Making travel more inclusive and accessible to all

federicofoto via 123RF

With the aim to highlight special needs tours in and around Cape Town, Southern Africa 360 has taken it upon themselves to create a series of custom-made itineraries that include wheelchair friendly and accessible tours.

These tours comprise a nine-day wheelchair accessible Cape highlights tour and a 12-day accessible Cape and safari circular tour, which includes tours in Cape Town, the Garden Route and the Cape Winelands, including a safari at Aquila Private Game Reserve, with a fully-equipped wheelchair friendly game-viewing vehicle, and a malaria-free safari in the Addo Elepant National Park, as well as a farm stay in the Overberg respectively.

Here, Collin Thaver of Southern Africa 360 lets us in why it’s become a necessity to promote these type of tours, especially to the international market, as well as what accessible and disabled friendly travel could mean to the South African market…

What is it that incentivised Southern Africa 360 to create a special needs tour?

We felt that the industry could do more to accommodate travellers with special needs and with South Africa being such a popular destination for families and groups, it was the perfect choice for the first destination for the packages. Planning a holiday can be stressful, this is often amplified when you or someone you are travelling with has a special need. So we put together these packages to try and accommodate these types of clients.

What has been the response from local and international travellers?

The response so far has been extremely positive. Many people have contacted us to enquire more about the tours and we’ve been featured in multiple publications! We hope that this will prompt others in our industry to also work towards creating more inclusive packages.

What are some of the wheelchair tour highlights visitors can expect to look forward to?

Our goal was to create a tour where guests in wheelchairs could experience a place like the Cape the same way an able-bodied traveller could. To that end, a lot of our highlights include major attractions such as Cape Point, Boulders Beach, Robben Island and yes, even Table Mountain! There are also wheelchair friendly game drives that guests will have the opportunity to take.

What is the importance of creating public building and/ or major attractions accessible to everyone?

Public spaces such as major attractions and public buildings were established so that everyone can use them. If we are truly serious about being an inclusive society we need to ensure that these spaces are accessible to not only able-bodied individuals but also those whose are living with disabilities.

How should businesses in SA, especially in the tourism industry, look to approach their offerings with this added benefit?

They should view the inclusion of special needs packages less as a burden and more of an opportunity to not only increase their potential customer base but also be a part of making travel more inclusive and accessible to all. Which at the end of the day is the most important aspect of this entire campaign!