Travel Insurance - Travelers With Disabilities: The Untapped Market

Travelers With Disabilities: The Untapped Market

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.

craig@accessanything.net

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

Seeking The Best Advice Pertaining To Train Travel.
Seeking the best advice pertaining to train travel. When you're seeking superior information about train travel, it will be easier said than done separating superior information from misguided train travel proposals and guidance so it's prudent to know ways...(more in Travel Insurance)

Games To Play When Traveling
Car travel games are a tradition wherever families take vacations or long trips by automobile. Long drives are always more tolerable with some diversion or entertainment, and reading might not be the best choice, at least for the driver. Why not try some games that everyone in the car can play?"Blue Car" Travel GamesThese are travel classics. Each person guesses how many blue cars will pass in the next ten miles or ten minutes. Of course it can be red cars, or trucks, or whatever everyone agrees to. By the way, it's considered bad form for the driver to slow down, letting more cars pass, so his ...(more in Travel Insurance)

Five Affordable World Travel Destinations
LocationsThat Offer More But Cost Less

Soyou want to travel the world but you have a tight budget? Are you tired of reading about everyone else’s exotic adventures andready to have some of your own? Haveyou always wanted to take an i...(more in Travel Insurance)

Is Purchasing Travel Insurance Smart?
To answer the question "is purchasing travel insurance smart?" let's look at what insurance is.When you purchase insurance - health insurance, homeowner's insurance, car insurance, life insurance, or travel insurance - you're not making an investment. It's not the same as going to the bank and depositing money and expecting to reap financial rewards at some point. No, any insurance including travel insurance is about sharing risk in case of unforeseen catastrophic events. For thousands of years, risks have been shared during times of tragedy. The first formal insurance company, Lloyd's, was formed in 1769, and their insurance concept remains today - to gather the premiums of clients as a pool of resources to return to clients who experience covered events. Is purchasing travel ins...(more in Travel Insurance)

Airport Travel Tips: Reducing Waiting Times
Key Travel Tips Following these tips will help you reduce your wait time at the security checkpoint.Before you go to the Airport •Do not pack or bring Prohibited Items to the airport. •Place valuables such as jewelry, cash and laptop computers in carry-on baggage only. •Tape your business card to the bottom of your laptop. •Avoid wearing clothing, jewelry and accessories that contain metal. Metal items may set off the alarm on the metal detector. •Avoid wearing shoes that contain metal or have thick soles or heels. Many types of footwear will require additional screening even if the metal detector does not alarm. •Put all undeveloped film and cameras with film in your carry-on baggage. Checked baggage screening equipment will damage undeveloped film. •Declare firearms & ammunition to your a...(more in Travel Insurance)

Save Up To 50% When Traveling On Vacation
Did you know you can go on a 7-day cruise for half the price?Or visit Europe for 15 days for only $2,000 per person including airfare, hotels, car rental and meals?If you follow these steps, you can save more up to 50% in travel expenses.1. Travel during low season.Choosing to go on vacation during low season, will save you a great deal of money on airfare, hotels, cruises, car rental and more.The best dates to travel are between:February - MaySeptember- the week before Thanksgiving December 1 - 15 For example, a 7-day cruise in the Caribbean can cost around $1,000 during summer and winter but it can cost $495 during low season. A ticket to Europe can cost between $800-$1,200 during high season but you can buy it at $395 roundtrip during low season.

What You Need To Know About – Switzerland Travel
Since time memorial, Switzerland has proved itself as one of the most cherished tourist destinations. Every part of this...(more in Travel Insurance)

Tips For Summer Travel
The summer is right around the corner, and thousands of Americans are planning vacations and trips. Traveling on a budget can be tricky, but it is not impossible. The key is to plan ahead, and try to the make the most out of what you have. Contact your credit card company beforehand to find out what kind of deals they have to offer. Many have rebate programs for travel expenses. If you are using a rental car, find out if your insurance covers you in case of an accident. You can save quite a bit by forgoing the car rental insurance policy. The following is a list of tips and tricks to make your summer vacation the best ever.1.Get a good deal on a hotel. Unless you are staying with friends or family, you will probably be in the market for a good hotel room. Normally, you can spend your entire budget on hotels and motels. I sugge...(more in Travel Insurance)

Travel Insurance Bargains For Brits
If you're traveling in the UK, or a UK citizen traveling elsewhere, you have many options including full year travel insurance. While the occasional traveler such as a vacationer may not find full year travel insurance preferable to the one-trip options, business travelers or other frequent travelers may opt for full year travel insurance as the best time saving and money saving choice. UK travel insurance options, in addition to full year UK travel insurance coverage, are numerous: one-trip or multiple-trip plans, extended stay, business travel plans, several designed especially for family travel, and even one that's focused on the needs of backpacking travelers. With just about every plan lost luggage coverage can be i...(more in Travel Insurance)

Studying The International Travel Insurance Scene
Student international travel insurance is affordable. In fact, it's almost always the most affordable of any international travel insurance. In many cases, students aren't the only one who qualify, either. Some student international travel insurance carriers...(more in Travel Insurance)

What You Need To Know About – Travel In Luxury
Luxury travel is diametrically opposed to traveling on budget. ‘Luxury’ as the term Suggests, is to have the best of everything by paying the maximum for it. If you have money and want to make your vacations a dream come true then go for the luxuries available in the travel world. The Hunt for a Perfect Place-The first task to take up is to decide a lavish destination. You can go according to the season like if it is hot, its better to thron...(more in Travel Insurance)

Discover How A Pauper Travels Like A King
Why do we travel? How is it that we humans continually move from one place to another, always expectant, ready and eager to explore and learn? It is in our genes to grow and search. Our earliest ancestors always moved about to find new fields of opportunity, new hunting grounds, new vistas. Why do we travel? How is it that we humans continually move from one place to another, always expectant, ready and eager to ...(more in Travel Insurance)

Insuring Your Travel On A Shoe String
Cheap travel insurance isn't necessarily about who's asking the lowest premium. Cheap travel insurance is about knowing your choices, perusing all the options and discarding the coverage you don't need. If you end up with cheap travel insurance that doesn't help you out of an overseas medical or evacuation jam, you haven't gotten a bargai...(more in Travel Insurance)