TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

TravelAbility Summit

Save the Date: TravelAbility June 24 debuts with 17 presenters in 4 hours + Exclusive networking event July 1st

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TravelAbility Summit logo.

We are pleased to announce the following organizations will be presenting at TravelAbility virtual June 24th from 8:00am-12:30 pm followed by an optional Meet the presenters networking session one week later.

Google, Royal Caribbean, Delta Airlines, Open Doors Organization, Houston Airports, Marriott, Scandic Hotels, Travegali, Walt Disney World, Incredible Memories Travel, Wheelchair Travel Solutions, Magical Story Book Travels, European Network for Accessible Travel, German Tourism Board, The Beaches of Ft. Myers and Sanibel, Design Sensory, Expedia, Auberge Hotels and Resorts

Taking the learnings from the first two virtual events—LaunchPad and Parakeet—that Travelability produced earlier this year, we’ve asked presenters to limit themselves to 5-7 minutes each after which they proceed to roundtable format for lively interactive conversations.

Add-on Networking session one week later.

Attendees will be able to network among themselves as well as presenters through a series of 6-person roundtables, each hosted by a selected speaker.

Here’s the agenda, where you’ll find full details for all coming events. Register Now: There are a limited number of VIP Passes still available

TravelAbility Unveils “Herd Accessibility. No Side Effects” Goal for Landing Pages

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Striving for Herd Accessibility in Travel seal.

Introducing TravelAbility’s newest initiative, “Striving For Herd Accessibility in Travel,” a year-long program designed to provide the destination information that people with disabilities need before they decide where to travel. While the ADA legislation of 30 years ago provided a baseline foundation for physical accessibility it didn’t address the overwhelming absence of information infrastructure that is lacking and necessary to help disabled travelers make the right buying decisions.

Since the first TravelAbility Summit in November of 2019, I have been searching for a way to measure our ROI to the industry. I noticed that following the Summit, several attendees added a landing page to their website that showcases the attractions, hotels, museums, zoos, nature trails, and beaches that are accessible in their destination. I realized that tracking the number of accessible landing pages that TravelAbility could influence would be the best way to measure our value. The first step was to learn how many accessible landing pages already existed.

Working with a team of interns we reviewed all 50 state websites and 65 city websites in the US and Canada and were able to identify a total of 45 destinations—16 states and 29 cities—that included a page with content that speaks to the needs of travelers with a disability. The most startling discovery was that the average time it took to find the landing pages was 3.5 minutes. These 45 landing pages, which can be found on the Accessible Destinations tab on our website, are the base from which we plan to scale the list to over 100 North American destinations so disabled travelers will be able to find this information all in one place.

We will amplify the information by making the link available to consumer-facing disability publications, bloggers, influencers, and news sites so that disabled travelers won’t have to spend over three minutes searching each individual site for accessible information.

Add Your Destination: If you have a landing page that showcases accessible options in your destination you can add it to our directory for free, If you would like help creating an accessible landing page just check the box on our form and we will be in touch.

In addition to the Accessible Destinations initiative, here’s a summary of what else we have been working on.

  1. Increased industry awareness through our TAS Insider newsletter, which grew 5x, from 500 readers in December 2018 to 3,300 readers pre-covid. (2450 post-covid due to layoffs).
  2. TravelAbility collaborated with two blind members of our advisory board to create the  “ExplorAble” podcast series where leaders and influencers in the accessible travel space were interviewed.
  3. Recast TravelAbility 2021 into four virtual events (1 hybrid) to make it more affordable.
  4. Introduced the LaunchPad pitchfest, the world’s only showcase for adaptive technology that makes travel easier for people with disabilities. The event was held April 1st and was the first event of TravelAbility 2021 series.
  5. Our website functions as a repository of tools and resources for travel organizations that want to elevate their accessibility for people with disabilities. 
  6. Produced “Picking a Platform” a virtual book that was developed from the recordings of “Parakeet,” a pop-up virtual conference about virtual conferences held last October in collaboration with USAE News. (Password: Chirpchirp)
  7. Assembled an all-star Advisory Board consisting of leaders from the disability community, media, and travel industry.
  8. Destinations International and US Travel have requested TravelAbility to lead accessibility breakout sessions at their annual gatherings. The most recent of which was DI’s: “Adding Accessibility to your ED+I Program” at their annual Marketing Communications Summit on April 29th.
  9. UP YOURS!… a collaboration with forward-thinking DMO’s to up the accessibility of their members and extend a welcoming hand to travelers with disabilities. TravelAbility produces a customized one-hour virtual hackathon for the destination’s partners and stakeholders. All attendees at these sessions will earn a free registration to all remaining TAS virtual events in 2021.

18 Presenters Lead the Line-Up for Virtual TravelAbility event coming June 24th

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Travelability summit logo

The next TravelAbility Summit virtual event is coming June 24th, and the action-packed schedule is filled with presenters you won’t want to miss!

AGENDA

SUBJECT TO CHANGE

(i)=INVITED BUT NOT CONFIRMED

                                                              JUNE 24, 2021

8:00-8:15 am — OPENING REMARKS

8:15-8:35 am — UPDATE: GOOGLE MAPS: ADDING AN “ACCESSIBLE ROUTE” TO GOOGLE MAPS IN SIX CITIES COULD BE A GAME CHANGER.

Could this be the breakthrough disabled travelers and city dwellers have been pining for?

Presenter: Laura Allan, Head of Strategy for Accessibility and Inclusion,  Google (i)

8:35-8:45 am — UPDATE: CRUISING FOR A BRUISING: WHEN WILL CRUISE LINES’ PAIN WANE AND WHAT WILL THE RECOVERY LOOK LIKE ?

Cruise lines have been the hardest hit of all travel segments during Covid.

  • What new post-vaccination protocols are planned
  • What will it mean for domestic cruise ports that depend on shore excursions
  • How are they planning to bring back customers
  • What are they hearing from their agents? How are they communicating progress to their disability specialist travel agents.

Presenter: Ron Pettit, Director Disability and Inclusion, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

8:45-9:05 am — UPDATE: AIRLINES. BACK TO THE FUTURE?

  • When does the industry foresee travel returning to pre-Covid levels?
  • What progress has been made on a Common Pass among the vaccinated?
  • From LaunchPad: SATS: Centralized register for Verified Service Animals

9:05-9:20am — UPDATE; AIRPORTS

  • How are airports reacting to the aging population?
  • Partnering with destinations to promote accessibility.
  • From LaunchPad: JAWS by Vispero, making airport/airline kiosks accessible to blind and visually impaired

Moderator: Eric Lipp, CEO, Open Doors Organization; Panelists: Dana Folsom, Manager, Disability Progams, Delta Air Lines (i); Tim Joniec, Director, Customer Relations, Houston Airport System

9:30-9:50 am — UPDATE: HOTELS. WILL MARRIOTT’S “ROOM FOR ALL” PROGRAM  INFLUENCE THE FUTURE OF ROOM DESIGN?

How they plan to upgrade bed height in accessible rooms of their 5500 U.S. hotels.

From LaunchPad: Travegali: Hotel booking engine with images of accessible sleeping rooms and bathrooms of 4000 hotels. 

Presenter: Zach Curry, V.P. Rooms and Guest Services, Marriott (i)

9:50-10:05 am — UPDATE: ATTRACTIONS. HOW WALT DISNEY WORLD’S FOCUSED ON CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR ALL (VERSUS COMPLIANCE)… to make the Happiest Place on Earth the most inclusive as well.

Presenter: Mark Jones, Manager, Accessibility and Services for Guests with Disabilities, Walt Disney World

10:05-10:25 am — BREAK

10:25-11:00 am — UPDATE: TRAVEL AGENTS & BLOGGERS. HOW THREE DISABILITY SPECIALISTS OUTLIVED COVID.

In what will go down in history as the worst year ever for travel agents—especially those serving people with disabilities—leading travel agents and bloggers discuss their coping strategies.

Panelists: Debra Kerper, Owner, Easy Access Travel; John Sage, President, Wheelchair Travel Solutions; John Morris, WheelchairTravel.org; Nicole Thibault, Magical Story Book Travels (i)

11:00-11:30 am — HOW WE MEASURE ROI FOR ACCESSIBILITY.  A panel of European travel companies and tourism boards reveal the metrics that matter to them and their stakeholders.

Panelists: Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director, European Network for Accessible Travel; Olaf Schleiper, Innovations Manager, German National Tourism Board (i).

11:30-11:50 AM — ADDING ACCESSIBILITY INTO YOUR EDI PROGRAM.

Where does accessibility fit into your existing EDI program?

  • Why should you add accessibility to your EDI strategy. 
  • What are benefits and measurable outcomes of adding accessibility to your EDI strategy. 
  • Recognizing where accessibility and diversity intersect from a customer service training perspective, and the ways in which to incorporate accessibility into your marketing campaign

Presenters: Nicole King Smith, Lee County CVB

11:50-12:10 PM — NO COST/LOW COST BABY STEPS THAT YOU CAN TAKE TO ACCESSIBILITY

Getting started with accessibility shouldn’t be an expensive or daunting task.

  • Getting started: three things you need to know
  • Baby steps you can take that can save you time and money

Presenters: Josh Loebner, Director of Strategy, DesignSensory; Toby Willis, Technical Manager and head of accessibility, Expedia Group.

12:10-12:30 — TRAVELABILITY BUILDS A BUSINESS CASE TO SWAY A HOTEL CFO TO BUDGET FOR ACCESSIBILITY. WILL IT WORK? 

TravelAbility will present a slide deck, stitched together from key stats drawn from the four most prominent research reports released in the past six months, to a Chief Financial Officer. Will she buy it?

  • Open Doors Organization/Harris Poll 2020 Market Study: Adults with Disabilities: Travel and Hospitality
  • Expedia/Leonard Cheshire Report: Breaking Down Barriers for Travel
  • AARP: 2021 Travel Trends 
  • Stylus Media Group: Tourism’s Accessible Future

These are the Final 15 Companies Chosen to Pitch at LaunchPad

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After two months of research and consideration of more than 100 companies, the participants in the 2021 LaunchPad pitchfest have been selected. 15 innovative companies will make their pitch before a panel of travel industry professionals, media and investors. Below you will find introductions of the finalists as well as a list of judges.

Right-Hear: Wayfinding app that turns public spaces into accessible locations for the blind and visually impaired. Includes a platform to better manage your accessibility. (Israel)
Travel Industry Use:  Meeting venues, attractions, cruise lines, airports can geo-fence specific areas for the visually impaired.
Presenter:  Idan Meier, Founder and CEO.

We Walk:  A “smart cane” and app that can connect blind travelers to transport networks and autonomous vehicles. The cane uses clock directions, destination tracking, and detection of above-ground obstacles like trees and signs. Note: Awards Time Magazine’s 2019 Product of the Year. The company was recently acquired by Microsoft. (Turkey)
Travel Industry Use:  DMO’s can have members/partners recommend the app to visually impaired guests for audio to find restaurants, attractions within walking distance. 
Presenter:  Kursat Ceylan, Co-Founder.  

Handiscover:  Accessible hotel booking website that enables users to access rooms based on three distinct levels of disability AND a b2b accessibility CMS to manage all accessible assets. (Sweden)
Travel Industry Use: DMO’s can link to Handiscover’s hotel inventory in their area+ Hotels/suppliers can use their CMS to update accessible information in real-time.
Presenter:  Sebastien Archambeaud

WelcoMe:  An inclusive customer service app that alerts businesses when a disabled user is 15 minutes from their location. Includes information about disability and purpose of visit. Additionally, the “Button” companion app enables users to open doors and operate pedestrian crossings with their smartphones. (Scotland)
Travel Industry Use:  DMO’s can persuade their attractions, restaurants, and museum partners to engage with WelcoMe as an instantaneous training partner. And the “Button” app addresses the fact that 41% of disabled travelers name heavy doors as the greatest obstacle they encounter when traveling.  
Presenter: Gavin Neate, Founder and CEO

Alinker:  What began as an innovative non-motorized “walking-bike” designed for people with mobility challenges who are looking to maintain an active lifestyle, has evolved into a wellness ecosystem that includes Alinker yoga classes, nutrition programs supplemented by a produce farm in Kentucky that employs disabled workers. (Canada)
Travel Industry Use:  Resort Hotels, Cruise Lines can use them as innovative amenities for those using walkers and DMO’s can recommend them to city managers/recreational managers.
Presenter: BE Alink, Founder.

Mobi-Mat:  Not only does the Mobi-mat produce slip-free rollout mats for beaches for uneven surfaces, they also make floating wheelchairs for beach and water use. (France). 
Travel Industry Use:  DMO’s can recommend both products to beach and watersports nature providers to enhance their accessibility for wheelchair users. Meanwhile, hotels with pools that are not equipped with a power lift may use the floating chair as an accommodation that may reduce the chance of being sued.
Presenter: Sandrine Carpenter-Bernard, CEO.

Vispero:  Vispero has introduced the Jaws Kiosk, a portable kit that adds screen reader software, transforming self-service kiosks so they can be used by the visually impaired. (Florida, USA)
Travel Use Case: DMO’s with visitor center kiosks, as well as airports, airlines, attractions and cruise lines where self-service kiosks are widely used.
Presenter: Matt Ater, V.P. Corporate Business Development

Champion Autism Network (CAN): CAN has partnered with “Lead with Love” to prepare their industry service staff and management to serve customers on the autism spectrum through a series of affordable online training modules.
Travel Use Case:  Hotels, resorts, restaurants, and attractions can now prepare their staff to serve families with autistic children, while the CAN network can help promote them to the autism family market.
Presenter: Becky Large, Founder, Champion Autism Network.

Good Maps: GoodMaps is a wayfinding platform that uses LiDar laser-driven technology. Clients can design, edit and access their digital maps so that they are useable not only by the blind travelers to find points of interest, but also helps wheelchair users locate accessible areas such as bathrooms. (Kentucky, USA)
Travel Use Case: Theme parks, attractions, hotels and convention centers would be suitable uses cases.
Presenter: Jose Gaztambide, CEO.

Service Animal Travel Solutions: A central database for service animal verification recently launched with Alaska Airlines as their first airline partner. Once a passenger form is completed, it is stored in a proprietary database which can be used by other airlines. This was founded by Open Doors Organization and Gina Emrich, formerly accessibility and customer service specialist for American Airlines for 33 years. (Illinois, USA)
Travel User Case: Ultimately, once this is rolled out to other airlines, it will save passengers who travel with documented service animals an immense amount of time and paperwork.
Presenter: Gina Emrich, Founder.

Hidden Disabilities Sunflower:  The Sunflower icon discreetly indicates to staff and professional service providers during the travel experience that the person has a hidden disability (e.g autism, dementia, etc.) and may need additional support, help or a little more time.  Widely used in the UK by airports, hotels and retailers, they are now expanding into North America (United Kingdom).
Travel Use Case: Airports, theme parks and attractions and retail venues.
Presenter: Lynn Smith, VP Business Development

Threshold 360: With coverage of more than 100,000 locations in hundreds of destinations and over two million views daily, Threshold is the world’s largest provider of interactive 360° virtual tours. For travelers who need to “Know before they go” this is an ideal feature. 
Traveler Use Case: Destinations, conference resorts, hotels, and attractions currently use these videos for marketing purposes. Families with members on the autism spectrum can use virtual video tours to familiarize themselves and their children with a visual experience of what to expect.
Presenter: Dan Kraus, CEO.

Portl: Portl hologram is the first machine that lets people beam themselves to a location thousands of miles away and interact with people there through smartphones. (California, USA)
Travel Use Case: The technology is currently in negotiations with clients as varied as the Vatican which is considering using it for holiday services that can be beamed into churches to airports that want to teleport information service staff to museums and attractions wishing to lead tours.
Presenter: Owen Phillips, Marketing Lead

Omeo:  Arms-free electric wheelchair that uses Active Seat Control technology in which users core muscles control movement. Features include access to off-road experiences, zero-degree turning circle and battery range of 40 miles on one charge. (Australia)
Travel Use Case: Outdoor destinations, ski resorts and mountain resorts can work with the company to schedule demo day promotions for disabled visitors.
Presenter: Spring Adamo, North American Manager

Fetchy Fox: An intuitive platform and app that improves airport traveler experience by allowing wheelchair passengers to order products and food from airport vendors from the wheelchair holding area. The app can also provide data that extracts insights for airport vendors using AI. (California, USA)
Travel Use Case: Airports and Airport vendors.
Presenter: Christina Apatow, Founder

Special Innovator Presentations

AccessiBe: Using state-of-the art AI automation, a full set of accessible tools that address multiple disabilities to make websites accessible. AccessiBe has now remediated over 100,000 websites and recently raised over $28 million.
Travel Use Case:  Automation via AI enables them to offer an affordable web compliance solution to a full range of small-mid size travel industry partners/stakeholders.
Presenter: Shir Erkeling, Founder

Google Accessible Transit Routes: In addition to offering point A to point B maps and directions by car, bike, walking, and public transportation,  Google Maps has added “Accessible Routes” in six cities around the world. This and 57 other accessibility tools are featured in videos on the YouTube Accessible Playlist.
Travel Use Case: DMO’s in these six cities can promote this feature to visitors as well as locals who may not be aware of it. The playlist can be used by hotels, attractions, restaurants, and other stakeholders as training videos.
Presenter: TBA

TraveGali: An accessible hotel booking site with hotels in 18 countries, including the USA and Canada. Founded by two hotel developers who have prioritized the senior traveler, the site contains 2500 images of accessible sleeping rooms and bathrooms. They are adding over 400 hotels a month. 
Travel Use Case:  DMO and hotels can add a direct link to Travelegali on their accessibility landing page leading thereby filtering the user to only the hotels they can book.
Presenter: Rafael Blanco, Founder and CEO

The Judges

  • Emcee: Srin Madipalli, former Head of Accessibility, Airbnb
  • Charles Hammerman, CEO of the Disability Opportunity Fund
  • Dan Feshbach, Founder of Blue Umbrella Ventures.
  • Ron Pettit, Head of Accessibility, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
  • Sylvia Longmire, Founder, Spin the Globe
  • Zach Curry, Director of Guest Experience, Marriott
  • Toby Willis, President of Accessibility, Expedia
  • Jay Cardinali, Head of Global Accessibility, Disney Parks and Resorts
  • Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director, European Network for Accessible Tourism
  • Andrew Garnett, CEO, Special Needs Group

LaunchPad, which showcases the best in adaptive technology, products and services, is the first of four virtual TravelAbility events that will be held in 2021.  For more information on how you can attend and meet the entrepreneurs, click here.

TravelAbility Revises Its Vision and Purpose

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The TravelAbility team and the Advisory Board recently met to discuss what the organization has accomplished and a vision for the future. The result of our conversations is a revised mission statement.

TravelAbility Summit logo.

Our Vision is to become a prominent thought leader in accessible travel to improve the lives of people at ALL abilities and ALL ages.

Our Purpose is to inspire and educate the travel industry to provide accessible experiences to help people with disabilities enjoy travel as much as everyone else.

Our Goals are to help travel organizations:

  1. Easily incorporate Accessibility into Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.
  2. Change the perception of people with disabilities from that of a compliance headache to an advanced form of guest service.
  3. Promote the bottom-line benefits of accessibility to businesses. For example, baby boomers are a high-spending group who hopes to travel, and accessible travel will attract boomers with assistance needs.

Our history and successes to date

Since we launched TravelAbility in 2019, we’ve been busy. Our first conference was in 2019, and we’ve grown exponentially since then. Check out:

  • Over 3,000 readers of the TravelAbility Insider newsletter.
  • The “Explorable” podcast series, in collaboration with Design Sensory, is up to 9 episodes.
  • Our accessible landing page initiative will launch with 41 destinations.
  • LaunchPad, the world’s only pitchfest that showcases adaptive technology and innovations designed to ease the impact of barriers during the travel experience.
  • Our website has been revamped as an online ecosystem that aggregates all the resources in one place that can help any travel organization become more accessible.