TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

John Morris

Don’t Call it Inspo-Porn: Rising Tide Car Wash Employing Autistic Staff is Expanding

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Maroon sedan going through automated car wash.

John D’Eri co-founded the Rising Tide Car Wash in Parkland, Florida with his son, Thomas, in 2013. Following the success of the business, the pair expanded to Margate in 2017, and are now poised to open a location in Coral Springs later this year.

What sets Rising Tide apart from other car washes is its team: the majority of its staff are on the Autism spectrum.

D’Eri told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “My son Andrew is on the spectrum. There were no opportunities for him whatsoever. I have always been a serial entrepreneur so I decided that the best thing I could do was try to give him empowerment through employment versus some form of institutionalization like a group home.”

At Rising Tide, Andrew found work along with many others. The family has a bold vision for the new Coral Springs location: Within two years, they aim to have the car wash “100% staffed with diversity, meaning employees on the spectrum.” Those employees would include team leaders, D’Eri said and would set Rising Tide apart from other social enterprises focused on inclusion within the Autistic community.

To learn more about the Rising Tide Car Wash, check out the company website or read the full article in the Sun Sentinel.

Visit Florida Partners with TravelAbility for Education Outreach at Summit and Beyond

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Visit Florida logo.

Visit Florida, the official destination marketing agency for the State of Florida, will become the “Education Partner” for the TravelAbility Summit in Tampa, August 30-31st, with the goal of expanding their accessibility initiatives by proactively uncovering more unique experiences for people with physical, intellectual and cognitive disabilities. The partnership includes a Florida partner’s panel at TravelAbilty Tampa, assistance in organizing the first Accessibility “Hackathon,” plus content for their annual Governor’s conference, and Florida Huddle, a trade event for international tour operators.

“We’re thrilled to have Visit Florida as our education partner,” commented Jake Steinman, founder of TravelAbility. “They’ve been one of the first states, if not the first, to include people with disabilities in their marketing and advertising messaging and the goal of this partnership is to be the most inclusive destination in America.”

“VISIT FLORIDA is committed to ensuring that travelers of all abilities can experience the benefits of a Florida vacation,” said Staci Mellman, Chief Marketing Officer, Visit Florida. “We are working to highlight the many accessible experiences available around Florida and would love for Florida to be seen as a top destination for accessible travel.”

Recently, the state’s inclusive creative work and industry-leading accessible travel hub were highlighted in AdWeek, and there are several more projects in the works. 

Visit Florida partners will have access to an exclusive rate available exclusively for their members. For more information contact Jake Steinman at jake@travelabilitysummit.com.

Featured Accessible Destination Landing Page: The Five Boroughs of New York City

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New York City skyline seen from pedestrian walkway on bridge.

NYC & Company has released an updated accessible travel landing page to introduce the city to visitors with a disability. The page features information on disability-friendly attractions, including the city’s zoos, aquariums, museums, and observatories with ADA facilities.

Visitors to the landing page can watch a video entitled “How to Explore NYC with a Wheelchair,” in which Lakshmee Lachhman-Persad and her family offer tips for visitors with mobility issues. It’s a fantastic resource!

What we Loved about this Landing Page: It highlights many of the great things to do in New York City, with a database of more than 1,000 accessible venues.

What Could be Added: Accessible Resources: Detailed information about accessible hotel rooms, accessible airport transfer options and medical equipment repair/rentals. 

To check out this featured landing page, visit the NYC & Company website. Also be sure to check-out the New York City destination page on the TravelAbility website.

Popular Destination Marketing Podcast Features TravelAbility Summit Episode

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Destination Marketing Podcast with Jake Steinman, cover art.

The story behind the TravelAbility Summit comes to life as our founder, Jake Steinman, recounts how a bogus award sparked the summit’s creation and why accessible travel will be the next big differentiator for destination marketers.

To listen to this episode of the Destination Marketing Podcast, click here.

TravelAbility and Miles Partnership to Develop Herd Accessibility Initiative

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Miles Partnership logo

TravelAbility is proud to announce that Miles Partnership, one the pre-eminent strategic marketing agencies and web design firms in the travel industry, will become a partner for the “Herd Accessibility” initiative where the goal is to aggregate destination landing pages containing links to accessible attractions, museums and hotels on www.travelability.net so that disabled travelers—as well as locals—will have the information they need on a single website. 

Miles Partnership is a strategic marketing agency focused solely on travel and tourism. Their team works with more than 100 clients around the country and globally, including DMOs, resorts, restaurants, state parks, airports and other travel industry businesses. 

“We’re honored to be collaborating with Miles on one of the most important projects that has come out of the first TravelAbility Summit in 2019: Filling the void of information about what is accessible,” commented Jake Steinman, Founder of TravelAbility.

“At Miles, I lead a dedicated team of digital accessibility specialists. We work to design and code digital spaces that are informed by the experience of users of assistive technology like a screen reader and/or a keyboard or mouse alternative,” noted Erin Fossum, Interactive Producer, Miles.

“In addition to being one of the most creative and innovated marketers in the travel industry,” said Steinman, “Miles creates, designs and builds destination websites and will be able to develop accessibility content that will be useable technically to people with a wide range of disabilities from the ground up.”

“We believe when we craft our products using the perspectives of users with disabilities, the result can be pleasurable and experiential — not just baseline accessible. “This partnership between TravelAbility and Miles Partnership will help further both of our work in providing a better experience for travelers with disabilities and their companions,” said Fossum. “Together, we will work to develop and distribute research and best-practice resources for creating a more accessible web presence with the goal of achieving Herd Accessibility through the TravelAbility Accessible Destinations landing page initiative. Be on the lookout for our digital accessibility and landing page workshops later this year.”