Destinationen

Not every place is easily accessible for disabled tourists - but some cities do better than others to accommodate them. Photo credit: LonelyTaws

The world’s most wheelchair-friendly destinations

Ben West

The travel industry is increasingly catering for the needs of disabled travellers and one website pinpoints nine top accessible destinations

Many companies working in the travel industry wonder whether they can afford to redesign facilities for the disabled. However, it could be argued, how can they not afford to? Improved accessibility is a competitive advantage for businesses, opening up a whole new market of travellers. Disabled tourists contribute hugely to the economy and it is in the interests of destinations, attraction owners, and transport and accommodation providers to be as accessible as possible.

However, providing accessibility can present significant challenges, especially as many businesses do not completely understand what counts as accessible. For example, a hotel may claim and believe to be accessible, but then a seemingly small and overlooked issue like steps leading to the bathroom or a shower over a bath make the accommodation unfeasible for disabled visitors. Just widening doors in a hotel doesn’t solve all problems for a wheelchair user. And historic buildings and historic features like cobbled streets may also make providing accessibility problematic.

Accessibility needs to be comprehensive

Michael Leavy, Managing Director of Ireland-based Home Healthcare Adaptations, which specialises in adapting homes for the elderly and less abled, has created an interactive storymap outlining nine of the most wheelchair-friendly tourist attractions in the world. While many attractions today are wheelchair-friendly, these go the extra mile and hopefully help inspire others in the travel industry to make accessibilty as comprehensive as possible.

Leavy’s site acknowledges that Seattle is one of America’s most accessible cities, and that its star attraction, the Space Needle, is particularly so. The entirety of the structure can be explored by wheelchair.

The Mexican city of Playa den Carmen and in particular the Mayan archaeological site of Chichen Itza within its confines are incredibly accessible. Wheelchair-bound visitors can view Chichen Itza up close with ease as the nearby lanscape is flat.

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, caters well for disabled visitors, and wheelchairs can be rented at any specific attraction. Accommodation at the resort caters for people with cognitive, mobility, hearing and visual impairments.

Barcelona is another great destination for disabled travellers and at its famous Sagrada Familia church visitors in wheelchairs are moved to the front of queues and given free admission.

Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse is well geared to disabled visitors and it contains a bar where visitors can pour their own pint of Guinness. One of the taps is deliberately lower to cater for people in wheelchairs, while wheelchairs can be borrowed for free.

Austria’s capital, Vienna, is flat, compact and no longer cobblestoned, while the magnificent Schonbrunn Palace is fully accessible, and staff are ready and willing to escort tourists in wheelchairs. 

Sydney Opera House has daily wheelchair-accessible tours avoiding staircases, while Ljubljana Castle in Slovenia is reached by a funicular that disabled visitors and their accompaniment can use for free, or by train. Both options are wheelchair-accessible and most of the castle can be accessed by wheelchair.

Singapore is another highly accommodating city and most of its zoo is wheelchair-accessible, and there are free to hire wheelchairs available too.