It is a positive phenomenon that more and more studies are being published on the diverse relationship between accessibility and tourism nowadays. This indicates that now at least tourism researchers are showing an interest in the examination of the different aspects of accessibility. Nevertheless, it is a well-known fact that service providers still do have much room for development in this respect. It is sad the examinations mentioned practically totally neglect the definition of accessibility from a philosophical perspective—or its need to be defined, so evidently its applicability in practice and its empirically justifiable positive impacts are not discussed, either, though in the authors’ view it is a prerequisite for the realisation of a traveller’s good and independent experiences. Unfortunately, very little is said in the previously mentioned scrutinies about the philosophy of accessibility which, in the authors’ opinion, is a prerequisite for the accomplishment of adequate accessibility. Coming from all these and also on the ground of their previous researches, and also from the international empirical research conducted in five countries on the travel habits of people with disabilities by the authors, they are convinced that accessibility in itself shows, and leads to crisis phenomena, because the spirit of accessibility is simply missing from both the professional and everyday practical thinking. One explicit manifestation of this is the fact that travel becomes free from experience as a result of partial accessibility—or it generates “specific experiences” that can be interpreted as the negative pole of Michalkó’s paradigm of beatific travel. The conclusion of the paper is that the creation of the paradigm of fundamental accessibility is a justified must.

Purpose: This paper aims to reveal Generation Z’s perspectives on their distant (2070s) future considering technological, socioeconomic and environmental challenges. This approach reveals latent fears and expectations of this generation and thus highlight key paths for further scientific analysis and strategy development in the tourism sector (e.g. keeping AI development under control, adapting to climate change). Design/methodology/approach: The relevant literature was reviewed using the rapid evidence assessment (REA) framework. The empirical research follows a hybrid approach, employing Grounded Theory (GT) to analyze self-reflective narratives of Generation Z university students (n = 150). Subjects imagined themselves in 50 years and reported a fictive journey’s technological, sociodemographic and infrastructural characteristics. For the analysis, the three-phase coding process of Corbin and Strauss (1990) was applied to identify patterns in respondents’ future perceptions. Findings are validated by employing a cluster analysis using the NVivo software. Findings: The GT-based analysis resulted in a six-variable model identifying key technological (e.g. the rise of AI and smart tourism services), social (e.g. anticipated health challenges) and environmental factors shaping future travel behavior. This study also brings attention to previously underexplored concepts, such as the negative perceptions of technological advancements and Generation Z’s concerns about aging, leading to the introduction of new theoretical perspectives (e.g. AI detoxification tourism, negative perceptions of seniority) that could shape the future of consumer behavior. Research limitations/implications: The analysis is based on a sample of Hungarian university students, which may limit generalizability to other cultural or socioeconomic contexts. While the research offers theoretical contributions to future tourism studies, further quantitative validation is recommended, particularly through cross-cultural comparisons and longitudinal studies tracking possible generational attitude changes. Practical implications: Our findings provide valuable insights for tourism stakeholders. In destination management, the integration of AI-based tourism services should prioritize hybrid solutions, ensuring that human interactions remain available for travelers seeking authenticity. Future marketing strategies should balance high-tech convenience with nostalgia-driven travel preferences, acknowledging Generation Z’s growing demand for AI detox experiences. In terms of policymaking, regulations should promote sustainable AI adoption in tourism, ensuring ethical data use, accessibility and intergenerational inclusivity. By incorporating these insights, tourism professionals can better align future strategies with the evolving preferences of Generation Z travelers. Social implications: With a deeper understanding of Generation Z’s concerns and expectations, this research highlights emerging generational differences in tourism consumer behavior. Findings suggest that digital literacy, climate awareness and AI skepticism will play crucial roles in shaping future travel decisions. This knowledge can boost educational initiatives, policy frameworks and intergenerational travel planning strategies, ensuring that tourism remains inclusive and adaptable to evolving consumer expectations. Originality/value: Our findings provide novel insights into the relationship between tourism, technological development and generational shifts, offering a long-term perspective on how Generation Z envisions travel in an AI-driven world. Unlike previous studies that primarily examine short-term technological adoption in tourism (e.g. AI chatbots, smart hotels or VR experiences), this research explores deeper psychological and sociocultural influences, including climate anxiety, nostalgia-driven travel and AI skepticism. Through the application of GT methodology, this study not only identifies emerging travel behaviors and concerns but also introduces new conceptual frameworks, such as AI detoxification tourism and the paradox of high-tech vs traditional travel preferences.

A Covid19-járvány és az azt követő időszak globális szinten komoly nehézségek elé állította a turizmus–vendéglátás ágazat szereplőit, így hazánkban is. A vendéglátó vállalkozásoknak jelenleg számos problémával kell megküzdeniük, a túlélésre pedig akkor van a legnagyobb esélyük, ha sikerül egy olyan működési modellt kialakítaniuk, amivel rugalmasan reagálhatnak a folyamatosan változó gazdasági és társadalmi környezetre. Az utóbbi években a magyar vendéglátásszektor egyik legnagyobb problémája a megfelelően szakképzett, lojális munkavállalók megtalálása és alkalmazása. Kutatásunkban arra vállalkoztunk, hogy feltérképezzük a fogyatékossággal élő emberek foglalkoztatásának nehézségeit és támogató tényezőit a vendéglátásban, illetve feltárjuk, hogy milyen eséllyel járulhatnak hozzá ennek a problémának a megoldásához.

The modern science of thinking in networks and the interpretation of human activities made in networks are almost as old as the science of tourism, or as this paper calls it, travel science. The basic background of the paper is provided by the accessibility scrutiny performed in travel science and frequently referred to in the article. The paper is definitely of a theoretical focus; it is a research methodology mix of emptiness and life philosophy, and also hermeneutics, meant to inspire a discussion and evoke thought. The paper is not based on empirical data, given that it is a review paper; however, the analysis of this limited set of data supports the scientifically verifiable relevance of this specific philosophical scrutiny as well, i.e., the theoretical framing in the classic sense is manifested through this special philosophical and hermeneutical dimension: it implicitly frames the thoughts of the authors, the fundamental objective of which is to induce more in-depth and sophisticated discourses on the correlation of networks and accessibility. The authors observe that their brief theoretical research may lead to a few surprising conclusions for the future, and hope that they have met the academically relevant expectations that they defined.

The authors have made an attempt in this case study, which is based on ‘subjective’ travel and existence experiences, for the indispensable separation of technical accessibility and fundamental or ‘deep’ accessibility—in both interpretation and application—and then to reconsider these concepts in their special philosophy-centred study, which is at the same time built on empirical inquiries and analyses. This is in line with a series of their publications in high-class periodicals. The authors are aware and understand at first sight that this hybrid analysis method has several shortcomings concerning objectivity expected by the academic community, and also concerning the verification of the findings with exact data. Nevertheless, they are convinced that in today’s world of transdisciplinarity, subjective and objective viewpoints are no longer dimensions mutually excluding each other in research. Accordingly, the ‘artificially’ created boundaries between ontological and epistemological philosophical approaches are not of substantial character either. In fact, their very necessity and even their existence can be questioned at certain types of applications (e.g., hermeneutical and Buddhist analytics). The experiences gained and analyses made by the authors make it clear that technical accessibility, and the interpretation and implementation of fundamental accessibility, as well as the control of these by the actual users, are still hindered by several obstacles. Additionally, the existence or lack of fundamental accessibility is a more significant issue than the mere fact of providing accessibility by technical solutions. Last but not least, it should be remarked that it is just the spirit of fundamental accessibility and its implementation in the real world that is capable of mostly meeting the personal needs for accessibility, which seems to be partially impossible. The paper is hermeneutic in nature, so it seeks to understand and interpret a phenomenon, and not to causally explain something. Accordingly, the reported data (both subjective and objective facts) serve the purpose of hermeneutics and not that of providing empirical proof.

Kutatócsoportunk 2022. tavaszán kezdte el vizsgálni a fogyatékossággal élő emberek foglalkoztatásának módozatait és mindezek nehézségeit a vendéglátás szektorban. A vizsgálódásunk eddigi eredményei alapján megállapítható, hogy a hazai és az EU-s foglakoztatási gyakorlatok az alapvetően piacgazdasági szemlélet által vezérelt – elsősorban az anyagi haszon maximalizálására törekvő gazdálkodási, és mára társadalom-formálóvá is vált –, termelési mód az estek túlnyomó többségében nem képes reális foglalkoztatási, egyéni és közösségi kiteljesedési lehetőségek megélhetési bázisát biztosítani a fogyatékossággal élő emberek számára. Mindezek miatt elkezdtük kidolgozni a spirituális gazdálkodás és a fogyatékossággal élő emberek foglalkoztatásának antropológiai és életfilozófiai „platformját”. Bízunk abban, hogy ez az elkövetkezendő évek kutatásainak egyik izgalmas területévé válhat ez a hazánkban, és a nemzetközileg is kevéssé kutatott terület. Ez a gondolati megalapozás a mindennapok gyakorlatában is megjelenhet a későbbiekben, mint e kiszolgáltatott társadalmi csoportot alkotó emberek életének értelmesebbé, tartalmasabbá és biztonságosabbá tételének egyik új formája.