Wheelchair vacation, going on holidays with a wheelchair

Wheelchair vacation in the mountains or down by the sea as well as city and sightseeing trips as a possibility to go on holidays are indeed possible for wheelchair users. Since every vacation with people facing a reduced mobility require the fulfillment of certain needs, you will find some decent support regarding the preparation and planning of said holidays on our webpages.
Tips and advices concerning the different standards of possible accommodations and leisure activities might well be very helpful, especially in non-European countries. With our webpages on wato.de we would like to contribute to a wider transparency of the numerous offers regarding wheelchair vacations.

Wheelchair vacation in Germany

Since the law for the equality of handicapped people (the „Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz“) has been enacted in Germany in May 2002, a lot of things have been optimized as far as barrier-free and wheelchair-friendly tourism is concerned. Wheelchair users can find more and more suitable offers for both accommodation and leisure activities: There are wheelchair-accessible facilities in holiday homes, hotels and on camping sites. Also, restaurants and cafés are being modified in an increasing number in order to become more wheelchair-friendly. Touristy establishments like museums, galleries, parks and zoos as well as exhibitions, public swimming pools and public building in general are equipped with wheelchair-usable interior designs which enable people with and without a reduced mobility to come and visit them.
Public buildings, accommodation providers, pavements and streets and public transport have not been fully converted to being wheelchair-usable as of yet.
This is aggravated by the fact that there is no coherent standard for labelling the various facilities as wheelchair-friendly. Pictograms which are being used for marking a facility as being wheelchair-accessible sometimes differ from the ones used by the German tourism board and the DEHOGA (the German hotel and restaurant association)

Wheelchair-accessible vacation abroad

Due to the „Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities“ which has been released by the United Nations on May 3rd 2008, the offers for people with a handicap and persons with a reduced mobility have become increasingly attractive abroad. 153 states have signed this convention and the supplementary protocol has been signed by 90 states until June 2011. From the EU alone, 14 out of 21 countries which have signed the convention have opted for the commencement of the act. However the standards of the several countries have not brought down to a common denominator yet, plenty of efforts have been made to establish wheelchair-usable touristy offers. Resorts, hotels and landlords of holiday apartments provide wheelchair-accessible accommodations of various kinds. However it should be mentioned that a wheelchair-friendly accommodation does not necessarily mean that it can be reached barrier-free. Same goes for leisure activities; thus checking the range of offers carefully is highly recommended and double-checking with the promoter or provider might be a good idea as well.

Wheelchair vacation – relaxing, full of activities or adventurous?

Believe it or not - wheelchair vacation with relaxing in a wellness and spa hotel, full of action and sports, hiking, diving or playing golf as well as going on an adventurous safari – everything is possible. Some tour operators have specialised on vacations for wheelchair users, hence you can choose from a variety of offers. Appropriate equipment, trained staff and destinations providing a unique landscape contribute to a successful Wheelchair vacation in every sense of the word. Our main target is to present as much specialised travel agents and tour operators for extraordinary vacation alternatives as possible.

Services and assistance when going on a Wheelchair vacation

Wheelchair users who will need assistance during their holidays can book said help with their travel agent. The duration and time for the assistance possible vary from a few hours a day, a few days or up to the whole vacation time. Depending on the effort the required service has to be booked in advance and prior to departure or can optionally be booked on site. According to the service required trained staff and nursing personnel are on hand as attendants for the guests during their wheelchair vacation. On our webpage wato.de we present agencies and intermediaries for various kinds of assistance and services.

Dear Readers,
you got a company or enterprise matching the topic of »Wheelchair vacation« and would like to be included in our listing? If so, please get in touch with our editorial team via e-mail (info@wato.de) or by using the contact form displayed on our website. We look forward to hearing from you!