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When most people think about the accommodation of persons with disabilities in their business they get a scared feeling in the gut and their mind scrambles to search for that all-important date when the Law on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) came into force. It may not be so! When business owners open their eyes and begin to realize that there are literally billions of dollars that are available in the Travel Market, I believe that we will begin 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, which represents the largest untapped tourist market in the world. According to a recent Harris Poll conducted in cooperation with Open Doors Organization and the Travel Industry Association of America, 50 million people with disabilities in our country have a combined income of more than $ 175 billion. In 2002, these people are 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 drink $ 3.4 billion in retail sales, transportation and other activities). This study suggests that these travelers would double spending if some minor amenities were available. Meet and greet programs at airports, preferred seating on airplanes, hotel rooms closer to amenities, and staff who go out of their way to accommodate guests with disabilities topped the list.
current trends in adaptive travel show most of these travelers taking advantage of destinations that we know are already available, such as cruise ships, Florida, and Las Vegas.Posjetitelji offices and businesses in those destinations that have gone to great lengths to ensure that your visitors will not be any accessibility issues during their stay. From personal experience and years of traveling in a wheelchair, can not guarantee that the site was built and will continue to build strong relationships with travelers with disabilities. This group is devoted to the one that will often go back to the year of the same city, hotel, or activity provider year after if you have a good experience. If everyone were to catch on to this we have seen growth in tourism, as we have never seen!
With this in mind, it is surprising that more businesses are taking steps to make their accommodations more accessible and even start marketing to these travelers. If the staggering numbers listed above are not sufficient evidence, the U.S. Census Bureau recently stated that nearly 16.5% of all persons with disabilities in the United States to leave their home two days a week or less. This represents nearly 11 million people who do not travel at all. Also keep in mind that there are millions of people in their golden years who 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 travel options available, and our Baby Boomers (almost 25% of our population) starting to retirement age, and now it's time to start thinking about improving marketing efforts to include people with disabilities and about better overall accessibility in general. Do educate businesses about the benefits of marketing to people with disabilities and education, travel agencies 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, start now! I recommend hiring an expert to get your business rated and start removing barriers to access in the shortest possible time. Think about accessibility whether you are 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 praising about.
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 specialized in business growth and customer attraction through better overall accessibility, education and marketing, and works with companies who want to become leaders in accessible travel and accommodation.
Craig P. Kennedy, Steamboat Springs, Colorado,
CK Consulting: Setting Standards for Accessibility
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