TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Expert Q&A

How Choose Lansing Chose Its New Name and Its Focus on Accessibility: Q & A with Julie Pingston, President and CEO of the DMO

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The DMO's new logo: Choose Lansing with Choose in bright orange and Lansing in big blue letters. The tagline below reads Plan on Something Greater

Julie Pingston is not one to coast or think small. She and her team at Choose Lansing just unveiled a new name, a new logo, and new taglines based on nearly a year of research and design. And the unveiling was no soft rollout. How about halftime of a Michigan State football game? But Julie is on to the next huge project. In a few weeks, the DMO will host their inaugural accessible travel summit. TravelAbility Insider Editor Dan Tobin was fortunate to catch a few minutes with Julie to talk about how to capture the highlights of a diverse region, the passion that drives her commitment to accessibility, and what she has learned from a year in the Destination A11y Club.

DT: I really love your new logos and I thought it was great that you explain the thinking behind the changes on your website. Why did you decide to do that?

JP: We worked almost a year on the rebranding and we had gone through such an extensive process and we had come to an outcome that we were so proud of. We wanted to explain everything that went on behind it so that people could understand some of the choices we made. Our name is now Choose Lansing instead of Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is a lot shorter for one thing. Our research told us that when people are planning things for our region they value how we partner with them and help them make choices. So that ties into the word “choose.” And we are a regional organization so the tagline “Plan on something greater” represents the idea of the entire region. And we used a pinpoint icon with the star inside to show we’re a capital city. Then the different colors showcase that we have a lot of diversity and different options here. So it was all very purposeful. 

The day after we launched the new name and logo, we showed it in our Spartan football stadium during the first home game and 75,000 people got to take a look at it. And the crowd liked it so that was very exciting.  

DT: I’m hearing a couple of layers of meaning in the logo design. One is the idea of diversity. It also seems to speak to your flexibility and your customization, that you provide choice

JP: That’s exactly what we’re trying to convey.

DT: What were the key ideas that came out of the research?

JP: You know, we are a destination with a big 10 university and a state capital and a lot of other resources. How do we best portray all of that? That’s how we came up with the central idea of choosing.  If you come here we’ve got lots of things to choose from; we’ve got lots of opportunities. We have trails and outdoor recreation and we also have urban destinations. The main point to our clients is that we are going to be engaged with you at all levels and really give that positive experience.

DT: How did you get started with the accessibility assessments and your focus on autism? 

JP: We started with our work with accessibility related to neurodiverse opportunities. A number of our attractions and other locations were looking to add programming so we proactively brought people together within the community to find tools create programming for those traveling on the autism spectrum or with other neurodiversities. Our job as the destination marketing organization is to let people know that we have all these opportunities here. We have a couple of programs that were drawing people from throughout the state. But we wanted to  find more things for those families to do so they are not always going to the same place every time they come here. And our attractions really did step up and every single one of them basically created something that was pointed toward more neurodiversity. 

We then just put out the word out in the marketplace  that we had all of these opportunities. We also had the opportunity to add training to our front line staff so we partnered with the Michigan Autism Association and residential options and they trained more than 1000 people so far on how to help guests with accommodations and understanding all the different needs that travelers might have. That really gravitated throughout the community because suddenly we were not being asked to train exclusively our hospitality businesses but we were being asked to train all kinds of businesses. That was six years ago and then we were intent on making our destination accessible in all ways and for all needs. The pandemic slowed us down a little bit but we were always very intent on moving forward to provide opportunities and information about all the accessibility points in our community. 

On October 26 we are doing our inaugural tourism accessibility summit for all of our hospitality partners and anybody who really wants to learn how to heighten the guest experience by providing information and just doing more being more aware.

DT: How are you measuring the results of all these great initiatives? Are you looking at the bottom line or are you looking more at customer service and satisfaction?

JP: Both definitely. We have seen more people travel here looking for these resources that we have put into place. Some of our attractions do track where their visitors come from that participate in the programming and we have seen an increase in the number of visitors from further away and in and staying over. I always think of something Jake Steinman says:  At some point we’re all going to be in need, having mobility issues and needing all the accommodations we can find. So I just think of this work on accessibility as planning for the future.

DT: Choose Lansing was invited to join TravelAbility’s Destination A11y Club last year. What are you taking away from that group so far?

JP: So much. It’s been very beneficial to us as a destination to be able to have the resources of the other members so that we can ask questions or share an idea. TravelAbility has also created a wonderful playbook for DMOs that we’ve been able to use locally with our partners. You know, you don’t know what you don’t know and then you start going through this playbook and all of a sudden they’re discovering things that they never thought about, It gives information in a very easy to digest format. Everyone can take that information and then make change within their venue or their property or their attraction. We use the playbook as a guideline to steer people and that’s how we got to the tourism summit where we can pull all that together as a destination and showcase for everybody. 

DT: It sounds like you’re playing a key leadership role in this work of raising awareness. But you’re also playing a convener role of shining a light on what venues and attractions are doing and bringing them together. 

JP:  That’s absolutely accurate. Our goal is to just bring all the things that are happening together so that we all can share and create that destination wide experience for all that come here. It’s not like you can only go to this hotel or this attraction to find that experience. You can go anywhere in the region. 

DT: Is there any particular moment you can  point to that crystallizes why you do this work? 

JP: Our theater does sensory-inclusive performances. The first one I went to I met several families and every single one of them said that they had never had the opportunity to go out together as a family before. I have a good friend who has a son with autism and she has taught me that when her son was young she could never go to a theater or a museum or any kind of art gallery. And now you know those opportunities are available because of the work that we’ve done for those on the autism spectrum. And when I see these families at the theater and the children are all dressed up everyone looks so excited . . .  it’s a beautiful experience and that’s how I know that we are on the right path. I tear up. 

Our Takeaway: Julie Pingston is a standout in our field–a great leader, bridge-builder, and advocate.


Utilizing Influencers to Market Your Destination’s Accessibility

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photo ofTravel Influencer panel at the Emerging Markets Summit Kristy Durso in a wheelchair wearign red dress adn cowboy boots, Cory Lee in his power wheelchair wearing khaki pants adn a green shirt, Chelsea Bear on her scooter wearing a floral printed shirt, Jennifer Allen sitting in a chair wearing a white sweater and floral print jumpsuit, Houston Vandergriff wearing brown pants and a white shirt

(L-R): Kristy Durso, Incredible Memories; Cory Lee, Curb Free with Cory Lee; Chelsea Bear, The Real Chelsea Bear, Jennifer Allen, Wonders within Reach; Houston Vandergriff, Downs and Towns.

By Jennifer Allen

Disability travel influencers are changing the face of inclusion in travel. They offer destinations a unique opportunity to simultaneously promote and improve inclusion. Four influencers of diverse backgrounds came together at the 2023 Travelability Summit to share insights on how a DMO can partner with influencers for growth and change.

Jennifer Allen, of Wonders Within Reach shared “First, it’s a celebration of an accessible destination. I love to share places that families like mine can do with minimal obstacles. That’s worth sharing. Second, I create content for better representation and inclusion. We’re naturally drawn to places that reflect who we are – and a place that showcases wheelchair users shows me that it’s a place I can visit! So we create media for the destination’s content as well as for our own page. Third, we love to help improve inclusion as we go. A lot of destinations aren’t sure how accessible they are or are not, so we give feedback as we go, so that the destination can improve. We use a combination of things from video to photos to blog posts and articles.”

These strategies were consistent across panelists, showing the trifecta of change initiated by partnering with disability travel influencers – in addition to creating DMO marketing materials, they bring their own audience to the mix and offer constructive feedback to improve the visitor experience for all.

Cory Lee Woodard – Founder of Curb Free Cory Lee – Wheelchair Travel

Since starting his disability travel blog ten years ago, Cory Lee has visited every continent and built an impressive platform of information for wheelchair travelers. He is often the go-to for wheelchair travel information, because of his vast experiences. Facebook is his most engaged platform, with 65k followers. He has similarly high numbers on Instagram.

His favorite DMO partnerships are when he’s offered unique experiences, like adaptive skiing and rock wall climbing. It’s great to be able to experience, and showcase, a world of travel that goes beyond the standard museums and tourist attractions.

Cory has an organized pricing structure, starting at $1,000 a day, that makes it easy for DMOs to assemble a partnership.

Chelsea Bear – Content Creator behind Real Chelsea Bear – Scooter Travel

While Chelsea may seem newer to the scene of content creation,she grew her social media from 1K to 315K+ followers organically in just two years Chelsea. She has built a large following through sharing life through the lens of Cerebral Palsy, and she recently hit 100k subscribers on YouTube. More recently, she has begun utilizing that platform to share accessible travel adventures. She brings that same perspective to the travel industry, highlighting accessibility and improving inclusion through representation.

What she appreciates most from DMO’s is when they’re open to feedback when it comes to accessibility. “I never expect anywhere to be fully 100% accessible, but the most important thing to me is when the people are willing to listen and make changes. For example, I went to a restaurant once that didn’t have a ramp at the front so instead I had to go into the building through a backdoor that was completely out of the way. The owner took my feedback and worked with the city to get approval to add a ramp along the curb to create an easier access point for people who use wheelchairs. I think it makes such a difference!”

Her travel content follows the theme of her lifestyle content – sharing genuine and authentic content that creates a comfortable space for productive conversations.

Chelsea’s costs vary, since she works with each destination to create a customized approach based on the DMOs current marketing needs. She’s typically willing to work with different DMO’s and squeeze in as much as she can for their allotted budget, but it really depends overall.

Houston Vandergriff – Founder of Downs and Towns – Intellectual Disabilities Travel

Houston’s specialty is top notch photography. He’s traveled to 29 countries, 49 states, and all 95 Tennessee counties. His biggest platform is TikTok, with over 417k followers, and more than 7 million likes. He travels with his mom, Katie, and they’ve had front row seats to the changing attitudes of disability inclusion in the travel world. 

They’re favorite part of working with DMOs is contributing to the growing awareness for people with disabilities. They spoke about the importance of awareness in changing attitudes. Katie expressed that, “Showing a diverse range of travelers lets everyone be able to imagine themselves able to do the same thing. It’s empowering on an entirely different level.”  

When asked about their price scale, Houston’s mom, Katie, responded, “We’ll travel for food, and our bags are always packed!” They’re an incredible team, always up for an adventure.

Jennifer Allen – Founder of Wonders Within Reach – Caregiver and Family Travel

When Jennifer received the diagnosis that her son would never walk, she envisioned herself spending the rest of his life trapped in their playroom. She had no idea that they could live life to the fullest with a wheelchair, because she had never seen someone else doing it. As she began to rediscover the world with a wheelchair user, she began to share the experience so that other parents wouldn’t have to learn the hard way. She built her audience through connecting with other parents who are trying to figure out how to get back to exploring and has an audience of 20k between Instagram and returning blog readers. 

Jennifer enjoys featuring the family fun side of accessible destinations, from trails and outdoor activities, to children’s museums and theme parks.

Jennifer’s prices are as diverse as her packages, since she does a combination of photography, video, UGC, content creation, and writing. Single posts for attractions start at $175.

An influencer campaign is a great marketing opportunity, since they offer a package deal of model/photographer/videographer, and sometimes writer, for one price. Influencers also  automatically extend the reach of a destination’s audience through their own connections within the disability community. All four influencers agreed that their favorite partnerships were with DMOs who showed a genuine interest in inclusion. Cory Lee even had an experience when he was asked to present his findings to the destinations leaders after his trip. They would all love to see this become a normal part of collaborations, because that’s where change comes from.

The Problem: Reaching the disability community with marketing efforts and representing diversity.

The Solution: Working with disability influencers to improve accessibility and spread the word.

Cory Lee:

Chelsea Bear:

Houston Vandergriff:

Jennifer Allen

  • Family travel (caregiver)
  • Over 12k IG followers and wide blog readership
  • Varied pricing by package, starting in low $100’s
  • jennifer@wonderswithinreach.com 

Exploring Sustainable Travel: Insights from Andrew Leary, Director of Sustainable Tourism and Partnerships, Leave No Trace

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Andrew Leary headshot
Andrew Leary

By Jennifer Allen

In a recent interview, Andrew Leary, the Director of Sustainable Tourism and Partnerships, shared valuable insights about the intersection of sustainable travel and the post-pandemic travel landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a fresh perspective to sustainable travel, transforming how we view outdoor spaces, communities, and the travel experience itself. Leary’s views shed light on the evolution of sustainability efforts within the United States and beyond.

During the pandemic, people worldwide embraced the outdoors like never before. Leary acknowledged the widespread increase in outdoor activities, highlighting how individuals from diverse backgrounds found solace and connection in natural settings. This surge in outdoor engagement underscored the importance of responsible recreation and stewardship. Leary noted that while positive impacts were evident, negative effects also took place due to the influx of visitors.

He emphasized the growing trend of destination communities and travel professionals taking on active roles in promoting sustainability and stewardship. This involvement aligns with the broader shift towards a more holistic understanding of sustainability, moving beyond the focus solely on outdoor spaces. Fraser explained that sustainability now encompasses considerations for communities, destinations, and various facets of travel.

Leary encouraged everyone, regardless of their level of involvement, to contribute to sustainability efforts. He emphasized that any effort, no matter how small, contributes positively to the cause. The past five years have witnessed a notable change in the sustainability landscape in the United States. The lens through which sustainability is viewed has expanded to encompass not only outdoor spaces but also the well-being of communities and destinations. Similar to making progress in disability inclusion, the key is to start talking about it, and never stop.

Diverse terms such as ecotourism and regenerative tourism have emerged, signifying different dimensions of sustainable travel. Leary introduced the concept of regenerative tourism, which places the community at the center of its focus. This approach prioritizes the well-being and development of local communities, creating a more inclusive and meaningful travel experience. This shift towards community-centered sustainability is shaping the trajectory of global sustainable tourism, including within the United States.

Leary also shed light on the role of various entities in fostering sustainability on a larger scale. He highlighted the importance of federal agencies, local governments, and organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. These entities collaborate to promote sustainable practices across the travel industry, envisioning a future where sustainability is not only a consideration but also a core principle.

As the interview with Andrew Leary demonstrates, the pandemic acted as a catalyst for reimagining sustainable travel. It heightened awareness of the interconnectedness between outdoor spaces, communities, and the travel experience. Leary’s insights underscore the importance of a collective effort in embracing sustainability, regardless of one’s level of involvement. With the evolution towards community-centered sustainability and the collaboration of various stakeholders, the travel industry is moving towards a more inclusive, responsible, and regenerative future.

The interview with Andrew Leary provided valuable perspectives on the evolving landscape of sustainable travel. His insights emphasized the significance of responsible recreation, community involvement, and the broader understanding of sustainability. As travel professionals, communities, and destinations unite in their commitment to sustainability, the vision of a barrier-free world where all individuals can partake in meaningful travel experiences becomes more achievable than ever before.

The Problem: Ever increasing need for sustainable travel

The solution:

  • Destination communities and travel professionals are actively promoting sustainability beyond outdoor spaces.
  • Every effort, no matter how small, contributes positively to sustainability, akin to progress in disability inclusion.
  • Regenerative tourism focuses on community well-being, creating an inclusive travel experience.
  • Collaboration between entities like federal agencies and local governments promotes sustainable practices in the travel industry.
  • The pandemic highlighted the interconnectedness of outdoor spaces, communities, and travel experiences.
  • Community-centered sustainability and stakeholder collaboration drive the industry towards inclusivity, responsibility, and regeneration.
  • Andrew Leary’s insights stress responsible recreation, community involvement, and a comprehensive sustainability understanding.
  • Commitment from travel professionals, communities, and destinations brings a barrier-free travel vision closer to reality.

Meet Kathy Martinez: Expedia’s New VP of Disability Inclusion was Obama’s Assistant Secretary of Labor

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Kathy Martinez come from a large family of LatinX heritage. Her parents did not have much of a formal education and their English skills were poor when she was growing up. When Kathy was eight months old, they discovered that she probably would never be able to see. This is Kathy’s story.

Our Takeaway: The advancement of people with disabilities in the travel industry management structure bodes well for the future health of the industry.

How Visit Mesa’s Accessibility Outreach Became the Catalyst for Culture Change

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Visit Mesa logo.

TravelAbility recently sat down with Alison Brooks, Director of Destination Experience & Advocacy at Visit Mesa, to discover more about Mesa as the first autism-friendly city in the U.S. The advancement in disability inclusion that Allison has brought to Visit Mesa and the community is serves are an example for other CVBs to follow.

Alison Brooks headshot.

Many families with autism are hesitant to travel. How comfortable do you think they would be in Mesa and why?

Alison: Families should feel very comfortable to come to our city. Autism was the starting point for everything that we’ve been doing. Visit Mesa, along with 60 local businesses and over 4000 people are autism certified, so families with an autistic member will feel welcomed here, safe, and comfortable. When planning a visit, people can go to our website and access all the information they might need: how do I get from here to there, or what places are autism certified, etc. Our virtual tours allow people to get that feeling of a place, to know before they go.

What are the some of the on-demand resources available in Mesa? 

Alison: The hidden disability sunflower program uses a bright green lanyard, which people can get at major hotels and attractions. It identifies the wearer as having a hidden disability, and might need extra time, patience, or care. We also have aira, which is a visual interpreter app for people with low vision or blindness. The app helps them if they have questions as they move about the city; they can get live help and answers through it. We just signed a contract with Able Eyes. Many local businesses have a sticker with a QR code on their exterior, when scanned, people can access a virtual tour of that business. We offer those videos on our website too. Also, any certified autism centers (CAC’s) have sensory guides, which indicate if the place will be loud, or have a lot of lights or other stimuli.

That’s a lot of robust assets. How did that all come about and how did you get approvals to do that with your stakeholders?

Alison: Well, it’s not just the right thing to do to make sure that people feel welcomed, but it’s a good business decision. Everyone wants to travel and explore but some people need a bit of extra assistance. I also want to note that our tagline is city limitless. Mesa is a big city, but there’s a lot to do just outside of our borders, so we also market outer destinations—lakes, beautiful trails, and all of these cool things to do. We want you to feel limitless here. People with disabilities should be able to do all those same things. It should be a level playing field as much as we can make it. 

How did you uncover all these accessible features from your different attractions? And how do you promote this great supply of accessibility to families with autism? 

Alison: We reached out and found that a lot was already in place, especially with attractions like museums, so it was easy to gather that info, with a bit of time and some pushing. It’s been great that all of those we’ve partnered with promote us on their platforms. We also work with influencers—some of them have very dedicated followings. 

You’ve sort of become America’s most accessible city, and you’ve changed the culture through this process. Plus, you wove accessibility into Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), which is kind of where it belongs, because it’s all about being inclusive for everyone. Why is this important to Mesa?

Alison: DE&I is a hot topic. Everybody wants to travel, be included, and feel welcomed. So, when we asked a partner to become autism certified, we highlighted that it would help demonstrate their commitment to being inclusive and support our mission of “City Limitless.”

That culture change happened through your training of all these 4000 people around autism and the awareness you’ve created. And the byproduct is that you’ve changed the culture of the destination. How does that feel?

Alison: It feels incredible. The pride coming from residents is almost overwhelming. I’m sure people were thinking about inclusivity before we began, but it’s nice to be the catalyst for that. I think about the memories that are being created. I couldn’t tell you what gift I gave my kids for their last birthdays. But I can tell you about every vacation we took together, the feelings we had, and all those memories we created. To be able to facilitate that for someone else—someone who may have thought they couldn’t travel—that’s everything.