We had the good fortune of connecting with Sonia Groot and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sonia, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
With GrootTravels I am changing the normal travel industry to a accessible travel industry. Just in Germany 37% of the people that have a disability decides not to travel because the accessibility is either not there or it’s too much stress to book a vacation. One-fifth of the population in Europe has a form of disability by 2020 That is one-fifth of 747 million. And in 2018 Europe was making a loss of 142 billion euros per year because the travel industry is not accessible enough. I think with these numbers it’s pretty clear that there is a huge gap between travel and accessible travel. One of the steps to a more accessible world is information. A clear overview of accessible information. GrootTravels helps people with physical disabilities to see the world by giving the up to date accessible information of a hotel. With our booking platform we want to give these people a overview of the accessibility amenities in a hotel so that they can decide if a hotel is accessible enough for them.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
GrootTravels helps people with physical disabilities to see the world. This business stands close to me because my mom; Sheila has a physical disability. She was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis) when she was in her 20’s. She went from not being able to walk to walking again and now she uses a mobility scooter to get around. As her daughter and sometimes care taker it’s really frustrating to see that this world is not made accessible for her. I think she deserves better. Also my dad deserves a stress free vacation experience. For example; We went to London for a vacation, and when arriving at the hotel we noticed that the elevator was very small. Just big enough for my mom but not really comfortable. After that we found out that the ‘wheelchair accessible’ hotel room had a bath in their bathroom. My mom cannot use a bath because she it not able to step into the bath or out. which means she was not able to bath herself for an entire week. This does not only put a strain on my mom but also on my dad because now he has to think of ways to help her wash herself instead of having her to it independently. I think my experience with my mom and dad sets me apart from all the other travel businesses out there, and also me as a founder. I believe in transparency, honesty and clarity. I don’t have to decide when a accommodation is accessible to anyone. They are very capable of deciding that for themselves when given all the information they need to make a decision. My business and personal growth is thanks to the people that I surround myself with. They are honest to me and want to help me become a success. I don’t believe a entrepreneur is a lone journey. You just have to find the right people that understand that journey and want to help you along. Covid at the moment is one of my biggest challenges. I tried to find a creative way to still be active with GrootTravels but it can be really hard sometime. It also makes me doubt if I’ve chosen the right industry or that maybe I should change my business. But my mentor said that I need to stay on this track because eventually Covid will end, and when it does, my business will be in high demand. I believe what he is saying but it’s definitely hard to stay motivated when you cannot really see any progress. I always talk to my personal coach to tackle these doubts. Doubting is okay, but isn’t hold you back! The world needs to understand how important inclusivity, representation and accessibility is. We have to do it together to make this a better world

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of my good friends visited me in Amsterdam. This was her first time in Europe so everything was new to her. I took her for a canal ride, showed her around by foot. I believe you see more when you walk than using one of those tourist busses. I had her eat all the dutch food I could find! Food is an important aspect of culture and it always has a story to tell. When I have friends over I always go for the cultural things because it’s fun and you learn something new about someones else’s culture

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shoutout to Global School of Entrepreneurship, because of this school I am able to develop as an person and as entrepreneur.

Website: GrootTravels.com

Instagram: instagram.com/GrootTravels

Linkedin: linkedin.com/soniagroot

Twitter: twitter.com/groottravels

Facebook: facebook.com/groottravels

Other: Clubhouse – Sonia Groot ( I do talks on club house about travel)

Image Credits
Griffin Dettmer Founder of Episch.io

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