[attach id=243637 size="medium"]Wings on Wheels director Jean Burdett, centre, with two of her fellow travellers. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli[/attach]

At a hotel reception, a small group of British tourists chatted over coffee with their tour leader.

But they were not run-of-the-mill tourists; they all had special needs and were in Malta on a tour organised by a UK operator that specialises in holidays for people with disabilities.

It was the second visit for Jean Burdett, director of Wings on Wheels, which operates small, escorted, group holidays around the world for people with special needs and the less mobile.

“On the whole, Malta is quite well geared up for disabled tourism,” she said.

The pavements, however, are still a huge difficulty.

“They are not easy to negotiate in a wheelchair because they undulate, are uneven, narrow and often obstructed.”

She also noted that dropped pavements were few.

“Sometimes, there’s only a ridge of concrete against the kerb to form a crude ramp,” she said.

Ms Burdett said shops in Malta were sometimes inaccessible due to steps: “Even if there is a ramp, you have to ask the shopkeeper to get the ramp out – which you cannot do if you are alone in a wheelchair – and also the ramps can be very steep.”

However, she acknowledged that the main tourist attractions were usually good for wheelchair access with special entrances and exits, ramps and toilets for the disabled.

Ms Burdett set up Wings on Wheels 15 years ago, when she kept coming across people with mobility difficulties who did not know where to look for the right sort of transport, accommodation, meals, aids, assistance and excursions when travelling.

Pavements are not easy to negotiate in a wheelchair because they undulate, are uneven, narrow and often obstructed

“That little bit of extra support can open up a whole new world of possibilities,” she said.

Ms Burdett has organised holidays for the disabled in the UK, Europe, Egypt, New Zealand and Ecuador and says that some countries are more “disabled-friendly than others”.

How did Malta fare?

“It’s quite good for disabled visitors but I feel that things could be made better and easier for wheelchair users, especially those wheeling themselves around,” she said.

It would be nice if people could get around without needing others to assist them

She commended the Maltese people for their friendliness and eagerness to help out but said that “it would be nice if people could get around without needing people to assist them”.

She believes Malta’s tourist industry needs to seriously consider the purchase of coaches with lifts and tie downs for wheelchairs, especially as winter tourism is reliant on an ageing population and people with reduced mobility.

“The chartered accessible minibus we used was fairly old, very noisy and there was no microphone on board. It is also used for local disabled people in groups to get around. The minibuses are not really geared up for tourist travel,” she noted.

Several hotels have rooms accessible to guests in wheelchairs, however, not all of them are equipped with roll-in showers or twin beds, which many disabled people require if they are staying with their carer.

“Therefore, before we come here we need to do our homework well to make sure we are booking the right facilities for our clients’ needs,” she explained.

The Malta Tourism Authority recently launched an EU-funded project called Accessible Culture For All.

It is a concept that aims to entice the social tourist: elderly tourists and people with disabilities from European countries.

Demographics indicate an ageing population and increasing access needs.

Statistics show that more than eight million citizens in Europe have long-standing health problems and disabilities.

For more information about Wings on Wheels visit http://wingsonwheels.co.uk .

Wings on Wheels travellers’ verdict

• Malta International Airport: easy to get around with an excellent wheelchair assistance service and accessible toilets.

• Valletta: accessible except for the very steep streets; St Johns’ Co-Cathedral is very accessible via ramps and easy to wheel around.

• The Point, Sliema: totally accessible with lifts and disabled toilets and even a lift from the outside area to the promenade.

• Ħaġar Qim Temple: it is by nature an area of uneven, rough ground and difficult to negotiate in a wheelchair, however, once inside the temple, it is level with a boarded pathway. For the future, it would be nice if the wheelchairs could negotiate a flat walkway into the temple too.

• Marsaxlokk: it has a level promenade for people to wheel along, shop keepers/café owners come out to serve you and is a very pleasant place to enjoy.

• Gozo ferry: accessible, you can take a lift from the car deck to the passenger deck where there are accessible toilets and café. When the lifts are out of service, there can be serious health and safety issues as disabled people are then stuck on the car deck.

• Gozo: restaurants are very inaccessible to wheelchairs and most do not have accessible toilets. This can easily be remedied with ramps to get wheelchairs up the kerbs but toilet facilities must be researched prior to the group eating.