How Visit Mesa’s Accessibility Outreach Became the Catalyst for Culture Change

TravelAbility recently sat down with Alison Brooks, Director of Destination Experience & Advocacy at Visit Mesa, to discover more about Mesa as the first autism-friendly city in the U.S. The advancement in disability inclusion that Allison has brought to Visit Mesa and the community is serves are an example for other CVBs to follow.

Many families with autism are hesitant to travel. How comfortable do you think they would be in Mesa and why?

Alison: Families should feel very comfortable to come to our city. Autism was the starting point for everything that we’ve been doing. Visit Mesa, along with 60 local businesses and over 4000 people are autism certified, so families with an autistic member will feel welcomed here, safe, and comfortable. When planning a visit, people can go to our website and access all the information they might need: how do I get from here to there, or what places are autism certified, etc. Our virtual tours allow people to get that feeling of a place, to know before they go.

What are the some of the on-demand resources available in Mesa? 

Alison: The hidden disability sunflower program uses a bright green lanyard, which people can get at major hotels and attractions. It identifies the wearer as having a hidden disability, and might need extra time, patience, or care. We also have aira, which is a visual interpreter app for people with low vision or blindness. The app helps them if they have questions as they move about the city; they can get live help and answers through it. We just signed a contract with Able Eyes. Many local businesses have a sticker with a QR code on their exterior, when scanned, people can access a virtual tour of that business. We offer those videos on our website too. Also, any certified autism centers (CAC’s) have sensory guides, which indicate if the place will be loud, or have a lot of lights or other stimuli.

That’s a lot of robust assets. How did that all come about and how did you get approvals to do that with your stakeholders?

Alison: Well, it’s not just the right thing to do to make sure that people feel welcomed, but it’s a good business decision. Everyone wants to travel and explore but some people need a bit of extra assistance. I also want to note that our tagline is city limitless. Mesa is a big city, but there’s a lot to do just outside of our borders, so we also market outer destinations—lakes, beautiful trails, and all of these cool things to do. We want you to feel limitless here. People with disabilities should be able to do all those same things. It should be a level playing field as much as we can make it. 

How did you uncover all these accessible features from your different attractions? And how do you promote this great supply of accessibility to families with autism? 

Alison: We reached out and found that a lot was already in place, especially with attractions like museums, so it was easy to gather that info, with a bit of time and some pushing. It’s been great that all of those we’ve partnered with promote us on their platforms. We also work with influencers—some of them have very dedicated followings. 

You’ve sort of become America’s most accessible city, and you’ve changed the culture through this process. Plus, you wove accessibility into Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), which is kind of where it belongs, because it’s all about being inclusive for everyone. Why is this important to Mesa?

Alison: DE&I is a hot topic. Everybody wants to travel, be included, and feel welcomed. So, when we asked a partner to become autism certified, we highlighted that it would help demonstrate their commitment to being inclusive and support our mission of “City Limitless.”

That culture change happened through your training of all these 4000 people around autism and the awareness you’ve created. And the byproduct is that you’ve changed the culture of the destination. How does that feel?

Alison: It feels incredible. The pride coming from residents is almost overwhelming. I’m sure people were thinking about inclusivity before we began, but it’s nice to be the catalyst for that. I think about the memories that are being created. I couldn’t tell you what gift I gave my kids for their last birthdays. But I can tell you about every vacation we took together, the feelings we had, and all those memories we created. To be able to facilitate that for someone else—someone who may have thought they couldn’t travel—that’s everything.