TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Travel

It’s Hell on Wheels When an Accessible Hotel Reservation Isn’t Honored

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Our Takeaway: While this is only one person’s account, accessible reservations are not honored countless times a day leaving disabled travelers stranded with few options.  Non-existent training and a lack of awareness about the meticulous effort that wheelchair users expend to find a hotel room that fits their specific needs only to be turned away upon arrival is one reason why so few people with disabilities travel.

After nine hours driving across the southwest in my packed minivan, I could almost feel the hotel mattress by the time I rolled into the lobby of the Phoenix Hampton Inn. My achy shoulders and rumbling stomach subsided, knowing that after a week and almost 2,000 miles of driving, it was time for my Arizona vacation to begin. Five days in the sun, six baseball games and no responsibilities — I’d been looking forward to my first post-pandemic trip since I booked everything almost four months earlier.

I handed the receptionist my ID and credit card to confirm the reservation and watched her face change as she stared at her computer screen. I could feel my stomach and shoulders starting to groan again. Something was wrong. Read More.

Belgium Destination Launches Plate-like Brochures for Deaf and Blind Visitors

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Our Takeaway: This groundbreaking technology enables blind or deaf visitors to access videos with professional level audio descriptions and sign language interpreters that can be accessed by hovering the phone over a QR code on each page. Attendees at The Emerging Markets Summit in Savannah will be able to feel and touch the actual English language versions of these books as well as the meet the developer, Alain Cloet founder of Picture Live, in person.  

The city of Ghent has launched a hardbound tourist itinerary book for hearing and visually impaired visitors, as reported by Belgian news outlet VRT. The campaign includes special booklets which contain tactile pictures of seven attractions in the historic center of Ghent, along with an audio description that people can listen to via their cell phones. There is also a version with sign language.

“It is a booklet with plates of seven Ghent sights you can touch,” Alain Cloet, who came up with the idea, told VRT. “Tactile plates are photos covered with a tactile layer. The tactile plates include an audio description that people can listen to using their mobile phones. There is also a version using sign language. A video will appear on your mobile with a sign language interpreter explaining the sight.”

The walks include a QR code to activate audio description and a link to videos in Flemish Sign Language. On the smartphone, visitors can listen to a description or watch a movie in Flemish Sign Language. The designers will continue to develop and refine the product so that it becomes even more accessible and user-friendly. Read More.

New Saudi Ultra-Luxury Resort Caters to the High-End Disabled Traveler

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photo of a man. seen from the back with a prosthetic leg wearing a wet-suit, carrying a surfboard and heading into the ocean

Our Takeaway: The Saudis have suddenly awakened to the fact that they will run out of oil in the year 2344, and, following the example of Dubai,  they’re building an infrastructure around aging gazillionaires who love to travel in the lap of luxury.

Red Sea Globalhas promised the giga project will be entirely disability friendly.

The developer, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, will add ramps and accessible rooms at all its hotels, but also offer adaptive diving experiences and make sure that people with disabilities can stay in the “more challenging” accommodations, such as the Desert Rock Mountain Resort.  

RSG group CEO John Pagano said: “If we are truly going to do better for people and the planet, we can’t leave anyone behind. There are approximately 1.3 billion disabled people globally. It is not only totally inexcusable for our industry to exclude so many people, but commercially short-sighted.” Read More.

Featured Destination of the Month: Travel Oregon Creates Accessible Outdoor Guide

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Our Takeaway: Oregon is arguably the most proactively accessible state in America with a generous grant program that underwrites accessibility for all seven of their regions and for this project they prudently partnered with three local disability organizations at the outset.

With rushing waterfalls, verdant hiking trails and scenic viewpoints inspiring people of all ages and ability levels. Before you head out, be sure to download the Accessible Outdoor Recreation Travel Guide created in partnership with Oregon Spinal Cord Injury Connection, Adventures Without Limits, and Willamette Partnership. This guide was created specifically for people in the disabilities community, to provide the information you need to plan a fabulous trip before you head outdoors. While this guide is by no means an exhaustive list of all the accessible recreation spots in Oregon, it includes popular favorites and hidden gems that came directly from the local community.
Read More.

First Person: Meet Amar Latif, the Adventurer Making Adventure Travel More Accessible For The Blind

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photo of the legs of a person with a white cane

Our Takeaway: This is a tutorial about how a blind seeker of travel exhilaration is able to visualize what he’s missing through the use of his other senses and adroitly crafted descriptions from his colleagues

I lost my sight at 18 due to an eye condition. By the third year of my college degree, I’d decided that enough was enough — I wasn’t going to tiptoe through life wrapped up in cotton wool. Against the wishes of my lecturers and parents, I headed off to Canada to study in Kingston. I went there alone — just me and my blindness. That taught me your world becomes bigger when you push your limits.

In 2005, I took part in a 220-mile trek across Nicaragua alongside 10 other people with disabilities for a BBC documentary series called Beyond Boundaries. We had to work as a team to go across tropical rainforests and a shark-infested lake, as well as up a 5,000ft volcano. I was pushing a wheelchair through dense jungle; no amount of exercise could have prepared me for it — it became all about mental resilience. Each time you push yourself, it helps you get ready for your next challenge. You begin to crave that feeling of uneasiness; when it’s tough, when it feels awkward — that’s when you know you’re growing. Read More.

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