A short film hoping to bring attention to the need for accessible and inclusive travel opportunities, titled Adventure is for All, has won the Adventure in Motion 2018 film contest.
Film submissions had to meet the brief of ‘inspir[ing] viewers to experience adventure travel’. Finalists for the annual competition hosted by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) met last week in the Tuscan region of Montecatini Terme, Italy at the Adventure Travel World Summit. The winning entry comes from adventure tourism company EcoCamp Patagonia, an eco-friendly hotel in Chile that felt that more needed to be done to accommodate travellers with impaired mobility.
French-born director and EcoCamp Community Manager Timothy Dhalleine believes in responsible tourism and says, ‘You may think if people tell you you’re disabled […] you’re not able, but it’s not true anymore. It demonstrates that humans can have a sense of empathy and dedication to helping one another’.
The film, which is just under five minutes, features footage of Álvaro Silberstein, the first person in a wheelchair to hike the famous W Trek at the Torres del Paine National Park, in 2016. Silberstein, a Chilean engineer and lover of the outdoors who was left paralysed after a car accident at the age of 18, tackled the Patagonian trails with the help of a special wheelchair custom-designed for handling the Torres del Paine terrain. After his trek, he left his wheelchair at the EcoCamp so that others who aren’t able to hike the trail could embark on their own adventures. The film demonstrates how lives can be changed and barriers knocked down when a community comes together.
Partners with Wheel the World, Silberstein’s ability-centred initiative, EcoCamp hopes to inspire not only those who feel limited by their disabilities, but affect change as per the barriers to inclusive travel identified in a World Health Organization report, namely lack of accessibility, services and involvement.
Time Magazine‘s World’s Greatest Place of 2018, EcoCamp Patagonia hosts adventurous travellers of all abilities.
‘Anyone can reach any place,’ Dhalleine says, ‘even at the world’s end.’
Featured image supplied by Cascada Expediciones.
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