The United Nations' ESCAP acknowledges that travel opportunities should be available to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. Those who specialize in handicapped tourism focus on eliminating obstacles preventing these individuals from taking advantage of such opportunities.
Common obstacles to traveling with disabilities include inadequate transportation and inaccessible tourist sites. Accommodations needed to overcome these obstacles vary based on the disability. For instance, a person in a wheelchair may need a wheelchair accessible van to get around, while a person with a visual impairment might require the company of a seeing-eye dog.
Another problem sometimes encountered by individuals traveling with disabilities is poor customer service. Improving customer service with regard to handicapped tourism may involve sensitivity training. An important part of such training is teaching employees to avoiding using words perceived as crude, like "cripple" and "retarded."
Words like "restricted" and "confined" are other terms it can be best to avoid when discussing handicapped tourism with travelers. For example, saying someone is restricted to a wheelchair misrepresents the use of the wheelchair. In fact, the wheelchair enables a person to do more than he ordinarily would be able to do. Focus on the possibilities of a travel experience, rather than the limitations.
