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Travelers with Disabilities: The Untapped Market
by: Craig Kennedy
When most people think about accommodating people with disabilities in their
business they get a scared feeling in their gut and their mind scrambles to
search for that all-important date when the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) went into effect. It doesn’t have to be that way! When business owners
open their eyes and start to realize that there are literally billions of dollars
to be made in the accessible travel market, I believe we will start to remove
the fear associated with the ADA.
There are currently more than 50 million people with disabilities in the United
States and 180 million worldwide, representing the single largest untapped tourist
market in the world. According to a recent Harris Poll conducted in conjunction
with the Open Doors Organization and the Travel Industry Association of America,
the 50 million people with disabilities in our country have a combined income
of more than $175 billion. In 2002, these people took 32 million trips and spent
more than $13.6 billion on travel ($4.2 billion on hotels, $3.3 billion on airfare,
$2.7 billion on food and beverage, and $3.4 billion on retail, transportation,
and other activities). This study suggested that these travelers would double
their spending if some minor amenities were made available. Meet and greet programs
at airports, preferred seating on airplanes, hotel rooms closer to amenities,
and employees who go out of their way to accommodate guests with disabilities
topped the list.
The current trends in adaptive travel show most of these travelers taking advantage
of destinations that they know are already accessible such as cruise ships,
Florida, and Las Vegas. The visitors bureaus and businesses at these destinations
that have gone to great lengths to ensure their visitors that there will not
be any accessibility issues during their stay. From personal experience and
years of traveling in a wheelchair, I can guarantee that these locations have
built and will continue to build strong relationships with travelers with disabilities.
This group is a very loyal one, who will often return to the same city, hotel,
or activity provider year after year if they have a good experience. If everyone
were to catch on to this we would see growth in the tourism industry like we
have never seen!
With this in mind, it is a wonder that more business owners have not taken
steps to make their accommodations more accessible and even start marketing
to these travelers. If the staggering numbers listed above aren’t proof enough,
the U.S. Census Bureau recently stated that nearly 16.5% of all people with
disabilities in the U.S. leave their home two days per week or less. That constitutes
nearly 11 million people that are not traveling at all. Also keep in mind that
there are millions of people in their golden years that are looking for accessible
travel accommodations. Many of these people use canes or walkers, travel with
oxygen tanks, or have other mobility impairments, and are not included in disability
statistics.
With millions of people in need of accessible travel options, and with our
Baby Boomers (almost 25% of our population) starting to reach retirement age
as well now is the time to start thinking about improving marketing efforts
to include people with disabilities and about better overall accessibility in
general. By educating business owners on the benefits of marketing to people
with disabilities and educating travel agents who are fighting a losing battle
with the internet, we can begin to focus on this new target market.
If you want to take advantage of the rapidly growing adaptive travel market,
get started now! I recommend hiring an expert to get your business rated and
start removing barriers to access as soon as possible. Think about accessibility
anytime you’re planning a remodel or addition. These improvements will benefit
everyone, not just people with disabilities. For those of you who have already
taken steps to improve accessibility, start bragging about it.
Craig P. Kennedy, Steamboat Springs, Colorado,
CK Consulting: Setting Standards for Accessibility
http://www.CKConsultingonline.com
* Please visit our Web site to take a FREE accessibility quiz to find out if
you are on the right track.
About The Author
Craig Kennedy is a published adaptive travel author, accessibility consultant,
and motivational speaker with almost ten years of adaptive travel experience
and more than 15 years of tourism and service industry expertise. He specializes
in resort business growth and customer attraction through better overall
accessibility, education, and marketing, and works with businesses who
wish to become leaders in accessible travel and accommodation.
Copyright Craig P. Kennedy 2005
craig@accessanything.net
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