TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Insights from TravelAbility’s Winter Advisory Board Meeting

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This month we’re thrilled to welcome three new members to our Advisory Board:

Megan Kimble smiles in a professional headshot against a textured gray background. She has long light brown hair worn straight and wears a sleeveless patterned top, looking directly at the camera with a friendly expression.

Megan Kimble| United Airlines

As the manager of customer strategy and innovation, Megan is moving United forward towards welcoming all. She’s currently focused primarily on accessibility and wheelchair travel with mobility devices, though she’s learning about what the travel experience looks like across multiple disabilities, and she’s working for better solutions. She’s excited to make travel better for all.

Austin Whitney smiles outdoors while wearing yellow-framed sunglasses and a leopard-print button-down shirt. He has short light pink hair and a beard, standing in front of a white slatted wall in bright sunlight.

Austin Whitney | Accessibility Live

As the founder of Accessible Festivals, Austin has provided accessibility services for over 150 major events. His focus is on bringing events beyond ADA to become truly welcoming.

Karen Morales smiles confidently in a studio portrait. She wears a navy blue dress with black detailing, standing against a dark neutral background.

Karen Morales | FORA Travel

As a luxury travel specialist at FORA Travel, and the lead of their accessibility division, Karen booked $100 million in accessible travel in 2025 (out of over a billion each year). She’s working to democratize the travel industry.

News from the Team

The new year is full of promise. We’re reminded of this when we look at all that our advisory board members accomplished last year, and at all that’s already been initiated for the new year. Here are some highlights from our winter board meeting.

Ivor Ambrose | European Network of Accessible Tourism

Continuing to lead on a global scale through the European Network of Accessible Tourism, gathering and sharing best practices across destinations worldwide. Actively advancing conversations around ethics and accessibility, hosting a major global summit with more than 400 participants, and partnering with UN Tourism on a new manifesto for accessible tourism that helps define what “destinations for all” truly means.

Curt Cottle smiles in a professional headshot against a light background. He wears a dark blazer over a light-colored shirt and has a full gray beard, looking directly at the camera with a friendly expression.

Curt Cottle | National Travel and Tourism Office

Momentum is building at the National Travel and Tourism Office with the appointment of new director Robert O’Leary, who is highly receptive to accessibility and inclusion and eager to deepen engagement in this work.

Alison Brooks smiles in a professional headshot against a dark background. She has long blonde hair worn down and wears a sleeveless patterned top, looking directly at the camera with a warm expression.

Alison Brooks | Visit Mesa

Love on the Spectrum is coming to Mesa! Alison continues to spotlight inclusive adventure travel and has launched a food inclusivity program designed specifically for travelers with food sensitivities.

Chris Maher smiles in an outdoor photo wearing a navy quilted vest over a collared shirt. He stands in front of a glass surface with trees reflected behind him.

Chris Maher | Samaritan Partners

Accessibility moved up from the sidelines at CES, the most powerful tech event in the world. 180 people came early specifically to participate in a disability round table.

Camilo Navarro sits in a purple chair in an office setting, smiling at the camera. He wears a dark Columbia quarter-zip pullover with a “Wheel the World” logo, with wooden bookshelves and a softly blurred workspace in the background.

Camilo Navarro | Wheel the World

Wheel the World closed 2025 with 130 accessible destinations worldwide. They’re moving into 2026 better funded and ready to scale access globally.

Steve Nelson smiles in a selfie taken near an airplane doorway beside a blue sign that reads “Welcome aboard.” He wears a dark blazer over a black shirt and stands inside the aircraft entrance area.

Steve Nelson | Alaska Airlines

Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines have opened their most accessible building to date, while continuing critical work on aircraft lavatory designs aimed at creating fully accessible restrooms, even within narrow-aisle aircraft.

Rob Harris poses in a professional headshot inside a modern office setting with large windows in the background. He wears a dark suit jacket over a white dress shirt, with neatly styled hair and a trimmed beard, looking confidently at the camera.

Rob Harris | Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean Group is embedding accessibility into its culture by installing Accessibility Ambassadors across all ships and fleets. Core accessibility training has been redeveloped, with active work underway to scale and deploy it globally.

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Todd Brook smiles while speaking at a podium on stage. He wears a dark blazer over a white dress shirt and stands behind a clear lectern with a microphone, set against a dark background with stage lighting.

Todd Brook | Envisionit and Unchained

Building the Playbook Companion AI into a powerful accessibility assistant designed to function like an employee that can support basic communication, coordination, and administrative tasks for users.

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Mark Jones smiles in a selfie taken outdoors in front of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World. He wears black-framed glasses and a black collared shirt, with the iconic castle and park walkway visible behind him in bright daylight.

Mark Jones | Disney

Disney continues to elevate storytelling and craftsmanship. Accessibility updates can be found on the Disney website.

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Patty David smiles in a professional studio headshot against a light gray background. She wears a black cardigan over a white top, with short layered blonde hair styled neatly around her face.

Patty David | AARP

AARP is driving future-focused research on accessible travel, including surveys exploring what travel will look like in 2030 when every baby boomer has reached age 65.

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Danica Gonsalves smiles in an outdoor headshot with trees and greenery in the background. She wears a black blazer over a red top, with her long brown hair styled down and parted to the side, standing in bright natural sunlight.

Danica Gonsalves | Paralyzed Veterans of America

Paralyzed Veterans of America is developing a practical resource for hotels focused on achieving best-in-class accessibility, including guidance on how AI tools can support and enhance accessibility efforts.

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Meg Raby Klinghoffer stands in front of a white background with straight dark hair, wearing a black shirt, and smiles slightly at the camera.

Meg Raby Klinghoffer | KultureCity

KultureCity has launched new training for hotels and travel agencies, completed airport training initiatives, and certified nine beaches.

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Carol Giuliani smiles outdoors in front of a historic stone castle wall. She wears a white coat with a teal and green scarf, and the setting appears to be a scenic travel destination.

Carol Giuliana | Senior Travel Companion Services

Celebrating her 150th trip as a senior travel companion, Carol is responding to growing demand by building a “companion army” to support travelers who need one-on-one assistance.

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Kristy Durso is sitting in her wheelchair on the beach, smiling over her shoulder with the beautiful turquoise ocean in the background.

Kristy Durso | TravelAbility Ambassador

Leading a new initiative to create an accessible wedding planner guide for venues and destinations.

asha Blair-Goldensohn faces the camera in a close-up headshot. He wears round brown eyeglasses and a dark top against a plain white background, with a neutral expression.

Sasha Goldenstein | Google

Google now offers verified accessibility information for more than 50 million places worldwide. Later this year, Google will open an Accessibility Discovery Center at its New York City offices.

Laurel Van Horn smiles in an outdoor headshot surrounded by green foliage. She has long brown hair worn down and wears red lipstick, dark earrings, and a patterned scarf draped around her shoulders.

Laurel Van Horn | Open Doors Organization

The Open Doors Organization celebrates its 25th anniversary as a pioneer in accessible travel. Current efforts are focused on aviation, with the 10th annual Access in Aviation Conference approaching and ongoing research into boarding methods, neurodiversity, and wheelchair user experiences.

Houston Vandergriff stands smiling in the middle of a city street, holding a Nikon camera with both hands. He wears glasses and a rust-colored button-down shirt with a camera strap over his shoulder, with storefronts and parked cars softly blurred in the background.

Houston Vandergriff | Downs and Towns

Houston completed ten paid accessible-travel collaborations in 2025 via TravelAbility, appeared on the cover of the Charlottesville Visitor’s Guide, and attended an international travel market in London where accessibility was underrepresented. He was just selected by the National Park Service as an artist-in-residence for Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Chelsea Bear smiles at the camera while standing on a beach promenade at sunset. She wears a bright blue sweater and a black crossbody bag, with the ocean, beachgoers, and a colorful sky behind her.

Chelsea Bear | Influencer

Refining her business structure to take on more travel partnerships consistently. After recently moving back to South Florida, she’s excited to highlight more local destinations while seeking new travel partnerships globally. She was recently quoted in major travel media covering accessible travel from AFAR and Travel Pulse.

TravelAbility Announces First-of-Its-Kind Disability Content Creator Database With A Total of 164M Followers

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