Published Friday, March 12, 2021

According to Lonely Planet’s “Best in Travel 2021,” Costa Rica is their favorite wheelchair-accessible travel destination. Costa Rica has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Travelers can choose from many different accessible activities, from ziplining to adaptive surfing, and a variety of its parks and beaches offer accessible pathways. Its anti-discrimination laws and commitment to tourism make it a welcoming destination for travelers with mobility disabilities.

This honor also has to do with what Lonely Planet describes as Costa Rica’s “strict” accessibility laws. Costa Rica signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007 and ratified the treaty in 2008. Under the Ley de Igualdad de Oportunidades (Law of Equal Opportunities in the English language), no person can be discriminated against because they're disabled if they are as equally capable as another person.

“Around the world, people with disabilities are stripped of their rights and their personal dignity, especially when it comes to travel,” said John Scheman, founder of the Do It Foundation, a Costa Rica charity that provides wheelchairs for people who need them, but can not afford proper mobility equipment. “There are a variety of temporary covid-19 health policies from airlines, restaurants, and hotels that can interfere with the rights of the physically disabled while traveling. We are happy to see that local governments and businesses are now responding to the needs of people with mobility disabilities.”

Several covid-19 health policies were hastily implemented without proper consideration for the human rights of the disabled. Last year, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines implemented a zero-tolerance policy to refuse travel for passengers who were unable to wear a mask, even if they had a verifiable medical condition that would make wearing a mask a considerable health risk. Fortunately, as of February 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Transportation now require airlines to waive the face mask requirement for qualified disabled people.

“The covid-19 pandemic is intensifying inequalities experienced by the world’s one billion people with disabilities,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a May 2020 report on disability-inclusive recovery and response to the pandemic crisis.


These inequalities are especially apparent now, but things appear to quickly be getting better. According to the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo, ICT,  Costa Rican Tourism Board, travel to Costa Rica fell by 68% in 2020 due to travel restrictions brought on by the covid-19 pandemic. Many people now expect a surge in international travel in 2021 once covid-19 vaccines are more available and economies rebound. The International Air Transport Association, IATA, expects international travel to expand by 50% over 2020’s travel numbers.

Travel agencies that cater to the needs of the mobility-disabled have seen a huge decline, but they are hopeful that travel will soon return to Costa Rica. “The pandemic has been difficult for everyone, especially for people with mobility disabilities. Staying isolated and not going out like normal for a year or more can really affect someone’s well-being. Surveys have shown that people are extremely motivated to travel when the risk of the pandemic is over,” Bailey Letson, Content Manager for GoWheelTheWorld.com said. “Our focus is accessible travel, so we are preparing different destinations by mapping and verifying the accessibility of their tourism services. We then offer that detailed information on our website, so that when people book an accessible experience they will know exactly what they’re getting.”

Tourism is expected to increase significantly and it’s quite an honor for Costa Rica to be named Lonely Planet’s best wheelchair-accessible travel destination for 2021. Hopefully, businesses and local governments will continue to work towards creating a more equally accessible life for all tourists and residents as we go forward through this pandemic together.

If you are interested in supporting the work of the Do It Foundation, donating, or requesting a wheelchair, you can call 2667-0906 or 2667-0912, or by WhatsApp at 8609-8021. You can also visit the Do It Foundation website.

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