Accessible Tourism

People like to escape. They like to “pick up” for a week or 2 a year and travel to exotic destinations; have adventures and “fall in love” with life, the universe and everything that exists. Foreign nationals come here and we become foreign nationals in their countries. If the potential tourist has a disability, the adventure starts long before someone says “Lets Go!”
There are various methods of travel available. One can travel in a private vehicle, on public or private bus tours, ships, by train or airplane. Often a person uses a combination of methods to enhance their adventure. For each of the methods, the person with a disability must examine the service to make sure needed mobility equipment or aids will not become a challenge.
Will the ride accept companion animals and caregivers? Where will the person stay on layovers along the trip, when the person arrives at the destination? All these questions and more must be dealt with before the person affected with a disability can depart. Canada is concerned about these questions and has tasked the “Canadian Transportation Agency” (CTA) with solving public transport challenges like these.
The CTA is working to make it easier for persons with disabilities to travel in Canada. Under the “Canada Transportation Act”, the CTA has the power to remove "undue obstacles" from the federally-regulated transportation systems. This means that the mobility of persons with disabilities should not be restricted by unnecessary or unjustified barriers to travel. The CTA is an independent federal agency responsible for dispute resolution and economic regulation in the Canadian transportation Industry.
This ensures that travel through Canada is regulated and barriers are removed, however many vacationers travel outside of our country. Other nations have different laws concerning accessibility and it is best to check online to help make travel choices.
Many people have commented on places you would like to explore and have first hand information on your destination of choice. http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/travel/disability/index.shtml is one such website; Google has around 2,500,000 websites with varying levels of accurate information when you search for “International travel with a disability”. Have a happy and safe vacation by being aware of everything before you depart.