TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Conferences & Events

TravelAbility and Becoming RentABLE Launch a Disability Events Calendar

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image of a calendar with 3 call-outs of disability events happening in May
TravelAbility and Becoming RentABLE are proud to announce the launch of a new calendar of events for disability conferences, events, and para sports events in North America. This collaboration aims to provide a comprehensive resource for individuals with disabilities and destinations so that they can prepare their stakeholders for upcoming events. The full calendar will be available on both the TravelAbility web site and Becoming RentAble web-site.

The calendar will include a wide range of events, from conferences on accessibility and inclusion to para sports competitions. The goal is to provide a one-stop-shop for individuals with disabilities to find events that interest them and provide opportunities for networking, learning, and fun.

“Disability has never had more visibility to the mainstream,” said Becoming RentAble CEO, Lorraine Woodward.  “Providing information about adaptive sports events and conferences creates networking and relationship building opportunities for a community that is woefully underserved.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Becoming RentAble on this project,” added TravelAbility founder, Jake Steinman. “Our goal is to raise awareness among destinations that hosting adaptive events and disability conferences provides an excellent opportunity to educate their hotels, attractions, restaurants about how to serve these visitors in a way that is welcoming and inclusive for everyone, and this calendar is a big step towards achieving that.”
The calendar will be available on both the TravelAbility.net and BecomingRentAble.com websites and will be regularly updated with new events.  
Stay tuned for more information on this exciting collaboration!
 
If you know of an upcoming event in your destination add it to the calendar . Listings are a free service for the community.

Toot-Toot! All Aboard the Accessible Meetings Train Stopping at a Venue Near You

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Let no one say that greed is a good reason for stepping up to accommodate people with disabilities at their conferences and meetings. And yet, association meeting planners who aren’t going out of their way to make their events accessible to all prospective attendees may be leaving money on the table.

While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been the law of the land since 1990, true accessibility continues to challenge disabled people from all walks of life. This includes not just those using wheelchairs for mobility, but also less obvious physical impairments, such as arthritis, cognition, and sight and hearing disabilities. But disability experts say that, increasingly, some destinations are going above and beyond ADA requirements to become more welcoming — and they’re using it to attract meeting and convention business.

At the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis recently, an attendee with a severe peanut allergy reached out asking for help in finding seating at an event. The guest services staff identified a location that was as far as possible from food vendors utilizing peanut products. Another attendee had an allergy to latex, and the facility worked with vendors to ensure the guest would not be served by someone wearing latex gloves and reviewed the environment to ensure that they would not be sitting in an area that might have items containing latex. Read more.

Our Takeaway: Meeting planners are reluctantly embracing accessibility as major corporations have begun to include accessibility, sustainability and DEI services and sensitivity in the RFPs.  Any company that applies for government contracts or subcontracts are required to have at least 7 percent of their workforce self-identify as having a disability.  Since the pandemic, there has been a 50% increase in hiring people with disabilities.

Update: EMS 2023, Savannah, August 18th-20th

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some of the attendees at 2022 EMS in Orlando- Kristy Durso, Chelsea Bear, Alvaro Silberstein, Jake Steinman, Arica Sears, Camilo Navarro, Arica Sears, Makiko Matsuda-Healy, Be Alink plus more
Attendees at EMS 2022

Thirty Speakers have already been confirmed for TravelAbility Summit in Savannah!

recently added SESSIONS include:

Breaking Down Accessible Barriers with AI and ChatGPT. “Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” –Albert Einstein.  ChatGPT can be used to make your organization more accessible-friendly by improving website content, uncovering unknown accessibility features, helping to develop a search strategy and completing specific boilerplate sections of grant applications.

The Four Pillars of Developing any Accessibility Strategic Plan. Instead of an ad hoc approach to becoming an accessible destination, we’ve assigned a former destination strategist. This strategist spent nine years with the acclaimed Coraggio Group and now heads his own practice, developing key guiding principles for developing strategic plans around accessibility.

Confessions of an Early Adopter. Diving into accessibility head first, Visit Mesa, was the world’s first autism-certified destination, the first to deploy Aira’s on-demand visual interpreters for blind visitors and residents, the first to use Wheel the World for accessibility hotel assessments, the first DMO to join Travelability’s Destination Ally Club, the first to add an “A” to their DE&I initiative (which is now, DEI and A,) and the first to collaborate on a craft beer with one of their breweries to raise awareness and funds for their foundation. What can we learn from them?

Confessions of a Late Bloomer. Two organizations that have recently embraced inclusivity as one of their core values discuss the external and internal factors that brought them to their decision and how they plan to execute it.

Presenters:
Patrick Lennon, Director of Marketing, Visit Fairfax;
Arin Arnold-Davis, Administrative Project Manager, Visit Lexington.

Can the impact of DEI & Accessibility Be Measured? Tourism for All, a pilot project between Visit Charlottesville, Destinations International and TripAdvisor was designed to assess the impact that three years of outreach, stakeholder and visitor education had on TripAdvisor comments and reviews. Mallory Smith, Sr. Digital Marketing, TripAdvisor, Courtney Cacatian, CEO, Visit Charlottesville, and Sophia Hyder Hoch, Chief Diversity Officer, Destinations International.

How Destination Sustainability Can Power Tourism and Win Over Locals. Many believe sustainability is all about protecting natural resources, but the benefits of creating a sustainable destination can be far bigger. Find out how three beloved destinations used destination stewardship to tackle top local priorities like housing and traffic congestion while serving visitors and building awareness of the power of tourism.

Presenters:
Cathy Ritter, Founder, Better Destinations;
Mia Vlaar, Economic Development Director, Vail, CO;
Andy Chapman, President & CEO, Travel North Tahoe Nevada; and
Brett Stawar, President & CEO, Port Aransas (TX) Tourism Bureau.

Making Meetings More Welcoming and Inclusive for People with Disabilities. What meeting planners are looking for from hotels and destinations in their RFP’s. Is accessibility or sustainability a differentiator when making selections?

New Members of TravelAbilty’s Destination A11Y Club.  We’d like to welcome Destination British Columbia and Discover the Palm Beaches as the newest members bringing total membership to 14.

See the full agenda here.

New on TravelAbility.net

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InnovateABLE:  We carefully curated selection of technology, innovations and services that can reduce barriers for people with disabilities, several of which will be part of our annual pitchfest on July 26th. https://travelability.net/summit/innovateable/

Airport Accessibility page with links in all 50 states.

New Members of Our Advisory Board:

David O’Hara, Director of Accessibility, American Express Global Business Travel 

Houston Vandergrift, Founder, Downs and Towns.

Alan Fyall, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

Lorraine Woodward, Founder, Becoming Rentable

Six of the most prominent Disability Holidays in 2023.

We welcome Lansing Michigan as the newest member of our “Destination A11Y Club.”

Kudos to Visit Tampa Bay for creating the Accessible Riverwalk Pass, the first discount pass designed specifically for visitors and local residents with a disability.

How Accessible Friendly Meetings Can Impact Careers

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With the increase of remote work and non-traditional working arrangements, how will in-person meetings for events or conferences be held to ensure that everyone can participate? What message will the way an event or conference is organized or hosted send? This article discusses how to make events both welcoming and accessible for everyone.

Since every business has a different workplace culture, organizational structure, purpose, and size, this article suggest broad ideas that can be tailored to fit how accessible friendly conference and meeting should operate. Read More.

Our Takeaway: Major corporations are realizing that team members with disabilities are reluctant to travel based on prior deleterious experiences, but missing meetings, off-site team building retreats and conferences reduces their opportunity for advancement. Making meetings more accessible sends a message that they are warmly welcome.

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