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The Intersection of Travel and Disability

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The Inclusive Travel Revolution: Why the Disability and Longevity Economy Is the Next Big Frontier

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In his article, “The Inclusive Travel Revolution,” Jonathan J. Kaufman argues that accessible travel is not a niche market, but the primary growth engine for the Longevity Economy. He shifts the narrative from accessibility as a “compliance requirement” to a “strategic economic frontier.”

The following summary highlights how the article supports the idea of accessible travel as the leading edge of this economy:

1. The Convergence of Disability and Aging

Kaufman, a highly acclaimed academic, business advisor, and global authority, proposes that the distinction between “disabled travel” and “senior travel” is disappearing. As the global population ages, mobility and sensory challenges become a standard part of the consumer experience. By designing for accessibility now, the travel industry is essentially “future-proofing” itself for the entirety of the Longevity Economy.

2. Market Magnitude and the “Multiplier Effect”

The article emphasizes that the economic footprint of older adults and people with disabilities is massive (estimated at over $45 trillion globally). In travel, this is amplified by the Multiplier Effect: travelers with disabilities rarely travel alone, meaning an accessible destination captures the spending of an entire multi-generational family or group.

3. From “Add-on” to “Main Attraction”

Kaufman argues that accessibility is becoming the main attraction. The Longevity Economy demands seamless, frictionless experiences. Destinations that prioritize “Inclusive Design” (ramps, sensory-friendly spaces, and digital accessibility) are not just serving a sub-sector; they are creating a superior product that appeals to the “Silver Tsunami” of travelers who have the time and capital to explore.

4. Innovation as a Strategic Strategy

The “revolution” Kaufman describes is one where disability pride and inclusive design drive technological and service innovation. This leads to:

  • Enhanced Digital Tools: Apps that provide verified accessibility data.
  • Universal Infrastructure: Cities and transport hubs designed for all ages and abilities.
  • Economic Resilience: Businesses that pivot to inclusive models tap into a loyal, underserved market that remains active regardless of economic fluctuations.

The travel industry is the “testing ground” for the Longevity Economy. If a destination can solve for the complexities of inclusive travel, it has mastered the requirements for the most powerful consumer demographic in history.

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Capturing the Accessible Luxury Market – How FORA Travel Booked $75 Million in Travel 

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Accessible luxury is a growth story hiding in plain sight—and the results speak for themselves. At the 2025 TravelAbility Summit, Karen Morales shared how to capture this market by treating accessibility as core hospitality and equipping advisors with the right tools. Check out the session recap below.

2026 TravelAbility Tampa 2026 ad featuring a group of people including a wheelchair user enjoying a mead in downtown tampa. the summit dates are listed.

Want to be part of these conversations in real time? Join us November 9–11, 2026, in Tampa, Florida, for the 2026 TravelAbility Summit. It’s where destinations, venues, and travel brands come together to advance accessibility in a practical, business-smart way. Over two days of case studies, workshops, and peer learning, industry leaders share proven strategies that improve the travel experience for people with disabilities—and, by extension, for families, multigenerational groups, and travelers with temporary or situational limitations. Meet the advisors, suppliers, and destination teams leading the way, and leave with a roadmap you can put to work immediately.

Register Today!

Session Recap

Karen Morales speaking on stage at a the 2025 TravelAbility Summit while seated in a power wheelchair and holding a microphone.

Speakers 

● Karen Morales — Fora Travel (luxury travel agency) 

● Kristy Durso – Founder, Incredible Memories Travel / Ambassador, TravelAbility 

Session Overview 

Karen Morales described how accessible travel intersects with the luxury segment, sharing her rapid transition to mobility disability and the gap she found between adaptive recreation progress and inconsistent accessibility at five-star properties. Partnering with Fora, she helped train advisors to sell accessibility in luxury—and suppliers are starting to listen when accessibility is framed as hospitality and revenue, not just compliance. 

Key Insights 

  • Advisor training moves markets: In one year, 300+ Fora advisors were trained on selling accessibility, contributing to ~$75M in accessible travel sales (within a company targeting ~$1B total). 
  • Supplier blind spot: Major brands rarely include accessible rooms, food-allergy handling, or autism supports in sales decks—yet many have untapped assets (e.g., properties with numerous accessible rooms, beach wheelchairs, adaptive surf). 
  • Luxury clients, real scenarios: 
    • Multi-gen Greece (14 ppl): privacy for an immunocompromised traveler. 
    • “Bill,” 82, first overseas trip in a wheelchair: premium cabins; practical questions like airplane bathroom access. 
    • High-spend allergy travel: families flying a private chef; $200k itineraries. ○ Safaris, Europe villas, river cruises (often less accessible). 
  • Policy & momentum (as stated by speaker): New builds in New York require an accessible room in each room category; similar practices cited in Boston and London. National and destination campaigns spotlighting accessibility were noted (e.g., Australia; interest in Japan, Spain, U.K., Colombia). 
  • Hospitality > compliance: The winning pitch to luxury suppliers is guest welcome, ease, and revenue—“meeting individual needs” as core hospitality. 

Actionable Takeaways 

  • Communicate clearly: It’s “not an infrastructure problem, it’s a communications challenge.” Publish accessible room counts by category, doorway/bed/bath specs, allergy protocols, and on-site equipment. 
  • Package accessibility: Provide ready-to-use lists for advisors: accessible rooms by tier, vetted transfer options, adaptive excursions (e.g., surf, ski, golf-cart city tours), and how to book them. 
  • Make access effortless: Beach mats and wheelchairs on demand (simple signup, no bureaucracy). Train front-of-house so staff know what exists on property.
  • Show proof: Share short videos and real guest stories demonstrating access; partner with creators to amplify wins.
  • Connect the dots locally: Link hotels and DMO partners with adaptive providers (e.g., National Ability Center in Park City) so concierge pre-arrival emails include inclusive options. 

Notable Quotes 

  • “Where can I go? People aren’t limited by dreams—they’re limited by the box they think they now live in.” — Karen Morales 
  • “We’re not talking about compliance—we’re talking about hospitality.” — Karen Morales

Accessibility Playbook Quiz: Are You Prepared for the Largest Demographic Shift in Modern Travel?

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Take this quiz to find out!

The Real Question

If:

  • 70% of older adults are planning travel,
  • they already drive the majority of travel spending,
  • disability rates increase significantly with age,
  • and 20% of our population is about to be over the age of 65…

Is your destination, business, or strategy ready for 2030? 

When one older adult needs accessibility, it rarely affects one booking. It affects grandparents, kids, siblings, cousins — entire reunion itineraries.

2030 isn’t coming quietly: it’s arriving with three generations in tow.

Learn more about this important demographic below in the Accessibility Playbook Excerpt.

Accessibility Playbook Excerpt: Ageing into Disability

More than half of U.S. spending on travel comes from the 50-plus community, yet many destinations are unsure on how to meet their evolving needs. In 2023, the annual leisure travel spend among adults over 50 was $236 billion.  

The average 50+ traveler anticipates spending about $6,847 in 2025.  Source: AARP Research.

As of 2020, 55.8 million individuals in the United States were ages 65 and older; close to 17 percent of the U.S. population. This age group is projected to grow to over 20 percent by 2030. (U.S. Census). 

Many older Americans have a disability and many more will acquire disabilities in the future as they age. Among adults 50-plus, 25 percent indicate having a disability. For adults aged 65 and older, this percentage increases to 35 percent. While many adults over the age of 50 need accommodations for a disability or health condition, aging travelers often don’t identify as disabled. Half of adults 50-plus say their difficulty began within the last 5 years, so these challenges are not something they have gotten used to. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many may be traveling for 

Behavioral Shifts Among Aging

55% Say their conditions have resulted in making changes to the way they travel, such as:

  • Travel more by car (48%)
  • Take shorter trips (49%)
  • Travel to a single location/destination (39%)
  • Limited mobility accommodations (10%)
  • 45% say their conditions have resulted in less travel
  • Book activities before arrival (26%)
  • 2 in 3 (66%) have made changes to the destinations they choose to go to
  • Less walking (19%)
  • Closer destinations (13%)
  • Choosing more often to stay with friends or family (38%) or in hotels (43%).

Aging Travelers Want to Travel More

Older adults are increasingly motivated to travel to reconnect with loved ones, relax, and recharge. If accessibility accommodations were put into place, half of non-travelers say they would be interested in future travel. Among non-travelers, the most difficult aspects of travel are activities at the destination (46%) and transportation to and from the destination (39%).

  • 95% believe travel is good for mental health
  • 85%​​ believe travel is a benefit for physical health

“Yes, our knees hurt from hiking,  we get pains here and there, but  we have also enjoyed massages in many different countries, along  with red light therapy, reiki and  more. We don’t believe that old  age equates with poor health.”  – Jack and Elaine from Seniors with Latitude. 

Travel Trends 

  • Top Domestic Destinations: The  South (38%) and West (31%) remain  the most visited regions, with hotspots  including Florida, California, and Las Vegas. 
  • Top International Destinations: Europe (42%) and Latin America/ Caribbean (33%) lead in popularity,  especially Italy, Great Britain, and Mexico. 
  • Health as a Travel Driver: Many  aging travelers are motivated by the  mental and physical health benefits of  travel. Destinations can position travel  as a form of wellness, not just a luxury.
  • Biggest Barrier: Cost is the leading  obstacle to travel—more so than personal health concerns or the health  of a loved one. 

Check back next month for tips on welcoming the aging traveler! To learn more about the Accessibility Playbook, visit https://travelability.net/accessibility-playbook/.

Learn more about TravelAbility’s Vision 2030 here.

Roll Camera on Access: Take2Film Introduces Accessibility to the World’s Top Film Festivals

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For decades, red carpets and world premieres have symbolized glamour, influence, and access. The question is: access for whom?

Take2Film, a new venture, offers insider access to the world’s most prestigious film festivals, with an emphasis on culture, context, and accessibility for all.

Take2Film is integrating inclusive travel accommodations across its global film festival programs, not as an afterthought, but as a foundation.

Film festivals are meant to be shared. Accessibility isn’t an add-on for us — it’s part of how we design our trips from the start. Everyone deserves the opportunity to experience film culture in a way that feels welcoming, comfortable, and dignified.

Julie Sisk

From The American Pavilion to a Second Act

As founder and director of The American Pavilion, Julie Sisk spent 37 years shaping generations of filmmakers and film lovers at the Cannes Film Festival. Her work extended well beyond France, with programming connected to festivals in Denver, London, Sundance, Toronto, and Venice.

Throughout her tenure, she worked closely with TravelAbility to ensure that participants of all abilities in The American Pavilion’s Worldwide Student Program and Pavilion membership were fully welcomed and included.

Take2Film represents what Sisk calls her “second act”: an opportunity to share her lifelong passion for cinema and the world’s great film festivals with an even broader audience.

Insider Access With Intention

Take2Film is designed for film lovers, culture seekers, and curious travelers who want more than a ticket and a photo op. The company provides guided access to major festivals, insider conversations, curated cultural programming, and thoughtfully designed itineraries that go beyond standard tourism.

But what makes this announcement significant is how accessibility is being operationalized.

Take2Film’s accommodations may include:

  • Step-free lodging options
  • Accessible transportation
  • Advance venue planning
  • Personalized support based on individual needs

The team is working closely with hotel partners and is currently gathering essential details that matter — bed heights, roll-in showers, flooring types, spacing between beds, toilet height, and accommodations for Deaf and blind communities. These efforts follow consultations with accessibility experts at TravelAbility to ensure the information is both meaningful and actionable.

Redefining Cultural Travel

Take2Film’s programs create space for a wider community of travelers to engage with cinema, storytelling, and international culture at some of the world’s most prestigious events, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the London Film Festival.

By embedding accessibility into the DNA of its trips, Take2Film is challenging a long-standing assumption in cultural travel — that prestige and inclusion rarely intersect.

Experiences once perceived as exclusive are being reimagined to reflect the full spectrum of travelers who want to participate. For film lovers who use wheelchairs, for Deaf travelers who want equal access to screenings and conversations, for blind cinephiles who crave context and culture — this isn’t just a travel announcement. It’s an invitation.

For more information, visit take2film.com.

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!

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