Seeking a deeper level of responsibility for inclusive (eco)tourism duty and the pinnacle of practice

As a form of tourism that aims to be sustainable and, in broader terms, responsible and ethical, ecotourism occupies a peak position in terms of people's understanding of sustainable tourism. The purpose of this paper is to articulate how responsibility can be actuated through a deeper consideration of duty (good as intrinsic) and strategic (good for business) perspectives. In pursuit of this overall aim, the paper investigates a sample of Ecotourism Australia (EA) certified company websites to examine inclusivity barriers based on the social model of disability: physical, attitudinal, and informational. The choice of Australia is based on the observation that ecotourism providers in this region are often cited as highly advanced in terms of policies and practices. Results suggest that there is only limited statistical support for the hypothesis that the "leading" ecotourism operators (with advanced EA certification) in Australia pay more attention to disability issues than those in the "following" group (with lower categories of EA certification). The paper concludes by suggesting that the responsibility agenda is most likely to move forward by providers adopting ways of "thinking" and "doing" that emphasise duty and justice instead of following accepted business practice.