At Ulm in Germany a 70meter cathedral has been equipped with a lift to the highest level primarily to take tourists with reduced mobility right up to the top, step, by step.

This amply illustrates the tourism industry’s growing global recognition of the disabled as an important consumer group. As on one side a generation of permanently disabled people is getting increased opportunities of equal employment, education and leisure, the needs for disabled tourists are also being taken notice of.

But a lot more needs to be done. There is already an established tourism market for senior citizens. People with disabilities have the same motivation to travel but face many barriers which need to be attended to and removed. So far the need for Accessible tourism for the disabled is recognized mainly by the economically developed countries such as the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore; Australia and New Zealand.

Worldwide there are 650 million people with disabilities who face travel barriers such as transport difficulties, inadequate services, inaccessible destinations and shortage of people willing to help. Other problems include boarding airplanes, finding buses, taxis, hotel rooms and restaurants.