Calpe Town Council plans to purchase adapted vehicles and equipment that will allow people with some kind of functional diversity to improve their experience when visiting the municipality. With this, it intends to make progress in its bid to become an inclusive tourist destination.
Specifically, four adapted vehicles are to be acquired: on the one hand, an all-terrain Joëlette chair that will allow its occupants to go hiking or for family outings in places inaccessible with conventional wheelchairs; on the other, an electric OPair bicycle, which is a bicycle with a built-in wheelchair, as well as two tandem bicycles that offer the possibility of enjoying cycling in pairs, allowing a person with reduced mobility to share the experience of pedalling with a companion.
In addition to these vehicles, two amphibious chairs and ten packs of amphibious crutches will also be purchased to improve accessibility on the beaches. The amphibious chairs allow users with reduced mobility to enjoy the experience of bathing in the sea (or in the pool) and at the same time facilitate their movement on the sand. And the crutches are characterised by a larger contact surface that prevents them from digging into the sand, as well as greater buoyancy and adequate support that facilitates entry and exit from the water.
With all this, Calpe aims to improve and expand the offer of inclusive and accessible tourism in the town. The project is part of the Tourism Sustainability Plan for Destinations (PSTD) with the support of the Valencian Regional Ministry of Tourism - Turisme Comunitat Valenciana - and the Secretary of State for Tourism in the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (in Spanish: PRTR) financed by the European Union - Next Generation.
The PSTD of Calpe establishes the need to make progress in the elimination of physical barriers in the town, which prevent or hinder people with disabilities from enjoying the tourist destination or any of the products and services. In fact, Calpe has a plan specifically aimed at accessibility: the Strategic Plan for Accessible Tourism. A line of work also contemplated in the Calpe Strategic Tourism Plan 2020 - 2030 as well as in the Calpe DTI Master Plan.
The purchase of these vehicles and equipment for people with functional diversity is currently under tender and has a base budget of 30,000 euros. Once this material has been supplied to the Town Hall, the tourist offices will make these adapted vehicles available to citizens who request them, while the amphibious chairs and crutches will be available at the adapted beach points.
This is the first action launched by the City Council as part of a wider project to consolidate inclusive tourism as part of the Tourism Sustainability Plan for Destinations. The project also includes carrying out annual awareness-raising and training campaigns aimed at all tourism stakeholders and citizens, as well as the installation of a lift in the Museu de la Senyoreta among other actions.
‘One of the strategic objectives of the Department of Tourism is to position itself as an inclusive destination, open to all visitors, so that anyone, regardless of their disability, can enjoy the places and tourist resources that Calpe has to offer,’ said the Councillor for Tourism Planning, Mireia Ripoll.