TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Editorial

TOP 10 ACCESSIBLE TRAVEL TRENDS FOR 2025

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By Jake Steinman

These scenes showcase a vibrant convergence of innovative accessibility solutions, inspiring discussions, and diverse participants dedicated to enhancing travel experiences for individuals with disabilities.

  1. Smart Technology Integration

Leveraging technology is crucial for improving accessibility in travel. Innovations such as:

  • Google Maps “Accessibility Routes”: This feature allows users to find routes that are wheelchair-friendly, making navigation easier for those with mobility challenges.
  • Voice-Activated Hotel Room Controls**: These systems enable guests to control lighting, temperature, and entertainment through voice commands, enhancing comfort and convenience.
  • Digital Assistants for Travel Planning**: Virtual assistants can help travelers plan their trips by providing information on accessible accommodations and attractions.
  • Real-Time Accessibility Information Updates: Travelers can receive timely updates about accessibility features at various locations, ensuring they are well-informed.

Google Maps “Accessibility Routes”: This feature allows users to find routes that are wheelchair-friendly, making navigation easier for those with mobility challenges.

Jake Steinman

2.  Enhanced Transportation Solutions

Transportation is a critical aspect of travel, and ensuring it is accessible for all is essential. Key solutions include:

  • Wheelchair-Accessible Ride-Sharing Services:  While disabled advocates are applying pressure to Uber and Lyft to be more accessible, Waymo, which features driverless Jaguars,  which was a huge hit for TravelAbility attendees in San Francisco, have embraced the disability community with open arms.
  • Modified Rental Vehicles: Rental agencies are adapting their fleets to include vehicles equipped for individuals with disabilities.
  • Enhanced Airport Assistance Programs: Airports are improving their services to assist travelers with disabilities, ensuring a smoother travel experience. 

3. Sensory-Friendly Destinations

  • Creating environments that cater to sensory sensitivities is vital for neurodivergent travelers. Initiatives include:
  • Quiet Spaces in airports and attractions: Designated areas where individuals can retreat to avoid sensory overload.
  • Walmart Quiet Hours Prior to Store Openings: These hours allow individuals with sensory sensitivities to shop in a calmer environment.
  • Specialized Tour Guides for Neurodivergent Travelers: Guides trained to understand and accommodate the needs of neurodivergent individuals.
  • Streaming TV Shows feature life on the Autism spectrum.  The latest entry is the release of “Traveling on the Spectrum.” ttps://travelingthespectrumshow.com/, conceived by TravelAbility advisory board member, Stuart Butler, CMO of Visit Myrtle Beach, is now available on Peacock.

4. Increasing Emphasis on Inclusive Design in Accommodations

The concept of universal design focuses on creating spaces that are accessible to everyone. Notable advancements include:

  • The Schoolhouse Hotel, an all-accessible room hotel in White Sulfur Springs, WV, recently affiliated with Wyndham Hotels, this establishment features accessible amenities.
  • Height-Adjustable Furniture: This allows for flexibility in accommodation, making spaces usable for all guests.
  • Wider Doorways and Corridors: Enhancements that facilitate easier movement for individuals using mobility aids.

5. Virtual Pre-Travel Experiences. Utilizing virtual tools to prepare travelers for their journeys is becoming increasingly popular. Key offerings include:

  • 360° Virtual Tours of Destinations: These immersive experiences allow travelers to explore locations before their visit, helping them make informed decisions.
  • Detailed Accessibility Previews: Travelers can access information about the accessibility features of various destinations, ensuring they are well-prepared.
  • Virtual Reality Hotel Room Tours: These tours provide a realistic view of accommodations offered, allowing guests to assess their suitability.

6.  Adaptive Outdoor Adventure Tourism

  • Adventure travel is being adapted to ensure accessibility for all.
  • Adaptive Sports Equipment: This equipment allows individuals with disabilities to participate in various sports and activities.
  • Accessible Hiking Trails: Trails designed with accessibility in mind enable everyone to enjoy nature.
  • Modified Water Sports Activities: These adaptations ensure that individuals with disabilities can safely engage in water sports.
  • Inclusive Wildlife Viewing Experiences: Tours that cater to diverse needs allow all travelers to appreciate wildlife.

7. Personalized Travel Planning

  • Tailoring travel experiences to individual needs is essential for enhancing accessibility. Key components include:
  • Specialized Travel Agents: Agents trained in accessibility can provide valuable insights and recommendations.
  • Custom Itinerary Development: Personalized itineraries ensure that travelers’ specific needs and preferences are met.
  • Accessibility-Focused Tour Operators: These operators specialize in creating inclusive travel experiences.
  • Detailed Accessibility Guides: Comprehensive guides provide essential information about accessibility features at various destinations.

8. Introducing the Universal Designed Beach 

Enhancing beach experiences for all visitors is a growing focus. Key improvements include:

  • Beach Wheelchair Availability: These specialized wheelchairs from Access Rec, (the original developers of the Mobi Mat), Mobi Mat, and Access Trax offer individuals with mobility challenges an opportunity to experience the beach.
  • Accessible Boardwalks: Boardwalks designed for accessibility ensure that everyone can access beach areas.
  • Modified Water Entry Points: Access points on piers and lakes facilitate safe entry into the water for individuals with disabilities.
  • Sensory-Friendly Beach Areas: Designated spaces that cater to sensory sensitivities provide a more comfortable beach experience.

9. Enhanced Training & Service

  • Training staff to better serve travelers with disabilities is crucial for creating an inclusive environment. Important initiatives include:
  • Staff Disability Awareness Training: Training programs help staff understand the needs of travelers with disabilities.
  • Sign Language-Trained Personnel: Staff trained in sign language can better communicate with deaf and hard-of-hearing guests.
  • Accessibility Ambassadors: These individuals are dedicated to assisting travelers with disabilities, ensuring a positive experience.
  • Specialized Concierge Services: Concierge staff trained in accessibility can provide tailored recommendations and assistance.

10. Greater Representation in Media

  • The representation of individuals with disabilities in media is gaining traction. Key developments include:
  • Accessibility-Focused Content: New streaming movies and television shows are increasingly featuring stories that highlight accessibility.
  • Whalar: This talent agency represents 80 disability content creators, promoting diverse voices in media.
  • Travelability: Introduced speed-dating events with content creators at the 2024 EMS, fostering connections and collaboration.

The travel industry is making significant strides in enhancing accessibility through universal design, virtual tools, adventure tourism adaptations, personalized planning, improved beach access, enhanced training, and greater representation in media. These trends not only improve the travel experience for individuals with disabilities but also promote a more inclusive society where everyone can explore and enjoy the world around them.

Encapsulating the Core Challenge for Each Disability in One Word

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By Jake Steinman

Recently I was challenged to distill the essence of each disability into a single word, and after five years of being immersed in TravelAbility and after considerable thought, here are the words I arrived at and why, for me, they encapsulate the core challenges faced by individuals with different disabilities when they travel–and in real life.

Wheelchair Users: Stairs

Stairs represent one of the most anxiety-inducing obstacles for wheelchair users. Despite restaurants and attractions often being advertised as fully accessible, or even after confirming accessibility in advance, wheelchair users frequently encounter unexpected stairs. This not only disrupts their plans but also subjects them to the indignity of being carried up and down stairs.

Blind Travelers: Navigation

For blind travelers, navigation is the primary challenge. The world is largely built for those who can see, leaving many environments inaccessible to the blind. The barriers they face are often related to moving from point A to point B, both physically and digitally. However, technology and innovation are gradually bridging this gap. Tools like Aira, Be My Eyes which provide real-time assistance, while Apple and Google Android are providing innovative technology that makes navigation easier and more accessible.

Deafness: Communication

Communication is the central issue for the 48 million people in the United States who are deaf or hard of hearing. Astonishingly, less than 1% of this population uses American Sign Language (ASL), according to the Commission on the Deaf, and another half million (family members/teachers) know ASL. This statistic underscores the vast communication barriers that exist, as many deaf individuals rely on other forms of communication that are not always understood or accommodated by the hearing population. Again, innovations such as Sign Speak, which uses human-looking AI avatars, presented at TravelAbility’s InnovateAble Showcase, the Shark Tank for Adaptive technology, this past July.

Autism: Acceptance

For individuals on the Autism Spectrum, acceptance is crucial. With approximately 9 million families in the United States affected by autism, and an estimated 24 million people impacted when considering household members, acceptance becomes a necessity. Studies indicate that 85% of these families face significant challenges that prevent them from traveling. Education and training are key to fostering acceptance, with organizations like Kulture City, Autism Double-Checked, Able Vu, the Autism Travel Club and IBCCES, offering training and certification programs. Additionally, initiatives like the Sunflower Hidden Disability Lanyard help communicate the need for special care in public spaces.

Ultimately, the word that ties all these experiences together is independence.

Jake Steinman

For All: Independence

Ultimately, the word that ties all these experiences together is independence. Each of these challenges—whether it’s navigating stairs, communicating effectively, or gaining acceptance—boils down to the fundamental human desire for independence. Ensuring that individuals with disabilities can live independently and with dignity when they travel is the overarching goal of TravelAbility.

What one word comes to mind for you, when you think about these disabilities?

Popular Internet Mom Blogger Responds to the Gus Walz Controversy

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Read the story and watch the video in USA Today

By Diary of a Mom

Let’s talk about the folks who are trying to backtrack on mocking Gus Walz
because they didn’t know he had a disability.
Right. Okay. So …
Let’s start with the fact that he’s a seventeen year old kid who was so proud
of his dad, whom he obviously loves deeply, that he was moved to tears.
That’s beautiful, and a hell of a testament to their relationship.
But sure, some people thought his reaction was over the top and “weird.”
And therefore fair game. Until they heard he has a disability.
(So, to recap, it would have been a-okay in that crowd to bully a typical kid
for *acting atypical* but maybe he should be off limits now that they know
he has a diagnosis.)
Pull up a chair, won’t you, friends?
Being an accepting, inclusive, and not completely shitty human isn’t about
having access to everyone’s medical records. It’s about humanity. It’s about
not having to know that there’s a label for a fellow human’s unique
constellation of strengths and challenges in order to approach them with
compassion.
It’s about not needing an explanation for why someone comes across a little
– or a lot – differently from the average bear in order to indulge their quirks,
celebrate their differences, support their challenges and accommodate their
access needs, to give them extra time and love and leeway.
Labels / diagnoses / identities are important and valid and helpful in a million
different ways, but they shouldn’t ever be the ticket that we demand from
others before granting them entry into the arena of our empathy. The only
fare needed is humanity.
So lay off the kid. Not just because he has a disability, but because he’s
human, and that’s reason enough.

The World is Shifting: Paralympic Media Reflects the Drastic Change Taking Place in Disability Perceptions

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By Jake Steinman

Take a look at how these Paralympic promotional videos reflect the evolution of the way the disability community prefers to be perceived.

This video aimed to challenge stereotypes and showcase Paralympians as extraordinary individuals. It featured athletes with disabilities performing remarkable feats of skill, strength, and courage.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics trailer reflects the disability community’s desire to be perceived as resilient, empowered, and diverse as it showcases Paralympians from various ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, and sports.

This video uses a film noir approach by toggling between romantic stereotypes and the intensity of competition to show the brutal reality of what these athletes had to endure.

Overall, the narrative of disabled athletes is shifting from weakness to empowerment, strength and independence.

Jake Steinman

Letter from the Olympic Games in Paris

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By John Morris

A bittersweet feeling filled my heart as the familiar sound of The Star-Spangled Banner reached my ears and the flag of the United States of America was raised inside the Parc des Princes, the iconic football stadium in Paris, where the U.S. women’s soccer team had just claimed Olympic Gold. Bittersweet as it marked the end of my two week Olympic journey, one that had taken me first to the South of France in Nice and Marseille, and then to the magical City of Lights that is the French capital.

I had made a relatively last minute decision to attend the Olympic Games, booking airfare and purchasing tickets only two months in advance of the Opening Ceremony. While many of the top events like Gymnastics and Swimming had been sold out for more than a year, I was still able to secure tickets to incredible contests like basketball, soccer, tennis and water polo. The trip was special in that it allowed me to get a firsthand look at the city’s preparation for the games, including its investments in accessible design and infrastructure, while also connecting with WheelchairTravel.org readers and disabled sports fans who call Paris home or who had traveled from around the world.

As the United States prepares to host three major international sporting events over the next decade — the 2026 World Cup, 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, and 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics — the lessons learned in Paris, about what worked and did not work, must guide our planning to make these events accessible. The United States of America is presented with both a challenge and an opportunity, to put on the most accessible and inclusive international sporting events ever held, and it is an opportunity that I hope we will not let go to waste.

In this reflection, I would like to look at three key areas where accessibility mattered — in some cases, Olympic and Paralympic organizers excelled, and in other cases there is opportunity for improvement.

Ticketing

One area where the Paris Olympics and Paralympics truly excelled was in the sales of tickets, where a robust ticketing website allowed disabled fans to buy and resell accessible seats easily. Given the nature and design of the many existing venues used in these games, accessible seats were not available in all price bands, but the committee made the decision to make accessible seats available for purchase even at the lowest price points. These decisions ensured equity in pricing, and many wheelchair accessible tickets were available for just €15 at the Paralympic Games and €24 at the Olympic Games.

Transportation

Transportation was a key challenge for Olympic and Paralympic organizers in Paris. The Paris Metro, one of the oldest mass transit systems in the world, is largely off-limits to wheelchair users, with only one of sixteen lines being wheelchair accessible. While the city’s failure to modernize its metro system is worthy of disdain, significant investments were made in accessible above-ground transportation. The city brought online more than 1,000 wheelchair accessible taxis, which were widely available, and invested in modern, low-floor city buses with wheelchair ramps. The city’s single fully accessible metro line, Line 14, was extended in both directions in advance of the games, providing access to key competition sites. I used Line 14 daily, and frequently saw many other wheelchair users doing the same.

To help fill some of the gaps and to promote transportation equity, Olympic organizers invested in wheelchair accessible shuttles to transport disabled fans from major train stations to competition venues at an affordable rate of €4 each way. While the shuttle service was not as robust as I would have liked, it did prove useful to me and other fans that I encountered.

The city claimed that rideshare operator Uber had added a significant number of wheelchair accessible vehicles to its fleet, but I was unable to secure an accessible Uber ride myself, nor were any of the wheelchair users I spoke to during the Olympic Games. The accessibility of rideshare continues to be a key challenge impacting accessibility in cities of all sizes around the globe.

Fan Experience

Key to the enjoyment of any event, be it an athletic competition or a music concert, is the attention to detail concerning the fan experience. At the Paris Olympics, many things were done correctly: dedicated entrances were provided for disabled ticket-holders, abundant staff and volunteers were onsite to provide assistance, and a variety of accessible seats were available to provide excellent sightlines.

On the whole, I had a better fan experience in Paris than I might typically have at sporting events in the United States, but some WheelchairTravel.org readers have shared frustrations. 

Three complaints have caught my attention: 

  • one, that many accessible seats were placed in direct sunlight; 
  • two, that “accessible” seats for semi-ambulatory fans were not accessible in some venues, requiring those fans to ascend or descend multiple stairs (in one reported case, some 70 stairs); 
  • and third, that the view for some wheelchair users was blocked by nondisabled fans who were standing during key moments of competition. 

One key reflection shared in my newsletter (https://wheelchairtravel.substack.com/p/wheelchair-travel-newsletter-jet) is that organizers must take a broader view of accessibility when planning for events that attract a diverse, global audience. Accessibility cannot be focused only on wheelchair users — greater attention must be paid to semi-ambulatory fans, and those with a much wider range of disabilities that extend beyond physical or mobility challenges.

Organizers will say that the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics are the most accessible in history, but opportunities for improvement remain. The world once again looks to the United States to set an example and, as 2026, 2028 and 2034 approach, it is critical that host cities seize the opportunity to ensure that disabled fans are included, and that they create World Cup, Olympic and Paralympic experiences that not only bring people together, but deliver a lasting benefit to the people who call these cities home.