When most people think about accommodating people with disabilities in their executive 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 executive owners open their eyes and start to realize that there are literally billions of dollars to be made in the accessible tour 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 tour ($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 tourers 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 tour show most of these tourers taking advantage of destinations that they know are already accessible such as cruise ships, Florida, and Las Vegas. The visitors bureaus and executivees 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 touring in a wheelchair, I can guarantee that these locations have built and will continue to build strong relationships with tourers 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 executive owners have not taken steps to make their accommodations more accessible and even start marketing to these tourers. 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 touring at all. Also keep in mind that there are millions of people in their golden years that are looking for accessible tour accommodations. Many of these people use canes or walkers, tour with oxygen tanks, or have other mobility impairments, and are not included in disability statistics.

With millions of people in need of accessible tour 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 executive owners on the benefits of marketing to people with disabilities and educating tour 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 tour market, get started now! I recommend hiring an expert to get your executive 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
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Craig Kennedy is a published adaptive tour author, accessibility consultant, and motivational speaker with almost ten years of adaptive tour experience and more than 15 years of tourism and service industry expertise. He specializes in resort executive growth and customer attraction through better overall accessibility, education, and marketing, and works with executivees who wish to become leaders in accessible tour and accommodation.

Copyright Craig P. Kennedy 2005

craig@accessanything.net