Tour de Sens: Blind and sighted people go on discovery tours together

How does Italy taste? How does France smell? What do rainforests feel like? A vacation for almost all the senses – this is how one might describe the concept of Tour de Sens. People with and without visual impairment travel and explore foreign countries together. The different types of perception is a win for both sides.

Laura Kutter and her sister founded Tour de Sens in 2011. Since 2014, she has been the sole managing director of Tour de Sens. In an interview with REHACARE.com, she explained the inclusive concept of Tour de Sens and described how guests with visual impairment are supported during their travels by their sighted companions.

Ms. Kutter, how did you come up with the idea for Tour de Sens?

Laura Kutter: I have worked in the tourism industry and had blind friends with whom we often did things together. And since I always wanted to go into business for myself as a tour operator, both aspects gave me the idea of offering travel geared specifically toward visually impaired people. Just as important was our close contact with the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired here in Stuttgart. The club members really liked our idea and immediately started to support us by providing information. Oftentimes, we accompanied tours the Association had organized as companions. In doing so, we realized that it is very interesting for someone, who is able to see to travel with a blind person. And this actually gave way to the second part of the idea: to offer trips not just specifically for blind and visually impaired people, but also for people, who are able to see.

What is the objective of Tour de Sens?

Kutter: Right from the start, our actual goal was to team up blind and visually impaired people with sighted people and do so in the most natural way possible. After all, both parties often only have limited contact with each other in everyday life. Our trips are a chance to change that and overcome potential reservations on both sides.

So you might say that we want to both overcome obstacles in people’s minds and overcome concrete obstacles during the actual trips.

What makes these tours so special?

Kutter: Our program appeals to all the senses, though least of all the sense of sight. Our tours focus on taste, for example, while walking through a market and trying the different, sometimes exotic fruits. In addition, all tours include a lot of tactile sensations. We try to organize tours where people can touch artwork for example. In cities, we also look for architectural details typical of a country or region that our guests are able to touch. For example, Portugal has amazing door knockers. Smell also plays an important role in our travels. We visit herb farms or rose distilleries in Bulgaria for instance, where guests can smell different products.

Generally, we are out in nature a lot. Our cultural trips also include excursions into nature because there are far more impressions you can gain here – even if you are unable to see. We study the plants, whose leaves we can touch or explore the stones or shells on the beach.

What are the benefits for travelers, who are able to see on your trips?

Kutter: Our sighted guests benefit from the fact that this is an entirely different way to travel the world. The main focus is on all the other senses. By supporting or spending time with a blind guest during the trip – meaning, to help guide these travelers and move about – you also have to describe exactly what you see more often. And to be able to describe things, you have to take a much closer look. Many of our sighted guests attest that they perceive everything more acutely and that they pay more attention.

Our sighted guests also appreciate that a large percentage of our travel program includes visits of initiatives and facilitates encounters with local people. This is always interesting – regardless of whether you are able to see or not. It’s simply wonderful to visit an orange farmer or a school in Costa Rica and the pupils take you on a tour through the rainforest.

Another criterion is the cost. Sighted guests are traveling at a slightly reduced rate because they are actively involved in the trip. Having said that, people should be aware of the fact that blind people are certainly very independent. That is also why the primary focus is to help them navigate during the program. That means, they link arms with the sighted guests or are warned when there are steps or stairs in their way.

How do travelers with visual impairments benefit?

Kutter: Obviously, the customized program is already a positive experience. Yet something that is far more important for some travelers: blind guests can register to travel alone – and don’t have to rely on a companion, family member or friend to come along. We provide a companion for them. We change companions daily for our guests. In other words, a sighted person is not in charge of the same visually impaired person for an entire week. That way, everybody gets to know everyone fairly quickly, creating a very friendly ambiance. There is always a lot of communication in our groups.

Why is it so important to you to bring people with and without disabilities together?

Kutter: People in our society typically have little contact and know very little about this type of disability. Once people have traveled with us, they simply approach this subject very differently.

Something that also encourages us to continue is when people stay in touch and blind and sighted guests live in the same area and subsequently occasionally meet on the weekend and ride a tandem together or something like that. The beauty of all this is that we are thereby making a social contribution at the same time.

How do your tours foster inclusion?

Kutter: Inclusion actually means for people with and without disabilities to interact with each other in the most natural way possible. Natural interaction means that this is not just about overcoming and reducing physical barriers but the fact that everyone benefits – and in the case of travel, to just have fun in natural ways. The impairments of individual persons only play a minor role in all this. The main focus is on the shared experience and on having fun.