TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Travel

Accessibility Champion: Alison Brooks

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Vice President, Destination Experience & Advocacy, Visit Mesa

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

A: Mesa became the first-ever Autism Certified City (IBCCES) in 2019. The response was so very positive, that we soon realized that inclusion through accessibility was a community shared value and we knew that we wanted to further expand accessibility through technologies, programs and education that would make a better experience for our visitors and residents alike.

Q: What are your main responsibilities and tasks in your organization?

A: I oversee our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility efforts, our partnership program and assist our CEO with governmental affairs.

Q: Aside from budget, what are the most difficult obstacles or barriers that you face regarding the advancement of accessibility in your destination?

A: In a city so large (over 500K population), along with over 4 million visitors, the most challenging thing is bringing awareness to the many offerings we have in Mesa. The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program, Aira, Wheel the World partnership, autism certification, and Threshold 360 virtual tours from the accessibility perspective, are all fantastic ways that help people prepare for and enjoy their experience while in Mesa.  We do advertise these programs regularly through many platforms, as well as share them on our website and social media, but it still can be difficult to get the word out!

Q: What initiatives have you undertaken to improve accessibility in your destination, and which are you most proud of?

Quote: Drip learning will be a huge focus for us in 2024.

A: The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program, Threshold 360 virtual tours, Aira, Wheel the World and Able Vu partnerships, and autism certification are all programs we’ve put into place for our destination. It’s hard to choose one that I’m most proud of, but I would say that I’m proud that Visit Mesa was the first to partner with many of these programs and work side-by-side to help implement their product into a destination. Becoming the first Verified Destination through Wheel the World was definitely icing on the cake.

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

A: Visit Tampa Bay does an amazing job with their accessibility and storytelling of inclusion overall! Of course, I have to give a “shout-out” to Travelability, as Jake Steinman and his team continue to make a profound impact on destinations becoming more accessible.

Q: What are your plans around accessibility in 2024?

A: We will continue to measure engagement with the programs we have in place now. Additionally, drip- learning will be a huge focus for us, as I strongly feel that education creates confidence for our partners to better serve guests with disabilities. I cannot share yet, but I can say we are working on something that could positively impact a lot of visitors and residents in the very near future.

TravelAbility Welcomes Eight New Advisory Board Members

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As evident from this jam-packed newsletter, TravelAbility is growing. In addition to launching new partnerships and initiatives, we are broadening and deepening our leadership by expanding our advisory board with a stellar group of executives, advocates, and industry insiders:

Suzanne Edwards, Head of Accessibility Standards, Airbnb. She is a wheelchair user and a surfer/para-athlete who will help Airbnb prepare for hosting Paralympians in 2024. Read more about Suzanne.

Curt Cottle, Senior Policy Advisor, National Tour and Travel Office (NTTO) . He represents the travel industry’s voice within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Read more about Curt.

Lesly Simmons,  Head of Community Innovation, Amazon. She is a pioneer in the event industry who created and curated impactful experiences for Amazon’s events division. Read more about Lesly.

Chris Collinson, Entrepreneur and Investor. He founded Connect and grew it into a strong leader in the meetings and events industry over 20 years, before retiring.  Read more about Chris.

Sophia Hyder Hoch, Chief Diversity Officer, Destinations International. She is our main contact as we work with DI to make accessibility available to all their 700+ destinations. Read more about Sophia.

Jason Holic, Sr. VP, Operations and Community Involvement/former politician, Experience Kissimmee. He has shown his ability to provide TravelAbility with insights on how to use data and creativity to motivate partners to adopt accessibility. Read more about Jason.

Alexander Hauerslev Jensen, Accessible Partnerships, Google, who helps create pathways to Google products that enhance the experiences of users with disabilities. Read more about Alexander

Rebcca Stair Gill,  VP Business Development, TravelAbility and publisher of Accessible Journeys.  She is a skilled marketer and builder of strategic, branded, social content partnerships. Read more about Rebecca.

View the full advisory board here.

UK Tour Operator Becomes the First in the Country to Offer British Sign Language Interpreters

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Sign language interpreter signing in front of a background image of smiling passengers beside a cruise ship

A great tour company is all about access—access to information, expertise, and assistance when things go wrong. TUI, a leading UK tour operator, is extending that level of access to the Deaf and hard of hearing community providing sign language interpreters who connect travelers with TUI agents.  The free service is the result of a game-changing partnership between TUI and SignLive, which houses the Assisted Travel Team that is available seven days a week via an app or a browser.

“We’re delighted to be working with TUI to make travel more accessible for Deaf people,” said Fiona Mackay, COO of SignLive. “This partnership makes communication smoother and the overall experience of going on holiday much easier for British Sign Language users. Customers can travel with confidence knowing they can communicate via an interpreter throughout their journey.” Read more.

Our TakeAway: This is a major breakthrough in accessible travel that will blaze the trail for other deaf tour programs.  And it can be easily replicated as a new niche in America. Note: British Sign Language is a completely different language from American Sign Language. The two share only 30% of the signs.

Visit Lauderdale Expands Its Embrace of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower; Its Convention Center is First in North America to Adopt the Program

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Logo for US chapter of Hidden Disabilities Sunflower includes a close up of a sunflower and an American flag

Arriving at an unfamiliar convention center can be a confusing experience for anyone but particularly for travelers with disabilities, hidden or visible. The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center is employing a range of tools to make sure all travelers feel welcome from the moment they pass through the door. The new approach represents a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower.

The convention center is adding a variety of cues to indicate when someone needs special assistance at the facility. A permanent space will be dedicated to providing a person with a hidden disability or a traveling companion various Sunflower products, such as a lanyard, badge, wristband or pin.  And all convention center employees will be trained on how to spot and help someone with a hidden disability.

The initiative is just the latest chapter in Visit Lauderdale’s proactive moves to create a warm and inclusive welcome for every traveler.  The Sunflower, for example, has been incorporated into Visit Lauderdale’s accessible tourism marketing for the past two years and was subsequently adopted by Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. 

“Visit Lauderdale is committed to providing everyone a safe and supportive environment and has long championed inclusion and accessibility tourism by removing all barriers to a quality experience for everyone,” said Richard Gray, senior vice president of Inclusion and Accessibility at Visit Lauderdale. “We embraced the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program as soon as we learned of it and couldn’t be prouder that our newly renovated and expanded convention center is the very first on the continent to implement the program.” Read more.

 Our TakeAway: Credit Visit Lauderdale for the foresight to realize that their convention center will now not only be accessible for meetings and conventions, but also for the numerous local events and festivals that use the convention center.   Credit Sunflower creators for coming up with an image that is simultaneously subtle and powerful. The growth of the Sunflower is one of the accessible travel industry’s most promising trends.

Wheel the World Partners with Visit Florida to Scale Accessibility Audits

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Woman using a wheelchair beside a pool and a fountain along with logos of Visit Florida and Wheel the World

Visit Florida announced at the Florida Governors meeting in October that it is launching an ad co-op program to finance Wheel the World site assessments at 30 hotels, attractions, POI’s or dining locations in each region. Watch a video of the announcement.  

Wheel the World’s deliverables include not only assessments, but also training through their online academy and online marketing through their highly targeted database as well as their social media channels.

Our TakeAway: This initiative was originally one of the four pilot programs that were featured at this year’s Summit in which three Florida DMO’s (Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and The Palm Beaches) participated.  Following the expansion announcement, seven other destinations signed up.  This is another unique example of Visit Florida’s role as an industry thought leader—along with WtW’s growing reputation for excellence in accessibility site assessments. We hope to see other states follow Florida’s lead. Hey, New York and California, are you listening?