TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Hotels

Practical Hacks From the Accessibility Playbook

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Seven years in the making, the Travelability Accessibility Playbook, created in partnership with Destinations International, is an end-to-end toolkit to equip destination organizations on their accessibility journey, enabling them to better welcome and accommodate people with disabilities within their destination. 

Sample Survey for Destination Stakeholders and Hotels

You’d like to include accessibility information on your website, but you’re overwhelmed with where to begin. You can’t possibly visit each site on your own, and you simply don’t have the task force to call in backup. 

The easiest way to get started is with a simple Google Form survey. Rather than asking partners to label themselves as “accessible” or not—language that can create unnecessary anxiety—focus on clear, direct questions. The examples below are tailored to each type of partner to help you gather the details needed to build a strong accessibility landing page. Because the questions are specific and straightforward, partners are more likely to respond and it will be easier for them to provide useful information.

General Questions: 

• Do you have a dedicated and detailed accessibility page on your website?  

• Are people with disabilities included in your marketing materials?  

• Does your website meet web accessibility standards?  

For attractions and tour experiences:  

• Do you have quieter times that people with disabilities may visit?  

• Do you have multiple ways to purchase restaurants? 

• Are your staff trained on guest evacuation requirements in case of emergency? 

• Do you offer vibrating alarm clocks w/ flashing lights on loan? 

Dining: 

• Are your food menus available in large print versions?  

• Does your restaurant offer “quiet spaces” for guests who have auditory or neurocognitive disabilities?  

• Do you offer reading glasses, flashlight or magnifying glass if needed?

A SAMPLE SURVEY FOR ACCESSIBLE HOTEL ROOMS 

Hotel Name: 

Please provide a link to the description of your accessible room on your website:

About Your Beds in Accessible Rooms 

• What is the bed height from floor to top of the mattress? 

• Is the bed height adjustable? 

• Are there bed raisers available upon request to adjust bed heights? 

• What is the height of the space from the floor to the bottom of the bed frame? 

About Your Bathroom in Accessible Rooms 

• What is the height from the floor to the toilet seat? 

• How many grab bars are there around the toilet? 

• What is the height of the grab bars from the floor? 

• Is there a raised toilet seat available upon request? 

• Is there a roll-in shower? 

• How wide is the doorway entrance to the bathroom? 

Bonus Questions: About Your Pool 

• Does your hotel have a pool? 

• Does your hotel have a pool lift?

Accessibility Benchmarks: Why We Must Measure Impact

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By Kristy Durso 

In business, we measure everything. Conversion rates. Guest satisfaction. Revenue per square foot. Occupancy levels. Marketing ROI.

Yet when it comes to accessibility, many organizations still treat it as a one-time expense—something to be “checked off” the list—rather than an ongoing initiative worth tracking and optimizing.

But here’s the question: How can a business or destination truly understand the impact of accessibility if they aren’t charting it?

We track everything else. Why not this?

Accessibility Looks Expensive on the Surface

Installing ramps, adding accessible bathrooms, offering staff training—these all come with line-item costs. And too often, leadership stops the conversation there.

But expenses are only one side of the equation. What about the impact?

  1. How many new guests or clients are we reaching because our spaces are inclusive?
  2. How much longer do visitors stay—and how much more do they spend—when they feel welcome?
  3. How much brand equity and goodwill do we gain by being seen as leaders in accessibility?
  4. How much risk and liability do we avoid by doing this work proactively rather than reactively?

These are measurable outcomes. And they belong on the same dashboards as revenue growth and customer satisfaction.

Charting Accessibility as ROI, Not Just Compliance

 Benchmarks can look different depending on the business or destination:

  1. Hospitality: Track bookings tied to accessibility features (rooms, event spaces, dining accommodations).
  2. Destinations: Measure visitor diversity, length of stay, and spending among travelers with disabilities and their families.
  3. Events & Venues: Monitor attendance, repeat bookings, and sponsorship interest connected to accessible practices.
  4. Workplaces: Record recruitment, retention, and employee satisfaction for disabled and neurodivergent team members.

When you start tracking these numbers, you begin to see accessibility not as a cost center—but as an opportunity.

The Real Bottom Line

Accessibility without measurement risks becoming a symbolic gesture. But when we chart benchmarks, set measurable goals, and analyze outcomes, we shift accessibility into the realm of strategy.

And that’s where it belongs.

Because accessibility isn’t charity—it’s business intelligence. It’s culture-shaping. And it’s the clearest way to build a future where everyone has a seat at the table.

1. Integrate Accessibility Into Existing Dashboards

Don’t reinvent the wheel. If you already have KPIs for revenue, guest satisfaction, or occupancy, add accessibility KPIs to the same reporting tools. Examples:

  • Add “Accessible bookings” as a category in your PMS or CRM.
  • Include “Accessibility satisfaction” as a filter in guest surveys.
  • Track accessibility-related service requests the same way you track loyalty program use. 

2. Tag Accessibility in Customer Data

Simple changes in booking or intake processes make data measurable:

  • Checkbox for accessibility accommodations requested.
  • Optional self-identification fields (“Do you or anyone in your party use accessible features?”).
  • Notes in CRM tied to service delivery (e.g., “ASL interpreter requested” → linked to event satisfaction).

This creates datasets that can be tracked longitudinally.

3. Assign a Dollar Value to Accessibility

Costs are easy to measure. What’s harder—but more persuasive—is quantifying the return:

Calculate incremental revenue tied to accessible bookings.

  • Track repeat business from guests with accessibility needs.
  • Measure group impact: one accessible traveler often brings 3–6 companions.

 When you map these against the initial investment, you shift the conversation from cost to ROI.

4. Pilot, Track, Expand

Start small:

  • Pick one initiative (e.g., training staff on neurodivergent travelers).
  • Track satisfaction and revenue data before and after training.
  • Use that case study to justify scaling initiatives.

This incremental approach makes accessibility progress visible and manageable.

 5. Annual Accessibility Impact Report

 Destinations and businesses should publish the same way they do for sustainability or DEI: 

  • Accessibility investments (costs)
  • Measurable outcomes (usage, revenue, satisfaction)
  • Year-over-year improvement

This transparency builds trust and positions you as a leader.

Why It Works

Through building accessibility into existing systems and applying the same rigor we apply to finance, marketing, and HR, we move the conversation from “it’s too expensive” to “we can’t afford not to.”

Hotel Spotlight: Renaissance Shoals Resort & Spa

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Aerial view of the Renaissance Shoals Resort & Spa with distinctive blue metal roofing and a central domed cupola, set among manicured lawns and mature trees, with a parking area visible to the left. The property overlooks a scenic river landscape with a dam or bridge structure visible in the distance, surrounded by lush greenery under a partly cloudy sky.

Sometimes accessibility comes down to the little things—like a phone call that makes a guest feel truly seen.

At the Renaissance Shoals Resort & Spa, staff recently put their new Wheel the World Academy accessibility training into practice during a group booking. When a guest services employee, Keely Law, noticed that an incoming traveler was visually impaired, she didn’t make assumptions. Instead, she picked up the phone, connected with the traveler, and asked if he would prefer a room by the elevator.

The simple gesture surprised the guest, who shared how grateful he was that someone took the time to check in on his needs before arrival.

This is the kind of next-level customer service that accessibility training inspires—not just awareness, but action. After being equipped with practical tools and sensitivity, the hospitality team has moved beyond compliance to create thoughtful, personalized experiences.

For Renaissance Shoals, it’s proof that small moments can make a big impact—and that accessibility done well is about welcoming and care, not ADA checklists and guesswork.

October What Would You Do? 

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By Jennifer Allen

What Would You Do:  The pool lift’s out of order.

If you’re the hotelier, you’re caught off guard—it worked the last time you checked.

If you’re the guest, you’re frustrated—you wrangled your family, got everyone into swimsuits, and now you can’t even get into the water.

So… what happens next? How should management respond? And what would you do as the traveler on the other side of this?

Here’s what our community had to say…

While it turned out to be a very common issue, we didn’t hear many solutions. A few people suggested calling maintenance and updating the guest when it’s fixed, but in many cases a fix like this won’t happen during the guest’s visit. 

An Instagram response recommended working with a partner hotel that may be willing to share a pool. Kristy Durso thought transferring rooms to the new hotel completely, with some compensation for the trouble, may be the most seamless option.

A disabled traveler said she would ask for help transferring to the floor and then slide into the pool, but getting out is harder and hotel staff may not feel comfortable helping with a physical transfer.

As a disability mom who travels often and has encountered only a handful of working pool lifts, I can validate the concern. Lifts seem like a thoughtful addition to help all enjoy the pool, but they’re not only worthless when they don’t work: they’re misleading. I would prefer to know in advance that the pool wasn’t for us, rather than arrive and find out we can’t use it. I’m not bold enough to ask for any sort of compensation, but I feel like my kids deserve that. It’s a big disappointment when you’re nine. They’d settle for an ice cream bar from the hotel shop.

Kristy Durso came through with a practical solution – the ADAPTS. While the sling may not be a perfect solution, it could be used in a situation like this to safely get the person in and out of the water. 

Overcoming Fears and Engaging Hotels in Accessibility 

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There’s a common anxiety around lawsuits that keeps many DMO partners, especially hotels, quiet, and sometimes even uninvolved, in accessibility efforts. If something is labeled ADA and it turns out it’s not quite, that’s big trouble. And if a room is listed as accessible because it works for most, but a guest shows up and finds it missing what they need—that can stir up more drama than if the info had been left out entirely.

So how do you help partners move past those fears and start sharing accessibility details? Both Toni Bastian of Visit Richmond and Tami Reist of Visit North Alabama have shown that it’s possible – even with hotels.

Bastian shared that “Richmond Region Tourism’s backing of the VisitAble Disability Etiquette and Inclusion Certification makes the training free to complete. That simple step opens doors for conversations about barrier-free access and more guest-friendly hotel spaces. To date, more than 2,500 frontline employees have completed the training.”

Reist took a deeper dive and developed five strategies that have helped North Alabama bring partners on board:

How North Alabama Engages Hotels

Engaging hotels has not been easy, but persistence and trust-building have made the difference.

  • Step One: Education – We started with an email to all hotel partners explaining our partnership with Wheel The World and why it matters.
  • Step Two: Personal Outreach – We followed up with phone calls and personal conversations, reinforcing that this is a gift at no cost to them, fully funded by the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association.
  • Step Three: Building Trust – Some hotel managers feared they might be “turned in” or judged. We clarified that we are here to help them, not hurt them. We used terms like “accessible friendly” rather than legal jargon that can trigger hesitation.
  • Step Four: Proof Through Assessments – Once initial assessments were completed by Wheel the World, we shared real results. Hotels could see that accessibility reviews actually helped them stand out and gave them a cost on how to fix the problems. For those participating they will go on the Wheel the World website and people can book on-line.  Wheel the World uses Expedia as their booking platform.
  • Step Five: Momentum – As a membership-based organization, we leveraged trust and relationships to grow participation. Once a few joined, others followed. We capped at 125 assessments across hotels and attractions, and demand was so strong that we signed another contract with Wheel The World.

Key Takeaways from Reist

Language Matters – Saying “accessible friendly” instead of “inclusive” or “ADA-compliant” makes hoteliers more comfortable.

  • “Accessible” Is Not A Checklist – Bed heights, space dimensions, and real-world usability are not always addressed by ADA standards. A wheelchair is like a car — they come in all sizes. Without exact measurements, travelers may arrive and find the room doesn’t work for them.
  • Franchise-Level Conversations Are Needed – Marriott, Hilton, and other large brands need to be part of the conversation. Adjustable bed heights and expanded accessibility standards could make a profound difference.
  • Stories Change Minds – A general manager with a daughter born with one limb understood immediately why this mattered. Personal connections help overcome 

The Ticket

Hotels will get on board when accessibility feels less like a legal trap and more like an invitation. Support, trust, and proof of value open the doors—compliance alone never will. As Toni Bastian and Tami Reist have shown, when training is made approachable (and free) and when conversations are framed around support without judgement, hotels are not only willing but eager to join in. 

Make it safe, make it simple, and make it worth their while. That’s how accessibility moves from fear to action. 

According to Reist, “This work is about more than compliance — it’s about dignity, independence, and ensuring every traveler can fully experience North Alabama. We are proving that accessibility is good for business, good for communities, and good for the future of tourism.”

A group of eight people stands together in matching black t-shirts with "ACCESSIBLE" text, posing in front of Alabama Mountain Lakes tourism banners. The image features a quote from Tami Reist emphasizing North Alabama's commitment to creating a welcoming destination where accessibility serves as a foundation rather than an afterthought.