<p>The disabled have rarely found travel and tourism seamless. Those much-hyped travel destinations have not made accessibility any better either. It has been a gigantic struggle for the wheelchair-bound, the blind, the deaf and the speech impaired, eager to visit places like any normal person.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A startup, Enable Travel, is now all geared up to change that.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The startup's objective is clear: to help the disabled with "what to see, where to stay, where to eat, and how to get there".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Designed by the disabled for the disabled, Enable Travel has a panel of nine specially able people, who themselves curate the itineraries. "The idea is to help them travel with the same freedom, choice and dignity as able-bodied people," says the startup head, Debolin Sen.</p>.<p class="bodytext">2011 census</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the 2011 census, 27 million Indians are disabled, of whom 20.3% are wheelchair-bound. As many as 18.8% are visually impaired, while 18.9% have hearing impairments. The proportion of those with a speech impairment is 7.5%.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Launched in March 2017, Enable Travel now has 85 tourist destinations - both Indian and international - in its disabled-friendly network. "We have invested in specialised equipment and manpower trained in sign languages for a seamless experience for the disabled," says Sen.</p>.<p class="bodytext">To ferry these tourists, a fleet of wheelchair-accessible vans are stationed in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. "We are also getting more single-wheel hiking chairs to help them negotiate undulating terrains. There are also roller ramps and amphibian wheelchairs that float on water."</p>.<p class="bodytext">So, how far can the disabled tourists go? "We have covered most of the regular Indian tourist circuits, including Delhi-Agra-Jaipur-Jodhpur-Udaipur and Bengaluru-Mysuru-Coorg-Kochi. The Eastern and North Eastern circuits are to be audited. We are also looking at the wildlife destinations in Central India," Sen elaborates.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The startup head himself is a high-altitude Himalayan traveller, having reached the base camps of Mt Kanchenjunga in 2005 and Mt Everest in 2008.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Enable Travel had recently organised Travel Tales in Bengaluru, an event for the disabled and able-bodied to converge and share their travel stories.</p>
<p>The disabled have rarely found travel and tourism seamless. Those much-hyped travel destinations have not made accessibility any better either. It has been a gigantic struggle for the wheelchair-bound, the blind, the deaf and the speech impaired, eager to visit places like any normal person.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A startup, Enable Travel, is now all geared up to change that.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The startup's objective is clear: to help the disabled with "what to see, where to stay, where to eat, and how to get there".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Designed by the disabled for the disabled, Enable Travel has a panel of nine specially able people, who themselves curate the itineraries. "The idea is to help them travel with the same freedom, choice and dignity as able-bodied people," says the startup head, Debolin Sen.</p>.<p class="bodytext">2011 census</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the 2011 census, 27 million Indians are disabled, of whom 20.3% are wheelchair-bound. As many as 18.8% are visually impaired, while 18.9% have hearing impairments. The proportion of those with a speech impairment is 7.5%.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Launched in March 2017, Enable Travel now has 85 tourist destinations - both Indian and international - in its disabled-friendly network. "We have invested in specialised equipment and manpower trained in sign languages for a seamless experience for the disabled," says Sen.</p>.<p class="bodytext">To ferry these tourists, a fleet of wheelchair-accessible vans are stationed in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. "We are also getting more single-wheel hiking chairs to help them negotiate undulating terrains. There are also roller ramps and amphibian wheelchairs that float on water."</p>.<p class="bodytext">So, how far can the disabled tourists go? "We have covered most of the regular Indian tourist circuits, including Delhi-Agra-Jaipur-Jodhpur-Udaipur and Bengaluru-Mysuru-Coorg-Kochi. The Eastern and North Eastern circuits are to be audited. We are also looking at the wildlife destinations in Central India," Sen elaborates.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The startup head himself is a high-altitude Himalayan traveller, having reached the base camps of Mt Kanchenjunga in 2005 and Mt Everest in 2008.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Enable Travel had recently organised Travel Tales in Bengaluru, an event for the disabled and able-bodied to converge and share their travel stories.</p>
