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Access all areas this summer: Beach ramps, pool hoists, off-road wheelchairs – there’s a

admin — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 00:27:15 +0000

A long-overdue mix of innovations, inventions and improvements are set to transform holiday options for disabled travellers this summer.

Better still, it’s not just planes, trains and (off-road) automobiles promising easier access and more comfortable journeys.

Hotels, beach resorts and cruise ships are also unveiling radical changes as travel bosses wake up to the size of the disabled travel market.

‘A lot of challenges remain for disabled people and their families, but the travel industry is moving in the right direction. The world is slowly opening up to everyone,’ says Angus Drummond, of Limitless Travel, which specialises in disability-friendly and accessible holidays.

BEST FOR BEACHES

Helping hand: Travel companies are making holidays more accessible, comfortable and enjoyable for disabled tourists. In Greece, new wooden decks help disabled visitors avoid the ‘sand trap’ of rolling wheelchairs across a beach

Greece is leading the way with a clever scheme to help wheelchair users reach and swim in the sea. New wooden decks help disabled visitors avoid the ‘sand trap’ of rolling wheelchairs across a beach, while at the deck’s edge, solar-powered seats lower users into waist-high waters.

Tobea, the local company behind the scheme, has already installed more than 200 of its Seatrac chairs in Greek resorts and is expanding into Italy and Cyprus this summer. Spain, Croatia and the Caribbean are next on the list. There’s a directory of locations at seatrac.gr.

Sand traps have also been smoothed out at a series of Inclusive Beaches in Northern Ireland.

The Mae Murray Foundation, a charity, ensures the beaches have disabled access and parking, toilets with hoists and adult-sized changing benches plus wet suits and equipment to rent including new sit-down surf boards, floating chairs and thick-wheeled beach walkers. Check the facilities at maemurrayfoundation.org.

IN THE SKY

These renderings show Delta Air Lines’ new seat for passengers with wheelchairs. Its introduction means travellers won’t have to check their own chairs into the hold, get on board in a narrow ‘aisle chair’ and slide into an ordinary seat for the flight

A new airline seat is planned by Delta Airlines that will allow passengers to stay in their own wheelchairs on board.

When installed, the back cushions of an economy seat near an exit and toilet are removed and the lower part flipped up to create space for a chair.

It means travellers won’t have to check their own chairs into the hold, get on board in a narrow ‘aisle chair’ and slide into an ordinary seat for the flight. Safety testing means the new cabin’s first flight is around 18 months away — but the good news is that Delta’s design partner plans to licence it to other airlines in the meantime.

Another innovation is on the horizon in Germany. Revolve Air is a foldable chair for travellers (described as the Brompton bike of wheelchairs). Even the wheels fold small enough to fit into a plane’s overhead locker, with production due to begin this winter.

ON SAFARI

New accessible vehicles with ramps for powered wheelchairs are opening up the game reserves of South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia for trips with 2by2 Holidays, where experienced staff have been offering disabled-friendly holidays for more than two decades.

Holidaymakers who travel in manual wheelchairs and can transfer into the front seat of a 4×4 safari vehicle can also look at the company’s safaris in Botswana and tours to the Victoria Falls.

At each destination a tailor-made mix of accessible hotels and lodges are on offer while airport assistance and accessible transfer vehicles can be booked alongside flights.

Holidays include a seven-night wheelchair-friendly break in Cape Town and the winelands of Stellenbosch from £1,995 pp plus flights (2by2holidays.co.uk).

PARK LIFE

Some of America’s most rugged landscapes are more accessible this year as all-weather, off-road wheelchairs are ready to rent from the visitor centres of beauty spots from Colorado to Lake Michigan. Described as ‘the Land Rover of wheelchairs’ the Minnesota-built Action Trackchair can tackle modest slopes while moving safely over rocks, tree roots, streams and sand.

America can be particularly friendly to disabled travellers and villas with fully-adapted bed and bathrooms can be good accommodation choices.

Four-bed villas near the theme parks of Florida with outdoor ramps, hospital-quality beds plus overhead gantry hoists in main bedrooms and hoists by a private pool can be rented from £2,100 per week. Compare villa choices at enableholidays.com and disabledholidays.com.

ON THE HIGH SEAS

‘A lot of challenges remain for disabled people and their families, but the travel industry is moving in the right direction,’ says Angus Drummond, of Limitless Travel, which specialises in disability-friendly and accessible holidays

Exhilarating attractions will be accessible to all when Sun Princess begins its inaugural Mediterranean cruises in February. Clever modifications mean thrill-seeking disabled guests can try the top-deck Rollglider, a cross between a rollercoaster and hang-glider.

Passengers also get a choice of wheelchair-friendly cabins with roll-in showers, accessible desks and easy-access, pull-down rails in the wardrobes.

Chair hoists on the pools and whirlpools of P&O ships help every guest enjoy the water on board, while cruises with UK departures remove the stress of taking wheelchairs through airports. A no-fly, 14-night and fully accessible Mediterranean cruise on P&O’s Arvia with specialist staff on hand from Limitless Travel starts at £4,059 pp (limitlesstravel.org).

While raised door thresholds can be a problem in some corridors, the fact that decks are all served by lifts makes ocean cruises a good choice for many wheelchair users. Equipment unavailable in cabins can be hired from Mobility At Sea and other firms (mobilityatsea.co.uk).

PERFECT PACKAGES

This summer Tui is teaming up with research group AccessAble to ensure travellers know exactly what to expect on their journeys and at their destination. AccessAble staff have been carrying out in-person examinations of hotels, attractions, restaurants, pubs, stations and more in the UK for years.

Its expansion overseas will include a similar treasure trove of facts, figures and photographs of everything from steps to showers in holiday resorts.

Tui also employs an in-house Assisted Travel Team who can ensure customers with visible or non-visible disabilities have smooth journeys (including vital but easy to overlook transfers) and the most suitable hotel rooms and in-resort support.

ACCESSIBLE ROOMS

In Britain, the Bespoke Hotel chain is taking a fresh approach to accessibility by seeking interior design advice from the Blue Badge Style group.

The aim is to ensure accessible rooms are as chic as every other. Bespoke has also created an Accessibility Charter for its properties to ensure staff know how to help guests with special needs (bespokehotels.com).

World’s shark attack hotspots REVEALED: Map reveals the areas with the most encounters

admin — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 01:56:08 +0000

World’s shark attack hotspots REVEALED: Interactive map reveals the areas with the most encounters – so have any occurred in waters near YOUR home?

The US and Australia are prime hotspots for vicious shark incidents
Florida is the shark bite capital of the world after 16 attacks took place in 2022
These stats come as Vladimir Popov was brutally killed by a shark in Egypt

By Fiona Jackson and Lauren Haughey

Updated: 15:00 EDT, 23 June 2023

Florida is the shark bite capital of the world after 16 unprovoked attacks were reported there last year, a shocking map has shown.

The International Shark Attack file has shared an interactive map on its website, pinpointing global incidents from as early as 1900.

Australia and the US are prime hotspots for vicious shark incidents, the data has shown, with 50 taking place there in 2022.

This accounts for 87 per cent of last year’s shark attacks across the globe, with five of these proving fatal for the victims.

But you may be surprised to know these figures actually show a ten-year low for shark attacks, with 73 occurring the previous year, killing nine.

Research shows that the US and Australia are prime hotspots for vicious shark incidents

While unprovoked shark attacks are extremely rare in British waters, they’re much more common in other parts of the world. Pictured: a great white shark

NUMBER OF UNPROVOKED BITES IN 2022

Florida, US – 16

Australia – 9

New York, US – 8

South Africa – 2

Egypt – 2

Brazil – 1

New Zealand – 1

Thailand – 1

‘Generally speaking, the number of sharks in the world’s oceans has decreased, which may have contributed to recent lulls,’ said Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Florida Program for Shark Research.

‘It’s likely that fatalities are down because some areas have recently implemented rigorous beach safety protocols, especially in Australia.’

According to the researchers, there is a one in 4,332,817 chance of an individual dying as a result of a shark attack in their lifetime.

While unprovoked shark attacks are extremely rare worldwide – especially in the UK – they tend to be more common in certain locations.

The International Shark Attack File shows that 40 per cent of US victims were just ‘walking, wading or swimming’ at the time of the incident.

Another 32 per cent were doing some kind of watersport, while 12 per cent were snorkeling or freediving.

Even still, the data does not account for attacks that may have been motivated by human action, either intentionally or unintentionally.

This could include casting a fishing line directly in the shark’s vicinity, or dumping ‘chum’ – meat-based bait – into the water.

Though, there were another 32 bites reported which fit the criteria for being provoked.

Florida is the shark bite capital of the world after 16 attacks took place in 2022

The Florida Museum has produced a handy interactive map based on data from The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) that lets you explore the number of unprovoked shark attacks around the world since 1900

Last year’s figures actually show a ten-year low for shark attacks, researchers claim

Dr Naylor added: ‘Unprovoked bites give us significantly more insight into the biology and behaviour of sharks.

‘Changing the environment such that sharks are drawn to the area in search of their natural food source might prompt them to bite humans when they otherwise wouldn’t.’

Two attacks are also understood to have occurred in Egypt last year, but the International Shark Attack File has not yet published its data for 2023.

This means that Vladimir Popov’s death earlier this month is not included in the statistics.

The 23-year-old was brutally killed by a shark at the Hurghada resort in Egypt on June 13.

His distraught father, Yury Popov, told of his horror while watching his son be pulled apart by the ‘meat grinder’ as he screamed out: ‘Papa, save me!’

To keep safe from shark attacks, the Florida Museum urges swimmers to stay close to the shore and avoid waters at dawn or dusk.

Excessive splashing, swimming near schools of fish and even wearing excess jewellery can also pose a potential risk.

Sharks found in British waters

Smooth hammerhead shark – North Atlantic off the western tip of Cornwall

Blue shark – 10 miles off the southern coast of Cornwall

Thresher shark – English Channel off the Devon coast

Shortfin mako shark – Bristol Channel and off the coast of Wales

Porbeagle shark – Most common on south coast

Basking shark – Sea of the Hebrides