TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Travel

Meet Houston Vandergriff: 48 States and 22 Countries with Down Syndrome

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Houston Vandergriff standing with three female family members in front of a lake during the winter.
Credit: Katie Vandergriff/Instagram

A family chronicles their travel to 48 states and 22 countries through the brilliant photography of their son, who has Down Syndrome.

He’s got the eye of Picasso, the talents of a Hollywood super-star, and the heart of a kindergarten teacher. Meet Houston Vandergriff, a talented young man who also happens to have Down Syndrome. He expresses his passion for life in the arts. He’s a globe-trotting photographer, actor, performer, advocate, and sports enthusiast. Houston’s untarnished love for people shines easily through his Down Syndrome, touching people’s hearts in ways few others could.

Read the complete feature in the latest issue of Neuro Brilliant Magazine.

OUR TAKE: The TravelAbility slogan is All Means All, and Houston’s travels are proof-positive that the disabled travel market is wide and diverse. How is your organization preparing to welcome travelers like Houston and his family?

“Achoo! Will Plexiglass Dividers Make Post- Pandemic Airlines Feel Safe?’

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A mock-up of an interior with 3 seats, the middle turned in the opposite direction. Pretty genius! illustration courtesy Avio Interiors

The New York Post reports on an Italian company, Avio Interiors, that’s already designed the latest in virus-proof comfortable airplane seating. While there are no wheelchairs seats yet, there are some serious upgrades including more space and plastic germ shields. (You have no idea how far a sneeze droplet can travel until you’ve ridden the New York City subway.)

OUR TAKE: If airlines are going to go back to cattle car mode to survive, adding plexiglass seat dividers to their existing protocols and create opposing-facing middle seats may at least one way to mitigate the risk of infection 

What Would TravelAbility Summit look like as NetFlix Series? TravelAbility Week!

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Going all-virtual this year inspired our team to do even more to meet you where you are and help you avoid information overload. (You may even have some fun!). We’re emulating Netflix and calling this second annual gathering “Season 2”. Attendees will have the ability to choose the number of episodes they want to watch—or binge watch it all live November 9 to 13, 2020. (Season 1 was 2019). The themes this year is Advancing Accessibility and episodes will include “How We Did it.” How  DMO’s, hotels, attractions, and airports are advancing accessibility by creating  landing pages on their website with precisely the information people with a wide range of disabilities need.  Other sessions include: Nothing Dirty Here: Products and Services for Pandemic-proofing, Pure Genius! Assistive Technology and more. You can find the agenda, here. And find coverage of the event, on Marketing News.

Of all the virtual events out there, why attend TravelAbility Week? Consumers and their travel expectations are changing 56 million potential travelers have a disability—and 2020 is the year to begin showing them they are important to you. “While the patchwork of closing has paused marketing campaign, we’re using this time to build the informational infrastructure that will be needed by 

If we’re accessible for people who are disabled today, we’ll all be accessible for the 75 million Baby Boomers who will be aging into a disability tomorrow.
 
—Jake Steinman, Founder, TravelAbilitySummit.com

OUR TAKE A generation of Baby Boomers who refuse to accept age as a barrier will create a new category of products, disrupt the transportation industry, and more,” says Steinman. Find the agenda for new TravelAbility week, just posted here.

TravelAbility 2019 Insiders ‘On the Move’ In 2020

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Here’s what our fabulous 2019 attendees and Advisory Board Members have been up to since we last met in San Francisco.
Congratulations to….

Josh Loebner headshot

…Josh Loebner, Director of Strategy for DesignSensory, for partnering with TravelAbility Summit on the launch of a new podcast series, ExplorAble.

upper body shot of John wearing a navy jacket and blue shirt sitting inside a plane smiling, wearing glasses

…John Morris on launching his new Wheelchair Travel podcast series. This is in addition to his weekly reporting on travel issues, accessibility and COVID-19.

...Sylvia Longmire for winning first prize at the Indie Book Awards for her recently released travel guide: Everything You Need to Know About Wheelchair Travel.

headshot of ed Harris with suit and red tie smiling brown hair brown eyes

 …Ed Harris, who was Chief Marketing Officer for Valley Forge CVB when he presented at TAS 2019, on his appointment to President and CEO of Discover Lancaster.

…Julie Jones on her video interview with Tapooz Travel’s Lauren Roffe. 

headshot Cory lee in teeshirt smiling

…Cory Lee Woodard for the launch of a Facebook series of interviews with destinations from Rochester, NY to Tempe, Az, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

 …Sara Emmert, Director of Tourism Policy for New York’s state tourism office who was among the five New Yorkers that attended TAS 2019, on the launch of their new I LOVE NY accessibility landing page. 

…Kathryn Inglin, TAS attendee and marketing strategy and communications executive for the Presidio Trust in San Francisco, for upgrading their accessibility offerings and becoming the first park in the U.S. to achieve the international Green Flag Award, which recognizes the highest standards of management, maintenance and development in the public parks and green spaces sector around the world.

…Eric Lipp, founder of Open Doors Organization, on the release of their new ODO/Harris Interactive, a study of travel by Americans with disabilities. A summary will debut at virtual TAS 2020. 

…Myron Pincomb, Board Chairman of IBCCES, on the launch of the IBCCES Teletherapy Certification program insuring the individuals and students with special needs have the support they need during the Covid-19 epidemic. 

Restarting Travel: What the U.S. Can Learn from China

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With China’s Covid-19 lockdown over, there will be some early lessons to learn from them. In the past two weeks, consumer confidence in travel has grown, according to a recent report from McKinsey and Company. The cautiously optimistic tone reflects how fragile both wellness and willingness are around the globe. The world is watching as the Chinese navigate their new normal. Read more, here. The report summarizes trends in the hotel, airline, and younger returns in China.

OUR TAKE: It’s wonderful to read such positive statistics and insights in the McKinsey report.  One insight that stuck with us: “When a lockdown ends, the first thing people want to spend money on is eating out. The second is travel. Our consumer survey shows that confidence in domestic travel rose by 60 percent over the past two weeks.” The focus is on the regional traveler who is not yet ready to go beyond domestic trips this summer. Industry forecasts show the same to be true in the U.S.

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