Greece aims to be the top country in terms of accessible beaches for disabled persons. The country’s goal is to accommodate a larger number of visitors with physical handicaps or needs.
Currently, more than 250 beaches throughout Greece are accessible to everyone. This means that those with limited mobility and other handicaps or needs, such as the elderly, pregnant women, and people with temporary injuries can access the vast blue waters of the Greek seas.
The Greek Ministry of Tourism has announced access for visitors with disabilities to the sea is a priority. The program “Improving and modifying the accessibility of Greek beaches – Greece 2.0,” funded by the EU Recovery Fund, started the previous year and has thus far been implemented with great success.
The patent machine for people with disabilities
A major necessity for equipping Greek beaches with machines and ramps that make it easy for people on wheelchair to get into the sea is SEATRAC. This is a patented machine developed by students of the University of Patras and is manufactured by TOBEA.
The Greek-patented machine has now been installed in more than 250 accessible beaches for people with disabilities in Greece and is now available in beaches in the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Latvia, Cyprus, Croatia, and Lithuania with more countries to follow.
According to an Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA) report, Persefoni Bertzou, TOBEA Marketing Director, said that Greece has climbed to the top of accessible destinations for the disabled in the world. This is due to the fact that Greeks and foreigners have embraced these devices.
She revealed that, on a daily basis, the company receives requests for information on the beaches but mainly also about the general infrastructure of the area. People are interested in knowing which beaches in Greece have the required infrastructure for people with disabilities.
Glyfada, Kalamata, and Chania have the highest traffic
According to Bertzou, the beaches with the highest demand for access to the beach by persons with disabilities are Glyfada, Kalamata, and Chania, with Glyfada being the star with 8,000 daily calls, followed by Kalamata, and Chania. The users of the SEATRAC machines are in the dozens on a daily basis.
The SEATRAC machines are purchased by municipalities, and for every machine sold, the company gives some of the profits to the University of Patras. More and more local government agencies are looking to install the SEATRAC on their beaches.
“Last year a ramp and a modern facility was installed on one of our most popular and beautiful beaches, Agia Anna,” said the Deputy Mayor for Tourism of the Municipality of Naxos and Small Cyclades, Vangelis Katsaras.
“We are also one of the first municipalities to submit a technical report for three additional ramps for the disabled with a funded program. Travelers with special needs are not an exception but an integral part of us,” he added.
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