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.
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.
Session Recap
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
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