the buyer. Various methods were used to write the text, among which the most important are heuristic methods and techniques, desk research and questionnaire research. Findings: The text shows tourists not only as a source of financial streams, but also as an active partners (customers) of purchase-sale transactions, who in case of dissatisfaction assert their rights. On the example of the content of the statements of tourists on vacations.pl and the UOKiK (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection), the importance of (especially) social barriers in the degree of buyer satisfaction is shown and emphasized. Practical implication: The results obtained should contribute to a better understanding of the intricacies of personalized, real causes of tourist demand and satisfaction, taking into account the role of the conscious tourist in market transactions, and to an appreciation of the research workshop of socio-economic geography as a science predisposed to speak more decisively on issues of shaping open, tourist-friendly tourist space. Originality/Value: In order to develop tourist-friendly spaces, it is important to focus on social barriers first; as they are the starting point for both achieving better market performance and reducing the negative impact of existing architectural and digital barriers on tourist satisfaction.