TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Travel Industry People

Community News

by

New Wheel the World verifications, accessibility awards, and TravelAbility partners highlighted as they lead the way in welcoming through accessibility

Accessibility and the Great Outdoors: Empowering All to Explore Natural Beauty

by

With less than a week until the 7th annual TravelAbility Summit in one of the most beautiful outdoor spaces on the planet, it seemed fitting to share this summit throwback on welcoming all into the great outdoors.

National Park Service Accessibility: From Compliance to Experience

Presenter: Jeremy Buzzell – National Park Service (NPS)
Mission: Make NPS more accessible not just by ADA standards, but by improving real visitor experiences.

🔹 00:30 | What is the NPS & Jeremy’s Role

  • 400+ park units (only ~60 are “National Parks”)
  • Jeremy is part of PAVE: Park Accessibility for Visitors and Employees
  • Offers training and guidance—not authority or funding

🔹 02:50 | From Civil Rights to Tourism Mindset

  • Shift from a “compliance lens” to visitor experience lens
  • Adopts Sage Inclusion’s three pillars:
    • Information
    • Facilities
    • Customer service

🔹 06:15 | Pillar 1: Accessible Information

  • Focused on improving trip planning
  • Moves away from vague terms like “accessible bathroom”
  • Example: detailed vs. generic descriptions of facilities

Tools & Resources:

  • 10:05 | Campground Information Standards
  • 11:02 | National Accessibility Website with map and direct park links
  • 13:20 | Examples of upgraded park website descriptions

🔹 16:00 | Trail Info & Adaptive Hiking

  • “Accessible hiking” = modifying trail
  • “Adaptive hiking” = user brings gear, needs detailed info
  • Trail data includes slope, surface, grade, etc., but also needs location-specific clarity

🔹 20:00 | Pillar 2: Customer Service

  • Common barrier: staff reactions, not terrain
  • Emphasizes:
    • 21:45 | Understanding nontraditional mobility devices
    • 23:15 | Handling service animals appropriately
    • 24:30 | Accommodating neurodiverse visitors

🔹 26:30 | Pillar 3: Facilities

  • No separate “accessibility budget” — it must be integrated
  • Look at entry-to-exit experiences, not isolated fixes
  • Follow where money is already going, then improve accessibility there

🔹 28:00 | Final Message: Focus on Success

Promote what’s working. Help users say:
“I want to kayak — where can I go?”
…Not: “Is Yellowstone accessible?”

Congrats to AbleVu and CurbFreeCoryLee on Launching “VU From the Curb Consulting”

by

AbleVu, best known for its information-rich platform featuring virtual tours, photos, accessibility features, and anonymous Q&A, makes it easy for visitors of all abilities to research businesses before they arrive. Meanwhile, Cory Lee, through his widely recognized CurbFreeCoryLee platform, has been inspiring and educating audiences for more than a decade with firsthand stories of wheelchair-accessible destinations around the globe.

Together, they’ve created a powerhouse in building and promoting accessibility. Their new joint venture, VU From the Curb Consulting, is designed to help destinations worldwide move beyond minimum ADA compliance and create spaces that welcome travelers with both visible and invisible disabilities.

Together, Cory Lee and Meagan bring heaps of data and lived experience to the table. VU From the Curb Consulting will partner with DMOs, hotels, attractions, and other travel businesses to ensure accessibility isn’t just an afterthought, but an integral part of the visitor experience.

Overcoming Fears and Engaging Hotels in Accessibility 

by

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.

Fora Travel Sparks Accessibility Movement for Travel Advisors

by

By Jennifer Allen

Booking a luxury vacation should be a seamless process. Unfortunately, for those with accessibility needs, even the most high-end experiences can fall short in ways that make travel unnecessarily difficult—or even impossible. Karen Morales, a seasoned traveler, was shocked by the gap in accessible travel options when she became a wheelchair user in 2020. “I had already been to 45 countries before using a wheelchair,” she shares. “What I found really quickly was that even if I was booking the Four Seasons, I would show up and something would be hugely wrong—like a suite with a full staircase.”

The system, as she puts it, is inherently broken. But instead of accepting the status quo, Morales set out to change it.

Building a Program to Fill the Gap

“I needed to find a way to have influence, so I started interviewing with host agencies to see how I could disrupt and improve travel planning.” When she met with Fora in 2023, the company was still a startup—but they shared her vision. Within weeks, she was in conversations with the executive team, who immediately saw the need for a structured approach to accessible travel planning. Together, they built a certification and training program designed to educate travel agents, improve industry standards, and ultimately create better experiences for travelers with accessibility needs.

The Missing Market: Luxury Without Limitations

A common misconception in the travel industry is that accessibility equates to a clinical or downgraded experience. But, as Morales points out, travelers with disabilities don’t want to compromise on quality.

People don’t want to downgrade—they want luxury. I’m a person who wants a luxury trip, and I happen to use a wheelchair. Don’t make me feel like ‘other’ or less.”

The demand is there. As more travelers age into disability, the need for accessible, high-end experiences will only grow. “There’s a self fulfilling loop where destinations don’t market what they have, so people don’t know about accessible offerings, so they don’t ask, so there’s no perceived demand.” Fora’s program seeks to break that cycle by equipping travel agents with the knowledge to both advocate for and book truly accessible experiences.

Training and Certification: Raising the Bar

The Fora accessibility training program is built on the expertise of travelers who have firsthand experience navigating the challenges of accessible travel. “We’re recruiting and training existing employees with experience traveling with a disability—whether it be hidden, mobility-related, or neurodivergent, food allergies, etc.,” Morales explains. “We’re sharing our black book and slowly building training with travel agents, ensuring we meet the needs of travelers while influencing the supplier level.” There are so many nuances in disability travel, and agents need to be prepared for the types of requests that might come up, and how to find answers. Where can a guest with innumerable food allergies go and have the chef create a custom menu? Will they have to remove their orthotics to enter the temples in Thailand?

The program is open to all travel agents, with certification requiring multiple steps: attending accessibility trainings, passing an exam, and creating a portfolio that includes successful bookings for travelers with accessibility needs. Agents must also complete property reviews to demonstrate that they can apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios.

Beyond the training, Fora is embedding accessibility into its broader operations. Accessibility information is now a required part of all FAM (familiarization) trips. Fora’s Friday destination trainings on social media now feature accessibility as a core component.

Transforming the Travel Industry

Fora’s impact extends beyond just training agents; it’s influencing suppliers and destinations as well. “Suppliers are now sending their own offerings to us,” Morales notes. The program encourages accommodations and tour operators to rethink how they cater to travelers with accessibility needs with a focus on scaling and providing better value. A free upgrade is worthless to guests who need an accessible room. What can you offer instead? They’re teaching ways to be proactive – like offering in-room breakfast or providing beach wheelchairs. “You have a family coming who needs a beach wheelchair? Don’t make them rent one. Buy one,” she says. “They did—and they thought it was beautiful to see me playing with my kids.”

The approach is working. Suppliers are seeing the return on investment as demand for accessible travel services becomes more visible. 

A Future Without Barriers

For Morales, this initiative is deeply personal. “Having a degenerative disease, being in a wheelchair was my worst-case scenario. I thought I wouldn’t be independent or free—that my life would get smaller. But without my wheelchair, that was my reality. I was too afraid to go anywhere because of falling. The chair is how I became unlimited.”

Her hope is that the Fora training program will ensure that no one has to choose between a love of travel and accessibility. “Everything is possible,” she says. “People who love to travel should be able to continue doing that through the trajectory of their life—no matter what nuances pop up along the way. And our operators, who are dedicated to this, will make travel happen for everyone, no matter what’s going on.”

At its core, the program isn’t just about logistics—it’s about joy. “You don’t get anywhere by constantly fighting,” Morales says. “No one wins that way.

We spend endless hours talking about people who want to travel and what we need to do to make it work. Let’s shift the conversation. How can we make the joy erupt?”

With the Fora accessibility training and certification program, that joy is finally within reach for more travelers than ever before.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Your name and email will never be sold to third parties.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Your name and email will never be sold to 3rd parties.