TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Debbie Austin

FUN FAMILY VACATIONS

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TravelAbility has collaborated with Mélange Publishing, to produce the world’s first digital magazine for travelers with disabilities.  Each quarterly issue focuses on a different theme with the just released winter issue exploring accessibility around family travel.

Nikki and Jimmy Lean into Life: Recounts the story of Nikki, a single mother and her son Jimmy, who is blind, and what they look for when planning a trip.

My WOW Experience: An 11-year-old blind tween tells us about his favorite travel experiences.

Overwhelmed by Joy: Guest Editor Jennifer Allen, shares her wisdom from years at the helm of Wonders Within Reach, a family travel blog that focuses on accessible destinations and products for families. 

The issue contains 12 other feature articles and is the only publication that provides quick summaries and links to recent posts of 42 accessible travel bloggers, vloggers and Instagrammers. 

Read the full issue here.

Department of Commerce Appoints 3 TravelAbility presenters to U.S. Tour and Travel Advisory Board

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White House icon on blue background.with texgt saying White House, Washington
White House, Washjngton DC logo

Congratulations to Advisory Board members Eric Lipp, founder of Open Doors Organization and emeritus member, John Sage, founder of Accessible Travel Solutions, both wheelchair users and legends in the accessible travel industry, who along with Andrew Leary, Director of Sustainable Travel and Partnerships for Leave No Trace were appointed by Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo to the U.S. Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. They join other industry leaders such as the CEO’s of Airbnb, Booking.com, TripAdvisor and Expedia. See the full list of members here.

TravelAbility Insider Insight: Having two legends who’ve been deeply involved in accessible travel for over twenty years with a seat at the table contributing to future travel policy is a big win for the future of accessible travel and an acknowledgement that travelers with disabilities are an important segment for the future of the industry. 

TravelAbility Partners with Nation’s #1 Hospitality Management College to Change the Way Travelers with a Disability will be Treated in the Future

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Rosen College logo with black type and yellow shell plus TravelAbility logo with wordsThe Intersection of Travel adn Accessibility
Rosen College of Hospitality Management and TravelAbility Logo

TravelAbility is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, a part of the University of Central Florida, to develop TravelAbility: Filling the Accessibility Gap in Hospitality, a self-paced learning module that will be part of the college’s experiential education program, a requirement of graduation for all 3000 students in the program.  A quiz will be administered.

“Perhaps more than any of the other projects we developed over the past four years,” said Jake Steinman, Founder and CEO of TravelAbility. “This collaboration has the potential to make the most impact as it will infuse a new generation of future hospitality supervisors and general managers with the awareness and empathy necessary to not only change the attitude about the way people with disabilities are perceived, but also how they are treated.”

TravelAbility will be contributing its expertise as well as content from The Accessibility Playbook, a copyrighted compendium of business cases, tips, products, innovations, and 99 videos from prior conferences and events.   

“All 3,000 plus students at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management are introduced to the wider societal challenges that impact our industry through their courses, our incredible Internship program, and the opportunities to engage through their P.R.E.P. activities,” commented Alan Fyall, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Rosen College of Hospitality.” “Our partnership with TravelAbility represents an important milestone as the travel industry awakens to the significance of travelers with a disability and the steps required to both welcome and accommodate them in a seamless manner.”

The Rosen College of Hospitality Management was rated #1 academic level tourism program in the U.S. and #2 in the world.

“Building on the success of our education on human trafficking,” remarked Dean Fyall, “our partnership with TravelAbility will have a huge impact on our students and ensure they are suitably equipped to take their industry into the future in a more inclusive and accessible manner.”

What is the Accessibility Gap? Since every disability has a spectrum, and the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) was written for the median, even if they are fully compliant, hotels, attractions and restaurants still work for only 50% of the people. The Accessibility Gapcan be filled by showcasing information online, providing training about accessibility needs, and implementing adaptive innovations that are currently available.

The course will begin with the spring semester and allow the next generation of travel industry executives, meeting planners and event managers to learn how to be welcoming to all guests. “Travel is the toy department of life,” said Steinman, “everyone should be able to enjoy it.”

About TravelAbility, now celebrating our fifth year, is an organization that works within the travel industry to improve the experience that people with disabilities have while they are traveling. As part of this initiative, we also act as a one-stop source that connects travel organizations with the expertise, innovations, and resources they need so disabled travelers have the information they require to ensure smoother sailing while planning travel.

About UFC Rosen College of Hospitality Management offers their students the opportunity to learn and work in the center of hospitality. The students at the college are given the opportunity to study within an internationally recognized faculty that consists of cutting-edge research, innovative academic programs, and strong industry and community partnerships. 

For more information, contact: info@travelability.net.

TA Insider Insight: This initiative came together after Gisela Canova, Head of internships and Associate Dean Alan Fyall, attended EMS 2022 in Orlando. In a follow up meeting in which they were shown our proprietary Accessibility Playbook, it was decided to move forward with the learning module which, hopefully, will lead to a full online course that will inspire more academic institutions to add accessibility to their curriculum.

Canada’s First Convention Center Certified for People on the Spectrum

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Officials with the Niagara Falls Convention Center said that having the center certified by KultureCity,  a non-profit organization that offers products and training to accommodate people with sensory needs, and not just those with autism, is part of the center’s commitment to make the facility more accessible and inclusive to everyone attending an event.

To receive this certification, the Niagara Falls team was trained by leading medical professionals to better recognize guests with sensory needs and how to handle sensory overload situations — enabling the center to offer an accommodating and positive experience for all visitors.

In addition to staff training, the building is now outfitted with dedicated quiet spaces and provides sensory bags that people can borrow during an event.

TravelAbility Insider Insight: Convention centers that host events for the local community, such as auto shows, Comic Con and others, can now receive a torrent of local media and a reputational boost at the same time. Additionally, with meeting planners now including accessibility in their RFP’s for venue selection, having a convention center certified for all types of disabilities can be a differentiator that can result in more business as well reputational boost through articles such as this. Read more.

Davos: Employees with Disabilities on the Agenda

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Photo ofsmiling Caroline Casey, social entrepreneur wearing a black shirt .She has long blonde hair

Social entrepreneur Caroline Casey, who is blind, has put disability on the main stage at this elite forum where business leaders are likely masking their true selves. Only three per cent of CEOs would go public about a disability or caregiving role, according to a recent survey by The Valuable 500 collective of global firms. Ms Casey launched Valuable at the World Economic Forum in Davos four years ago to encourage businesses to tap into the skills and consumer power of 1.3 billion people living with disabilities worldwide.

“Let’s be honest, disability has never been on a platform like this ever before, You’re here to hustle, and you can pretty much hustle and meet more people than you can imagine, It’s about using the power of business to end disability exclusion.” she said.

TravelAbility Insider Insight: Not only do workers with disabilities try to hide their disability, they are also reluctant to travel due to their negative past experiences.  We believe it was Mark Twain, who said: “Once a cat sits on a hot stove he’ll never sit on a hot stove again, but he’ll never sit on a cold one either.With 35% of the employees working remotely the reluctance to travel limits the advancement  of disabled team members as they are not privy to team building off -sites, and the opportunities at industry conferences and trade shows to network and schmooze. It is up to meeting planners, conference facilities managers and the hospitality industry to help reverse this trend in this critical segment of the travel industry.

Read more.

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