Paratourism the Russian way: people with disabilities have the opportunity to travel

Voyage “not for everyone”

Following the West, where the so-called “paratourism”, separated from the mass tourism product, has existed for a long time, specialized tours for travelers with disabilities have also appeared in Russia.

What conditions and amenities are provided to special tourists and are they ready to embark on such a voyage “not for everyone”?

Now such tours “not for everyone” are already on sale. According to the authors of the excursion program for “low-mobile” travelers, the route is suitable not only for travelers with disabilities, but also for everyone who prefers a “leisurely pace” – elderly people, families with children, and so on.

“It sounds tempting,” 43-year-old Vera, the mother of a 17-year-old teenager with a neurological disability group, answers the question of whether she is ready to go on such a voyage. – Our whole family has been waiting for the appearance of such a tourist product for a very long time. Our Seryozha thinks and studies well, speaks fluent English and plays the piano, but outwardly… Due to a birth injury, his coordination of movements is impaired, he does not walk very well and only slowly. He holds his head slightly to the side, his mouth is slightly open, as breathing is difficult. It is no coincidence that I am describing all this to you. Seryozha is embarrassed by all this, because people who judge him at first glance are sure that he is inferior. And proving to everyone that you are normal is very difficult. And certainly not on vacation. Therefore, we were really looking forward to the tour, so that everyone would be “defective” and no one would stare at anyone. This has been working in Europe and the USA for a long time.

– Well, here we are!

– Well, there’s an immediate glitch here – in that “it’s suitable not only for special tourists, but for everyone.” In our community of parents of children and teenagers with disabilities, we also argued for a long time, but in the end we came to the conclusion that either this is paratourism or tourism for everyone, and mixing one with the other is wrong. My friend and her disabled son live in the USA, and we met on this basis. They’ve already gone through all this. They initially had some people with disabilities and their families insist that the “not for everyone” label on the tour discriminated against those whose health limited their mobility. They demanded mixed tours. This was widely practiced on school and student trips, until the special travelers themselves asked to be allocated to a separate category. Psychologically, they are more comfortable among their own kind. In America, paratourism is even divided into subtypes, based on the types of restrictions. For those who only have limited physical abilities, separately. With restrictions relating to the mental sphere, organs of vision, hearing or internal organs (with heart disease, for example), separately. And that’s reasonable. After all, say, a teenager with a heart defect may look as healthy as an ox, but those around him perceive him this way, and he subconsciously strives to meet their expectations. Sometimes even he honestly forgets that a number of activities for him are literally a risk to his life. And this understanding is sometimes even more important than all the special equipment that is most talked about – from ramps and railings to the rental of strollers, walkers and the presence of a health worker with the group.

In the case of the first Russian “limited” tourism product about “special means”, its authors say that “you can start without them”: “You don’t have to wait for all the necessary roads and ramps to be built, and all hotel rooms to be refurbished to meet the needs of people with disabilities.” limited capabilities. We can and should start small, involve interested people in such projects and be more bold in offering these kinds of tours and excursions.”