TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Tourism

Visual-First Hospitality: Hosting FAM Trips for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Travelers

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By Jennifer Allen

As accessibility is growing in popularity, more and more destinations are eager to hop on the band wagon. In the excitement to be perceived as “accessible,” it’s important to remember that “accessibility” means very different things to different people. For example, a roll-in shower is not only not helpful to a traveler who is blind, it’s an added barrier. How is he to know where the shower entrance is if it’s level with the floor? Coming to terms with the fact that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to accessibility may leave you feeling overwhelmed. Where do you even begin? Thankfully, this is where we can learn from others within the TravelAbility community. There’s always a trailblazer kickstarting new initiatives and helping us to see the world in a new way, and to create a welcome like never before.

Through Wheel the World, Discover The Palm Beaches hosted a Deaf FAM trip to welcome Renca and Dillon, two Deaf influencers. Erika Constantine, SVP Marketing for Discover The Palm Beaches, shared the experience in a recent interview. Joel Barish, co-founder of DeafNation also contributed his insights as a Deaf traveler.

How do you find talent who’s willing to work with you?

Constantine shared, “We worked with WTW to identify talent. Renca is a popular deaf-travel influencer whose content could really highlight the experiences through The Palm Beaches.”

There’s a wide community of disabled content creators who are ready to work with destinations, including those who are a part of the TravelAbility Creator Community. Joel Barish, for example, is a Deaf influencer who has traveled to 108+ countries and filmed over 4,000 videos documenting Deaf experiences worldwide. In addition to heading up one of the largest Deaf communities in the world, he reaches over 100,000 through social media. 

The talent is easy to find and ready to help.

How do you prepare for a FAM tour for people who are deaf or hard of hearing? 

As Joel points out, “Destinations should understand that Deaf travelers are fully capable, independent travelers — we simply access information visually. Preparation is key.”

Constantine agreed. “Not all deaf travelers will be as savvy as Renca and Dillion, and training is key for frontline staff to recognize the needs of each traveler, in order to provide helpful assistance for all those who visit in the future.” 

Joel highlights preparation as, “being ready for sign language access (whether through an interpreter, VRI, or local signers), ensuring visual communication tools are available, and understanding that clear pre-trip communication is essential.

It’s also important to recognize that sign languages are not universal. Each country has its own sign language, so thinking ahead about local resources makes a big difference. Most importantly, approach Deaf travelers with inclusion in mind, not as a special accommodation — accessibility should be integrated into the experience from the start.”

What about the logistics?

The Palm Beaches have so many accessible resorts, attractions, and outdoor activities, that the first step for their team was narrowing down what they could do during a three-day visit. “We wanted Renca and Dillon to experience a taste of what we have to offer all visitors,” Constantine shared. “We collaboratively reviewed appropriate locations with the Wheel The World creative team that would be visually exciting and tell the story of accessibility in The Palm Beaches.”

“We pitched several resorts,” Constantine shared, “and felt The Ben, Autograph Collection Hotel in downtown West Palm Beach would be a fitting homebase. Since The Ben was mapped by WTW, we knew it offered accommodations such as a visual phone and door and fire alarm signals for travelers with hearing needs. We chose several local attractions and restaurants where a member of the staff was available for sign language assistance, like The Norton Museum of Art and Loggerhead Marinelife Center, or provided printed guides, like the Jupiter Lighthouse and Mounts Botanical Gardens.

What are the greatest challenges facing Deaf travelers?

According to Joel, “The biggest obstacle is the lack of sign language content and visual accessibility. Many destinations promote inclusion but rarely include Deaf people in their storytelling or provide sign language information. Tourism videos, welcome briefings, guided tours, and safety instructions are often entirely audio-based.”

The Palm Beaches FAM trip didn’t encounter any major obstacles. “In some locations,” Constantine shared, “like restaurants that didn’t have a staff member who was familiar with sign language, Renca used her phone to type messages or translate conversations. This made communication smooth.”

Joel reminds us that overcoming barriers doesn’t have to be complicated. “Clear visual communication and a willingness to adapt go a long way. Inclusion is less about perfection and more about intention and collaboration.” He recommends things like “Offering flexible communication methods such as speech-to-text apps, written communication, VRI, or local interpreters,” and “Including sign language in promotional and informational content.”

What are the benefits for the destination? 

In addition to extending marketing to the world’s 430 million people living with significant hearing loss, Constantine shared that, “It was truly meaningful to experience the genuine hospitality for which our destination is known through the eyes of travelers such as Renca and Dillon. Seeing the way the front-line staff of our attractions and resorts welcomed them made me feel a sense of pride in our destination and all Discover The Palm Beaches has done to highlight and encourage accessible travel.”

What else should people know before working with people who are deaf on a FAM tour? 

It doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, Constantine shared that, “If you work with WTW and have your venues and attractions mapped, it will be easy to identify the locations that are accessible for all.” Just choose the places that you already know will work, and it will be seamless. Joel also highlighted the power of connecting visitors with local Deaf communities or signers.

  • Find your talent, 
  • communicate to make sure you’re meeting their needs, 
  • highlight all you’ve already created to welcome them, 
  • share your story in a way that’s accessible to all, 
  • and reach your target audience.

Learn more about DeafNation or connect with Joel here: https://deafnation.com/

See the results from Discover The Palm Beaches’ FAM trip below!

Shaping Accessible Travel: Destination A11y Club Members Drive Innovation

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What began as a space to connect around the TravelAbility Playbook has evolved into something far bigger. The Destination A11y Club (DAC) is no longer just sharing ideas. It’s launching pilots, influencing policy conversations, embedding accessibility into education, and building tools that will shape how destinations prepare for 2030 and beyond.

Here’s a snapshot from February’s DAC meeting.

Jake Steinman, Founder, TravelAbility

The 2030 “Moonshot” + Convention Center Pilot

Following a 47-stop listening tour that included meetings with Destination DC and VISIT FLORIDA, Jake shared two major initiatives:

1. TravelAbility Approved Convention Centers (Pilot Launching)

A new program designed to align accessibility with sustainability-level standards. Five DAC DMOs will pilot the program. Coverage from USAE will provide marketing and gauge interest.

2. America 250: Accessibility Handbook

Along with the DAC, TravelAbility is developing an accessibility framework to support America 250 celebrations — with a legacy impact that extends beyond 2026. The goal is to position DMOs as the accessibility hub connecting transportation, planning, disability services, and city leadership.

3. Plug-and-Play Accessibility Guide

TravelAbility has compiled vetted InnovateAble products, affordable, scalable solutions for convention centers, cities, and hotels, creating an actionable menu of improvements tied directly to the 2030 demographic shift.

Destination Updates from the Field

Tami Reist, CEO, Visit North Alabama

Launched a first-of-its-kind accessible adventure guide and distributed $500 micro-grants across her 16 counties to spark tangible improvements—from sensory rooms and Braille signage to automated doors for independent wheelchair access—now compiling the results into a regional booklet tied to America 250. She’s leveraging the initiative to engage congressional and transportation leaders on the coming 2030 accessibility surge, while also pushing the hotel industry to confront unmet demand for accessible rooms and rethink compliance as both an economic and community imperative.

Molly Barbeiri, Visit Tampa Bay

Announced that early bird registration is now open for the upcoming TravelAbility Summit in Tampa, alongside monthly strategy calls with TravelAbility positioning the city as a model accessible destination of the future. As part of that effort, Tampa is working with a the host hotel to transform two ADA rooms into hands-on accessibility showrooms featuring InnovateAble style “catalog” products, inviting hotels and attractions to tour the spaces daily and accelerate adoption across the destination.

Cassie & Rami, Visit Charlottesville

Hosted their third annual “Tourism for All” conference, drawing 125 tourism professionals and centering accessibility with a dedicated panel. Secured a $10,000 grant from Virginia Tourism Corporation to bring Houston Vandergriff of Downs & Towns to the destination for a three-day, history-focused itinerary aligned with America 250. Houston’s project now appears in 100,000 printed visitor guides, which also feature a new accessibility page directing readers online—work that has already inspired Tennessee State Parks to pursue a similar collaboration, with Charlottesville next presenting on accessibility at the Virginia Association of Museums Conference.

Kate Lieto, Experience Grand Rapids

Launched a new AI Accessibility Agent in partnership with Wheel the World, the result of nearly a year of development. The visitor-facing chatbot includes accessibility details for roughly 500 mapped venues—sourced through the local disability network, Wheel the World data, and hosted influencers—and can answer both broad trip-planning questions and highly specific ones, like exact hotel bed heights, with more enhancements still to come.

Claire Mouledoux, Visit Alexandria

Launching a new destination campaign that, for the first time, features a traveler with a visible disability in the primary cast, signaling a meaningful step forward in representation. With new senior operations leader Mary Ronaldo championing accessibility internally, the team is continuing staff-wide training with Visitable and hosting a “Welcoming Travelers with Disabilities” member program this April at Virginia Tech’s Alexandria campus—embedding accessibility across marketing, operations, and membership efforts.

Julie Pingston, Choose Lansing

Launching a walking study with AARP to train stakeholders on infrastructure improvements that benefit both residents and visitors.

Kate Sappell, Travel Oregon

Concentrating on the DOJ’s digital accessibility compliance deadline, supporting partners in meeting WCAG 2.1 AA standards through a statewide webinar and a new “Ask an Expert” program that offers up to five hours of one-on-one consulting with accessibility specialist Jen Macias. The team is also working to better connect physical accessibility assessments with the online visitor experience and will spotlight that progress at the Governor’s Conference in panels including disability advocate Sophie Morgan.

Toni Bastian, Visit Richmond

As host of this June’s TBEX, Visit Richmond created 19 pre-conference tours and ensured each one includes detailed, practical accessibility information on the event website—raising the bar beyond the typical “not ADA” label seen at prior conferences. The team used TravelAbility’s AI Companion to refine clear, respectful language for the descriptions, aligning with TBEX’s broader accessibility programming this year, which includes a keynote including Cory Lee, Leslie Walker, and Phoenyx Powell.

Kitty Sharman, TravelAbility

Nearly 3,000 students have completed an accessibility module based on the TravelAbility Playbook embedded within required coursework, helping scale accessibility education across the next generation of industry leaders.

Hot-Off-the-Press Data | Brian Searfoss, VP Client Engagement, Longwoods International

In partnership with TravelAbility, Longwoods analyzed 3,985 overnight trips (Jan–June 2025).

Key Findings:

  • 18% of U.S. travel parties include someone requiring accessibility services
  • 62% mobility-related
  • 20% hearing
  • 20% vision
  • 18% cognitive/neurodiverse

This is not an occasional traveler segment:

  • 36% take four or more trips annually
  • 58% strongly prefer returning to destinations that prove accessible
  • 80% of travelers with disabilities plan their own trips

Accessibility performance nationally is holding steady — but not improving. Some destinations saw satisfaction decline in 2024.

The takeaway: accessibility isn’t niche. It’s loyalty, frequency, and long-lead planning power.

TravelAbility Announces First-of-Its-Kind Disability Content Creator Database With A Total of 164M Followers

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This year, the TravelAbility research team has developed a first-of-its-kind content creator database, currently identifying 555 verified disability creators with active social accounts across major platforms. The aim is to establish a network of disability influencers who hold trust and influence within their specific disability communities, creating a reliable media resource for travel marketers and serving as a collective voice for advocacy. 

Over the past year, our team has worked to identify creators, collect contact information, and build relationships. The creators in the database create a wide range of content with some focusing specifically on travel and others sharing accessibility through everyday lived experience. Their voices are trusted within disability communities and offer destinations an authentic way to connect. 

As the initiative moves forward, TravelAbility will continue to expand engagement and refine how the database supports creators, destinations and industry partners. 

Snapshot: Disability Creator Representation

Disability Category Verified Creators Estimated Combined Reach
Mobility29267M
Neurodivergent 9952M
Blind/ Low Vision3213M
Deaf / Hard of Hearing359M
Chronic Disease588M
Dwarfism2617M
Mental Illness7 5M
Senior11650K
Speech Impediment 4180K
Invisible Disability673K
Plus Size227K

Why the Database Matters

Disabled and aging travelers are actively seeking information about destinations investing in accessibility. For many within the disability community, travel bloggers and social media creators who share their lived experience serve as trusted sources of guidance when planning trips. Their perspectives provide practical insight into how accessibility features function in real-world settings.

When destinations collaborate with disabled content creators to highlight their accessibility features, they ensure that the people who rely on those features know they are available.

Until now, few structured resources have helped destinations identify disability creators with relevant access needs and established trust within their communities. This initiative helps close that gap.

Creator Engagement: What We’re Hearing

To better understand creator interest, experience, and readiness for destination collaboration, TravelAbility conducted a brief survey with creators contacted through the database.

Response at a glance:

  • 74 creators have responded so far
  • 18.5 million combined followers across respondents

What we’re learning:

  • 58 creators already produce travel or travel-adjacent content
  • 15 creators are interested in entering the travel space
  • 52 creators have never participated in a FAM or press trip, despite strong interest

These early responses point to strong creator engagement and a clear access gap, highlighting an opportunity for more outreach and education.

Initial Success and What’s Next

In its early stages, the Content Creator Database is already fostering new connections within the TravelAbility community. For the inaugural TravelAbility Film Festival, creators from the database submitted content, including several previously unknown to our community—like 3rd-place winner Vineet Victor—whose work was showcased to a room full of DMOs at the Summit. The database also enabled TravelAbility to welcome more disabled travelers to speak and participate in networking sessions, adding a richer tapestry of lived experiences to the Summit.

As we move into the next stage of this project, we plan to create more opportunities to inspire collaboration and deliver real value for all participants.

Rosie Roaming: Learn Through Real Travels of Disabled Content Creators

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By Rosie Dunn

Rosie Dunn smiling and holding up a U.S. passport, wearing a black tank top and gold necklace against a pink background.

Rosie Dunn is a content creator and travel writer who shares online about her travels and experiences as a full-time manual wheelchair user of over 20 years. Rosie has been to 39 states and 20 countries. Her passions include inclusive and stylish design, hotel and resort accessibility, connecting with other disabled women, exploring new places, travel photography, and disability representation. She has earned a B.A. from The University of Notre Dame and a MSc in Disability Studies from University College Dublin. Rosie is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Belmont University in her hometown of Nashville, TN. She will be doing her doctoral capstone in inclusive design. 

@RosieRoaming

Wheelchair Travel Tips

✈️ navigating life & travel on wheels

🗺️ 20 countries, 39 states & counting

My Best & Worst Experiences In Europe So Far

I’ve traveled to 16 countries in Europe in my wheelchair- here are some of my best and worst experiences so far. There are so many great things to see in Europe, so picking “bests” can be subjective. Also, my bad experiences don’t mean the cities aren’t necessarily worth visiting if you’re a wheelchair user!

Worst “Shower Chair”: Hotel Zermama

Reclined lounge-style chair placed inside a hotel shower stall, positioned away from the controls and illustrating an inappropriate and unsafe substitute for a proper shower chair.

My mom and I stayed at Hotel Zermama in Zermatt, Switzerland. We enjoyed our stay, except for their shower accommodations. As a “shower chair”, the hotel provided me with what was clearly a lounge chair. It was in no way appropriate for me to use as a shower chair – it was reclined and the only orientation that it could fit in the shower was facing away from the controls and soaps. When I got to the hotel and saw the monstrosity that they put in my shower, I hopped in to take photos to send to my friends and share with my followers, because it looked absolutely ridiculous. When I was transferring back into my wheelchair, the “shower chair” tipped over and I fell to the ground. Thankfully, I was not injured. I have been using a shower chair for over a decade and this is the first time I’ve ever fallen in the shower. Later that night, I had to take a shower, and had no other choice but to use the shower chair. I did not fall, but I had to have my mom’s assistance with showering because I couldn’t reach anything or transfer safely without her help. This is nowhere near the first time I have encountered an inadequate shower setup when traveling, but it is the most ridiculous.  

Simple shower chairs with a back are easily available for purchase for $60 on Amazon. I do not see an excuse for every hotel to have at least 2 of these for their guests to use. I am a paying customer and should be able to safely take a shower at a hotel! I am tired of poor design and a lack of consideration preventing me from showering independently when I travel. I shouldn’t have to have the help of my mom when a design change (or $60 purchase for a hotel) could completely prevent this outcome and give me some dignity back. Thankfully, I am comfortable with my mom helping me (although it is incredibly frustrating to need her help)- but if I was traveling with anyone else, or alone, I wouldn’t be able to shower safely…

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Learn how to work with Rosie Here

Sweet Home Alabama: Discovering Wheelchair Accessible Gulf Shores

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When I arrived in Gulf Shores for the Alabama Governor’s Conference on Tourism, I knew I’d be talking about accessibility — but what I didn’t realize was how much Alabama itself would teach me about hospitality, community, and joy.

From start to finish, this trip was an incredible blend of meaningful conversation and unforgettable coastal adventure.

The Heart Behind Alabama Tourism

It’s impossible to talk about this trip without mentioning Patti Culp, whose warmth and leadership set the tone for the entire conference. Patti embodies Southern hospitality — thoughtful, genuine, and deeply committed to moving Alabama tourism forward in a way that includes everyone.

And then there’s Kay Maghan from Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism, who created an itinerary that showcased the very best of the Gulf Coast. Every stop was intentional — not just beautiful, but accessible and inclusive. You can see our full itinerary here.

The Lodge at Gulf State Park: Where Accessibility Meets Sustainability

Our home for the week, The Lodge at Gulf State Park, is more than a hotel — it’s a model for what modern, accessible, and sustainable travel can be. Wide pathways, accessible rooms, and thoughtful beach access meant I could fully participate in every experience.

There’s something special about watching the sunrise from a place that feels designed with everyone in mind.

Accessible Adventures in the Sand

One of my favorite parts of the trip was exploring the beach with my Freedom Trax, and of course, my service dog, Gulliver, by my side. We built sand sculptures, made new friends, and even tried our hand at fishing (Gulliver was very interested in the catch!).

These moments capture what accessibility is really about — participation, joy, and choice. It’s not just being there; it’s being part of it all.

Creative Inspiration at The Hot Shop

Another highlight was our visit to The Hot Shop in Orange Beach — a glassblowing studio where we got to design and create our own pieces. Accessibility here wasn’t just physical; it was creative. Everyone was welcomed, encouraged, and guided through the artistic process. Watching my son, Timothy, focus intently on his colorful creation was one of those proud mom moments I’ll treasure.

Wild Encounters and Wonderful People

At the Coastal Alabama Center for Ecotourism, Timothy met an owl — and judging by the smile on his face, I’m pretty sure that moment made his whole trip. Experiences like these make travel not only educational, but transformative.

I had the chance to meet Miss America during the conference! Her grace and kindness were the perfect reminder that leadership and advocacy come in all forms — and that inclusion is beautiful at every level.

Reflecting on an Accessible Gulf Coast

This trip reminded me that accessibility doesn’t take away from the experience — it enhances it. When destinations make inclusion a priority, they don’t just open doors for travelers with disabilities; they enrich the entire community.

Thank you, Alabama, for showing what’s possible when hospitality meets heart.

Thank you, Patti, Kay, and everyone who made this trip unforgettable.

And thank you, Gulf Shores — for the sunshine, the memories, and the hope that every beach can be for everybody.

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