00:00With her granddaughter on her lap, Monique enjoys a trip to the North Sea in a beach wheelchair.
00:07In Belgium, eight beaches are accessible to people with reduced mobility, such as here in Ostend.
00:14I always wanted to move my eyes and the sea in.
00:18I couldn't do that.
00:19Then they found it out.
00:21I loved it.
00:22I was totally tired when I came out.
00:25It was wonderful.
00:27The children also saw it.
00:32The Flemish agency Inter launched the Sunsea Carefree Program in 2006 to make the Belgian coast accessible to all.
00:40Its founder emphasizes two essential elements, providing adapted infrastructure and equipment, but also assistance.
00:48There is an accessible environment that's important, with also facilities like beach wheelchairs,
00:54but also about a parking place that is accessible and nearby, a tram stop that is accessible and nearby.
01:01We have changing places, accessible toilets, showers, those things that everyone needs when they go to the beach.
01:11But the environment is important, but also the assistance.
01:15If necessary, assistance can push users into the sand and accompany them while they swim.
01:20We also assist, go with the people that never, also never been to the sea.
01:27Inside we go, the yellow thing is like a floating device and then we assist them and then we go with the waves a little bit and it's really fun.
01:38This service, which is completely free for users, is mainly funded by the municipalities.
01:43Accessibility to the seaside is a public service for everyone and a tourist asset, according to the city councilor from Ostend.
01:51This summer, we have 372 unique people who use this feature, this possibility here in Ostend.
01:59And as we've seen in the numbers, only 100 are coming from Ostend or Flanders.
02:06So the majority is from outside of this city, so I think it's very important for our tourism.
02:12Other solutions exist in Europe.
02:14On certain parts of the Greek, Italian and Cypriot coasts, users can swim independently thanks to automated sea track walkways.
02:22In France, the handy plage label lists beaches that are accessible to people with reduced mobility.
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