Funding to help those with limited mobility to take a holiday

People with limited mobility due to a disability or age often give up on going on holiday, as do people suffering from a serious illness. Tourism minister Ben Weyts has announced an investment of more than €134,000 to lower the threshold for people with such limitations.

Under the initiative dubbed Everyone Deserves a Holiday, Weyts has already invested more than €2 million in specific projects, such as making holiday resorts more family-friendly and improving youth camp facilities. The new funding is earmarked for improving infrastructure and providing care for people who are sick or disabled.

Some €19,000, for instance, is being spent to make 20 holiday lodgings more autism friendly. That means making the atmosphere as stress-free as possible and adjusting communications strategies. More than €20,000 will go to creating an educational packet to help guides learn how to address people with a developmental disability.

Another €21,000 will go to organising holidays for people who have cancer or a terminal illness. “It’s about investing in initiatives that aren’t about profit,” said Weyts. “We provide financial support so that the tourism industry is encouraged to make these investments. Then we can offer more people with a certain limitation a fun holiday in their own country.”