TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Expert Q&A

Accessibility Champion: Charles Hammerman

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President and CEO, Disability Opportunity Fund

Head shot of Charles Hammerman

“The Schoolhouse Hotel is the first full-service boutique in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and the first all-ADA compliant hotel in the world.”

Q1.  What motivated you to become involved in accessibility and do you have a personal connection to disability?

I am a former Merrill Lynch professional and former Assistant United States Attorney as well as being the father of a child with cerebral palsy, I launched The Disability Opportunity Fund in 2007. It is a national nonprofit  that provides financing, technical services, and advocacy to increase access to appropriate and affordable housing and related services for people with disabilities. The fund was incubated under the umbrella of the Burton Blatt Institute of Syracuse University, named after my late uncle who was a pioneering disability researcher and advocate.

Q2.  What is the goal of your organization?

As a Nationally Certified CDFI, DOF’s mission is to provide financial products, technical assistance, equity investment and financial advisory services that improve the quality of life and build personal wealth for people with disabilities and their families, as well as supporting organizations serving this market.

 Q4. What accomplishments are you most proud of?

The Schoolhouse Hotel is the first full-service boutique in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and the first all-ADA compliant hotel in the world. We transformed the historic White Sulphur Springs schoolhouse into a hub for the community and visitors alike. The hotel features 30 uniquely appointed guest rooms and suites; the Varsity Club restaurant/grill; the Rooftop Bar serving small plates and cocktails in the open air before stunning mountain views; and flexible ballroom and meeting space for weddings, conferences, and other events.  We believe The Schoolhouse Hotel showcases the best of West Virginia hospitality and lodging in a completely inclusive atmosphere.

Q3: What are the most difficult obstacles or barriers you face around accessibility and what actions/initiatives are you taking to address them?

The question is not really applicable to our work. The Schoolhouse Hotel is fully accessible and addresses the needs of our guests. We are very proud of being an example to other hospitality operators to also be inclusive.

Q: Who do you follow?  Name an organization/company/individual you look to for ideas or inspiration.  

We follow accelerators focused on disabilities like Multiple https://www.multiplehub.org/ and Enabled Ventures https://www.enableventures.vc/

UK Tour Operator Secures $11 Million in Bookings for Accessible Florida Program

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By Jake Steinman, CEO and founder, TravelAbility

Jake Steinman and Anna-Marie Janssen of Ocean Holidays pose at an exhibit booth.

The numbers are striking: In less than two years Ocean Holidays of the UK has landed more than $11 million in bookings for its new Accessible Florida promotion. We recently sat down with Anna-Maria Janssen, the product director at Ocean Holidays, for an exclusive interview about the groundbreaking program she spearheaded: The  goal of the  initiative is to ensure that every traveler, regardless of their abilities, can experience the magic of the Sunshine State without any barriers.

Q: Where did the idea for the program come from?

A: We’ve always had clients traveling with us who had special assistance requirements. However, about two years ago, we realized that we weren’t doing justice to these clients. Our business philosophy centers around doing the right thing, and it was time to take action. So we set out to create a program that would cater comprehensively to travelers with special needs. 

Q: What sort of research did you do?

A: We spent over a year researching special assistance travel. We spoke to clients who had faced challenges while traveling. What were their concerns? What obstacles did they encounter? Armed with this knowledge, we delved into finding the right partners—accommodations, activities, and transportation—within Florida. 

Our biggest challenge was the lack of information online, which meant we had to contact each individual supplier to make sure they had the right features and services to accommodate each client.  Most challenging of all, were identifying transportation options for wheelchair users, especially airport transfers.

Q:  Were most of your bookings for clients in wheelchairs or were there other special needs they requested?

A: Most clients request assistance for their actual travel journey (i.e at the airport special pre-booked seats, pre-booked airport support.)

Second to that are preferences for the hotel rooms ( i.e rooms on a specific floor, in a specific location.) They would also like us to inform relevant staff members so that people are more patient and kinder … we also have a fair amount of requests for local equipment rentals and information when it comes to accessibility for local attractions.

Q: Were there any surprises about the types of disabilities your clients had?   

A: I was surprised about the volume of clients with unique and individual requirements including cognitive challenges, but I am afraid we do not store any data about the specific disability. 

Q: It sounds like you are meticulous when it comes to the details.

A:  When you book with us, you can rest assured that your special assistance needs are taken care of as we have a coordinator who triple checks that all the suppliers—including transportation, accommodations, and attractions—have all been confirmed well in advance of the booking and are suitable for the clients’ individual requirements.  Then two weeks prior to departure we review the entire itinerary with the clients so there are no surprises.

Truth be told, when launching a new program not everything is perfect from Day 1. We also had a handful of hiccups after launch but we very quickly took any client feedback on board and adapted the program to get us to where we are today. It’s working relationships and getting feedback, listening, and adapting.

The Launch and Impact

In August 2022, Accessible Florida officially launched. Since then, the program has exceeded expectations:

  • £8.7 million GBP  ($11,021,000)  in holidays to Florida have been booked through the program.
  • 4000 passengers have been booked so far.
  • Over 1000 bookings have been made.

In January 2024, Ocean Holidays was recognized for its efforts in making travel more inclusive by being awarded with the inaugural “Travel for All Award” at the Travel Weekly Globe Awards in London. 

Cyclist with an artificial leg under the caption "Accessibility."

Investing in Excellence

Anna-Maria concludes: “It’s crucial for travel agents and travel providers to not be fearful of accessible bookings. It’s one of the reasons we invested in training our accessibility champions, to ensure they have the skills necessary and confidence to give all customers the best experience possible. We’re thrilled with the success of this program so far,  and will continue to learn and develop the initiative as we help more and more customers book their dream Florida holiday. We are also looking to expand our program into other destinations in the future.”

The Accessible Florida isn’t just a program—it’s a promise. A promise that every traveler, regardless of their abilities, can explore Florida’s beaches, theme parks, and vibrant culture with ease.

TravelAbility Trusted: ILA Pro from Translate Live

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Two women on either side of a front desk look at the different screens of the A-frame shaped ILA Pro translation device. Caption: "Someone just needs to step up to ILA, press the button and start speaking.

Translate Live: The ILA Pro merges top-notch software with smart product design

Translation software has made big strides in recent years, thanks in part to AI. Translate Live is setting itself apart from a crowded field of translation services by packaging their software in a very practical format. The ILA Pro features two screens that can be set up back to back in an A-frame that allows two people to have a real-time translated conversation. A perfect accessory for a visitor center, museum, or hotel front desk. The ILA Pro can translate  more than 100 languages including braille and ASL with the ability to connect to human signers. 

Watch the presentation Translate Live’s CEO and founder Peter Hayes submitted for the InnovateAble competition at EMS 2023.

Accessibility Champion: Jill Boggs

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President/CEO, Visit Fort Wayne

Head shot with the caption: "Accessibility Champion: Jill Boggs"

Note: This interview is part of an ongoing series featuring interviews with 24 Champions of Accessibility for 2024 selected and celebrated by TravelAbility.

Q1. When did you begin focusing on accessibility in your destination and what was the impetus for wanting to make your destination more accessible?

Our destination has always been focused on accessibility. Both the city and the county have dedicated departments and employees and there are several nonprofits addressing various accessible missions. One such organization, Turnstone Center for Children and Adults with Disabilities, has been in our community for 80 years. They are a free-standing not-for-profit providing a comprehensive continuum of supportive services serving the unique needs of people with varying disabilities and their families. Turnstone is one of eleven official Paralympic training sites in the U.S. The men’s and women’s goal ball teams live and train on Turnstone’s campus. One program offered is adaptive sports for varying ages. Visit Fort Wayne collaborates with Turnstone to bring in, and serve, adaptive sporting events.

"Turnstone is one of eleven official Paralympic training sites in the U.S."

Our destination has a head start over others regarding where we stand as a supportive, service-oriented community for local and regional residents, and visitors, who have varying abilities.

Q2. What are your main responsibilities and tasks in your organization?

In my administrative role as President/CEO, I work with a team of experts to market and sell the City of Fort Wayne (Indiana’s second largest city) and Allen County as an exceptional destination to visit. In 2022, 8.8 million leisure and group visitors spent $995 million in our communities. We also use industry expertise and leadership, with community collaboration, to develop quality of place for residents and visitors, so Fort Wayne/Allen County can benefit from a vibrant and growing tourism economy. 

Q3. Aside from budget, what are the most difficult obstacles or barriers that you face regarding the advancement of accessibility in your destination? What initiatives have you undertaken to improve accessibility in your destination, and which are you most proud of?

"Being an accessible destination came out loud and clear as the overarching foundation of our 10-year plan."

Last January, we embarked on the process of building our destination’s first tourism master plan. Through the listening and surveying process, residents and visitors provided the loudest voices on the plan’s focus for destination development to grow the local visitor economy. The resounding results of the data received caused the consultants to build into the 10-year plan, a foundational vision, mandate if you will, that building an accessible destination is priority in all 20 initiatives outlined in the final plan. Over 2,200 residents, over 600 visitors, and hundreds of stakeholders participated in naming and ranking initiatives. An accessible destination came out loud and clear as the overarching foundation of the 10-year plan. The opportunity challenge now is putting our plan into action. Out of the 20 initiatives listed in the plan, Visit Fort Wayne is assigned to lead eight, with Accessible Destination as one of them.

Q4. Who do you follow? Name an organization/company/individual you look to for ideas or inspiration. 

John Morris, founder of WheelchairTravel.org. He will be our keynote speaker at our May inaugural Power of Tourism and Hospitality Awards Luncheon. I also follow Wheel the World, Destinations International, and various disability travel focused groups on Facebook. In addition, we rely on our own destination’s disability experts and non-profit organizations as resources.

Q5. What are your plans around accessibility in 2024?

Visit Fort Wayne is forming a task force that will assist us with the accessible destination initiative outlined in the 10-year tourism master plan. This group will advise and support the official launch of this overarching foundation of the plan. Fundraising for a destination accessibility assessment will be a priority. Our goal is to launch the assessment process in late 2024 or early 2025.

Accessibility Champion: Apoorva Gandhi

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Head shot of Accessibility Champion: Apoorva Gandhi

Senior Vice President, Multicultural Affairs, Social Impact and Business Councils, Marriott International

Note: This interview is part of an ongoing series featuring interviews with 24 Champions of Accessibility for 2024 selected and celebrated by TravelAbility.

Q 1. What motivated you to become involved in accessibility and do you have a personal connection to disability? 

I have been connected to disability almost my entire life. One of my oldest and best family friends is deaf as well as my youngest daughter. This fuels my passion to do my part to create a world that is inclusive, empathetic, and welcoming to all. I have seen first-hand the innovative skills of people with disabilities, and I am proud to work to create business inclusion for all.

Q 2.  What is the goal of your organization? 

Marriott International’s goal is to connect people through the power of travel. As part of that, we work to welcome all to our hotels no matter who you are, where you come from, what your abilities are or who you love. We want all to have a sense of belonging when you come through our doors. Additionally, our core values include putting people first and serving our world. One way we do that is through our Serve360 social impact and sustainability global program.

Q3: Aside from budget, what are the most difficult obstacles or barriers you face around accessibility and what actions/initiatives are you taking to address them?  

It is generally important to make sure that when the topic of inclusion arises that the disability community is included. Disability exists across all demographics and backgrounds. I work to ensure that the voices and opinions of this important community are contributed to the venues and discussions that I am in.

Q4. What accomplishments are you most proud of? 

One of the projects I am most proud of is our ‘Room for All’, where we worked with the disability community to listen, try to understand, and practice inclusive design to improve the travel experience for travelers with disabilities. We created an accessible hotel room that was welcoming, elegant, and comfortable. We believe in the idea of ‘nothing about us without us’ and we’re honored to host many travelers of all abilities to our HQ and hotels to listen and learn about accessibility and help us evolve how we inclusively welcome all.

Q5: Who do you follow?  Name an organization/company/individual you look to for ideas or inspiration. 

I am inspired by the example of my parents who came to the United States as immigrants back in the 1960’s. Through the great generosity of the United States and its people, their hard work and sacrifice, they were able to create a life full of opportunity for my sister and me. Their story inspires me and allows me to stand on their shoulders daily and to pay it forward.