A long-overdue mix of innovations, inventions and improvements are set to transform holiday options for disabled travellers this summer.
Better still, it’s not just planes, trains and (off-road) automobiles promising easier access and more comfortable journeys.
Hotels, beach resorts and cruise ships are also unveiling radical changes as travel bosses wake up to the size of the disabled travel market.
‘A lot of challenges remain for disabled people and their families, but the travel industry is moving in the right direction. The world is slowly opening up to everyone,’ says Angus Drummond, of Limitless Travel, which specialises in disability-friendly and accessible holidays.
BEST FOR BEACHES
Helping hand: Travel companies are making holidays more accessible, comfortable and enjoyable for disabled tourists. In Greece, new wooden decks help disabled visitors avoid the ‘sand trap’ of rolling wheelchairs across a beach
Greece is leading the way with a clever scheme to help wheelchair users reach and swim in the sea. New wooden decks help disabled visitors avoid the ‘sand trap’ of rolling wheelchairs across a beach, while at the deck’s edge, solar-powered seats lower users into waist-high waters.
Tobea, the local company behind the scheme, has already installed more than 200 of its Seatrac chairs in Greek resorts and is expanding into Italy and Cyprus this summer. Spain, Croatia and the Caribbean are next on the list. There’s a directory of locations at seatrac.gr.
Sand traps have also been smoothed out at a series of Inclusive Beaches in Northern Ireland.
The Mae Murray Foundation, a charity, ensures the beaches have disabled access and parking, toilets with hoists and adult-sized changing benches plus wet suits and equipment to rent including new sit-down surf boards, floating chairs and thick-wheeled beach walkers. Check the facilities at maemurrayfoundation.org.
IN THE SKY
These renderings show Delta Air Lines’ new seat for passengers with wheelchairs. Its introduction means travellers won’t have to check their own chairs into the hold, get on board in a narrow ‘aisle chair’ and slide into an ordinary seat for the flight
A new airline seat is planned by Delta Airlines that will allow passengers to stay in their own wheelchairs on board.
When installed, the back cushions of an economy seat near an exit and toilet are removed and the lower part flipped up to create space for a chair.
It means travellers won’t have to check their own chairs into the hold, get on board in a narrow ‘aisle chair’ and slide into an ordinary seat for the flight. Safety testing means the new cabin’s first flight is around 18 months away — but the good news is that Delta’s design partner plans to licence it to other airlines in the meantime.
Another innovation is on the horizon in Germany. Revolve Air is a foldable chair for travellers (described as the Brompton bike of wheelchairs). Even the wheels fold small enough to fit into a plane’s overhead locker, with production due to begin this winter.
ON SAFARI
New accessible vehicles with ramps for powered wheelchairs are opening up the game reserves of South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia for trips with 2by2 Holidays, where experienced staff have been offering disabled-friendly holidays for more than two decades.
Holidaymakers who travel in manual wheelchairs and can transfer into the front seat of a 4×4 safari vehicle can also look at the company’s safaris in Botswana and tours to the Victoria Falls.
At each destination a tailor-made mix of accessible hotels and lodges are on offer while airport assistance and accessible transfer vehicles can be booked alongside flights.
Holidays include a seven-night wheelchair-friendly break in Cape Town and the winelands of Stellenbosch from £1,995 pp plus flights (2by2holidays.co.uk).
PARK LIFE
Some of America’s most rugged landscapes are more accessible this year as all-weather, off-road wheelchairs are ready to rent from the visitor centres of beauty spots from Colorado to Lake Michigan. Described as ‘the Land Rover of wheelchairs’ the Minnesota-built Action Trackchair can tackle modest slopes while moving safely over rocks, tree roots, streams and sand.
America can be particularly friendly to disabled travellers and villas with fully-adapted bed and bathrooms can be good accommodation choices.
Four-bed villas near the theme parks of Florida with outdoor ramps, hospital-quality beds plus overhead gantry hoists in main bedrooms and hoists by a private pool can be rented from £2,100 per week. Compare villa choices at enableholidays.com and disabledholidays.com.
ON THE HIGH SEAS
‘A lot of challenges remain for disabled people and their families, but the travel industry is moving in the right direction,’ says Angus Drummond, of Limitless Travel, which specialises in disability-friendly and accessible holidays
Exhilarating attractions will be accessible to all when Sun Princess begins its inaugural Mediterranean cruises in February. Clever modifications mean thrill-seeking disabled guests can try the top-deck Rollglider, a cross between a rollercoaster and hang-glider.
Passengers also get a choice of wheelchair-friendly cabins with roll-in showers, accessible desks and easy-access, pull-down rails in the wardrobes.
Chair hoists on the pools and whirlpools of P&O ships help every guest enjoy the water on board, while cruises with UK departures remove the stress of taking wheelchairs through airports. A no-fly, 14-night and fully accessible Mediterranean cruise on P&O’s Arvia with specialist staff on hand from Limitless Travel starts at £4,059 pp (limitlesstravel.org).
While raised door thresholds can be a problem in some corridors, the fact that decks are all served by lifts makes ocean cruises a good choice for many wheelchair users. Equipment unavailable in cabins can be hired from Mobility At Sea and other firms (mobilityatsea.co.uk).
PERFECT PACKAGES
This summer Tui is teaming up with research group AccessAble to ensure travellers know exactly what to expect on their journeys and at their destination. AccessAble staff have been carrying out in-person examinations of hotels, attractions, restaurants, pubs, stations and more in the UK for years.
Its expansion overseas will include a similar treasure trove of facts, figures and photographs of everything from steps to showers in holiday resorts.
Tui also employs an in-house Assisted Travel Team who can ensure customers with visible or non-visible disabilities have smooth journeys (including vital but easy to overlook transfers) and the most suitable hotel rooms and in-resort support.
ACCESSIBLE ROOMS
In Britain, the Bespoke Hotel chain is taking a fresh approach to accessibility by seeking interior design advice from the Blue Badge Style group.
The aim is to ensure accessible rooms are as chic as every other. Bespoke has also created an Accessibility Charter for its properties to ensure staff know how to help guests with special needs (bespokehotels.com).
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