TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Advisory Board

Key Experts Join Advisory Board, Bring Expertise to TravelAbility Summit 2020

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A warm welcome to all of the new TravelAbility Summit Advisory Board Members who will join us in 2020. These subject experts further expand our expertise and understanding of the landscape at the intersection of disability, technology, and travel. 

Bonnie Lewkowicz, Program Manager of Access Northern CA at Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program

Bonnie Lewkowicz, whose experience includes operating a special needs travel agency, has worked in the field of Inclusive Tourism for over 30 years specializing in lodging accessibility, accessible trails, customer service training with a disability focus and as an accessibility information specialist.  

headshot of Kathryn Speer Shoaf smiling red hair

Kathryn Speer-Shoaf, R.N., is the Owner/ CEO of Elite Cruises & Vacations

Kathryn Speer-Shoaf is a dementia-friendly travel expert as well as a Supported Senior Travel and Accessible Group Travel Specialist. As an R.N. and experienced Group Travel Expert, Speer-Shoaf has created travel opportunities in a wide range of venues including exclusive cruise, land tour, and topical social itineraries. Speer-Shoaf also consults on Luxury/ VIP, Faith-based, accessible, senior, diabetes, cancer care, educational /CEU, and other topical group cruise events.

Nicole King-Smith Ph.D., CHT, CGSP, CEO at NK Enterprise
Consulting, LLC

Dr. Nicole King-Smith is a generational expert whose work focuses on
training professionals and organizations on how to achieve their desired
results and overcome generational gaps in their workplace culture. As the
director of customer service training for Ft. Myers CVB, she developed and
incorporated one of the DMO industry’s first accessibility training modules.

Judi Durant, Director of Visitor Services, The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel, Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau

Judi Durant, Director of Visitor Services, The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel – Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, has extensive experience helping families to get the most out of vacation venues that they may have once avoided due to noise and other sensory issues. As Director of Visitor Services Durant is a pioneer in customer experience training for consumer-facing staff not only at the airport, where she is headquartered but also for hotels and attractions. Durant serves as chair of the ADA Advisory Board of Southwest Florida and works with community experts in the disabilities field.

Josh Loebner, Director of Strategy at Designsensory

Josh Loebner, director of strategy at Designsensory, specializes in brand planning and brings conviction, visibility, and voice to a rarely discussed topic—advertising and disability. He is based in Knoxville, TN.

Edward Harris Chief Marketing Officer at Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board

Edward Harris, chief marketing officer at Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board, has been the driving force behind the Valley Forge accessibility initiatives. In just six months the destination has researched and organized accessible attractions and hotel product and developed “Access Montco” an inclusive awareness video that wowed the crowd the annual meeting. Ed’s background in executive marketing positions with eBay, Under Armour, and Timberland will be quite valuable as the event moves forward.

Toby Willis, Technical Program Manager at Expedia Group

Toby Willis, technical program manager at Expedia Group say: “My vision loss has made me a creative problem solver and diplomat. This, coupled with my strong work ethic gives me the relentless drive and dogged determination I have to break down the social and attitudinal barriers that allow people with disabilities to live full, rewarding lives. I am a tenacious, life-long-learner with a vibrant, entrepreneurial spirit. I love people and teamwork. I am currently building an Equal Productivity Access Program for the Expedia Group Information Technology organization.

Find a complete listing of TravelAbility Summit Advisory Board members on the Summit website.

Let A Travel Pro Design Accessible Itineraries For Your Destination

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meet the TravelAbility itinerary design teamIf you are looking for an accessible itinerary to post on your site or offer as a service to the burgeoning group of travelers who need some accessibility built into their stay, where do you start?

You could go with what comes up on Google (meh) or you could trust five of the most curious, experienced and trustworthy pros in disability tourism (yes!) Imagine: Signed, sealed, delivered, it’s yours to publicize on your website and share through your social media channels.

Niche travel is sold through itineraries that include attractions, tours, and sites that cater to a specific audience,” stated Jake Steinman, founder of TravelAbility Summit. “We brought them together to help destinations add authenticity to their accessible itineraries by having them created by actual travelers with different disabilities who are prominent professionals in the industry.

“Once these itineraries are designed, DMO’s can promote the fact that they were designed by disability travel thought-leaders, all of whom have their own extensive following and can offer cross-promotion opportunities as well as consultation advice.”

Here is some background information on each itinerary design team member.

head shot of Cory Lee smiling wearing t shirt. He has eyeglasses and is sitting in his wheelchairCory Lee Woodard writes a travel blog Curb Free with Cory Lee and recently started his own travel agency. On his blog, full of detailed itineraries from around the globe, his mission is to show readers how, where and why to travel as a person with a disability. If you’ve got questions—what city is the most wheelchair-friendly? to what’s the best way to determine if a hotel has a roll-in shower? Cory Lee has answers.

sid in a black hat and olive green sweater


Sid Marcos is a business developer from San Diego, California. She is the former director of development for Outlandish Travel, where she produced accessible destination guides around fun themes such as pub tours. She is a founding member of the National Startup League and director of an incubator for social entrepreneurs. Learn more on her blog.

sue Slater head shot she has red hair and is smiling wearing a jacket and black topSue Slater, the founder of Presto Magic Travel, is a cruise and groups specialist who will soon be celebrating her 20th year in the travel industry creating accessible itineraries. She’s sent thousands of people on cruises all over the world, including cruise destination weddings. Accessibility is a personal passion and a necessity. Sue is blind and her husband has a chronic disability that requires him to use a wheelchair. Both travel extensively, hence she can find a work-around for pretty much any travel need you might have. Learn more, here.

upper body shot of John wearing a navy jacket and blue shirt sitting inside a plane smiling, wearing glasses John Morris approaches travel from a critical angle—in a good way. His fact-checking and reporting on the latest news in accessible travel is unrivaled. That’s probably because he’s traveling the world an average of 310 days a year as a triple amputee with one hand, a passport and a power wheelchair, writing about his travels and adventures—and asking crucial accessibility questions along the way. Read his blog, wheelchairtravel.org.

All five experts will be on-site at TravelAbility Summit, November 12-13 in San Francisco. The team will be given designated “office hours” at the end of each day to talk with you about creating authentic accessible itineraries

 

A Fresh Voice Joins TravelAbility Summit Advisory Board

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Sid Marcos woking at camera wearing sweater and black hat (profile photo)TravelAbility Summit is pleased to welcome Sid Marcos, a business developer from San Diego, California, to the TravelAbility Summit Advisory Board. She is a founding member of the National Startup League and director of Commonwealth, an incubator for social entrepreneurs. She is the former director of development for Outlandish Travel and produced accessible destination guides around fun themes such as pub tours. Currently, she is writing about urbanism, design, and innovation on her personal blog. Here’s a video of Marcos, filmed a while back to explain the concept behind Outlandish Travel.  CLICK HERE

OUR TAKE: Marcos isn’t your average travel writer or vlogger. She tells it like it is. And what is it exactly? Very helpful, 100% wheelchair accessible guides to cities across the country. We were taken with her straightforward approach and the excellent points she made showing how there was a huge gap in the travel market for city guides and more. What makes her even more interesting? She travels with her Great Dane in a Smart Car. 

 

Two Disability Advocates Reveal (Almost) All on Hilarious Vlog

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Hannah holds out her ring with a big smile Shane is next to her

Shane Burkaw and his now fiancé Hannah are no ordinary couple, which is why the story of their life, travels and recent engagement has captured the attention of 407,000 subscribers on YouTube. The non-profit Burkaw founded with his cousin, Sarah is called Laughing at My Nightmare and its mission is to spread a message of positivity while providing equipment grants to those living with muscular dystrophy. You can see more about their recent 5K race on their Instagram.

 

The couple, who vlog under the title Squirmy & Grubs, will be speaking at the TravelAbility Summit in San Francisco and Burcaw will be part of an Accessible Itinerary Design Team being formed through the Summit.

OUR TAKE: Talking about being an inter-abled couple isn’t easy, but these two make it look like it is, informing a new generation of people with disabilities who are doing things their own way—and often with a sense of humor. Save some time to watch their engagement video…and more, because once you start watching you won’t be able to stop. (We also recommend the one where they take viewers questions about having kids.)

 

Race day photo credit: Jeremy Cohen

 

 

TravelAbility Summit Welcomes Head of NYC Tourism Bureau to Advisory Board

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Headshot of Fred Dixon wearing a white shirt and grey suit jacket standing outside

Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company has been named to TravelAbility Summit’s Advisory Board. Dixon has taken on the daunting task of making New York City, and it’s five boroughs, as accessible as possible; hiring consultants and taking steps that go far beyond the basics. To learn more about Dixon and his accomplishments, including transportation apps that help make NYC more accessible to visitors.

OUR TAKE: We are pleased that our Summit Advisory Board members now fully reflect a cross-section of the travel industry and disability community thought leaders who will help us develop content most helpful to both groups.