Travelling with Disabilities

Summer is wrapping up soon, and with it, the wave of summer travel. With longer days, good weather, children out of school, and the number of outdoor activities available, summer has long been a favorite time for travelers and tourists.

Travel can be complicated for many reasons, but when you or a family member has a disability, the barriers to travel can be challenging enough to make it nearly impossible.

Transportation is often one of the most frustrating factors. While the airline industry has made significant improvements, I hear far too many stories of wheelchairs damaged in transit. Over 80% of travelers with disabilities report difficulties with airline travel.

And while major metropolitan areas often have good public transportation systems, we know firsthand what those options look like in rural areas or smaller cities. Getting a rideshare (like Uber or Lyft) that is accessible is dicey at best.

Once out of the vehicle, the unknowns abound. Unexpected sidewalk cracks, broken automatic doors, obstructions, missing assistive devices like grab bars and a limited number of accessible bathrooms can make navigation a challenge even Magellan would have failed.

Some major attractions have good accessibility, or at least have thorough information on accessibility that can be researched ahead of time. But historic sites are notoriously inaccessible and outdoors spaces can be hard to predict.

It’s not just mobility. People with hearing impairments or blindness face similar obstacles, including a lack of service industry staff who are trained in supporting people with disabilities. People with autism have a hard time predicting what sensory triggers may be in a new environment.

On a recent trip to Six Flags St. Louis, our family noticed a building set aside for sensory support. It was 200 square feet within 323 acres of chaos, lights, competing noises, and all kinds of things that spin and drop and whir and all sorts of nonsense, but it was a good start.

Yet people with disabilities are significant contributors to the tourism industry, spending over $50 billion on known travel expenses in 2024. There are people with disabilities who will spend money to travel to a destination that accommodates their needs.

The good news is that more and more communities are recognizing the buying power of people with disabilities and their families. Visit Durango has identified this trend, and has a whole team of staff and volunteers engaged in making our local communities more accessible and making that accessibility more visible to potential tourists.

There are also a growing number of resources to help both travelers and businesses navigate options for accessibility during travel. The Society for Accessible Tourism and Hospitality (sath.org) advocates internationally for improvements in accessibility and offers some tips for travelers. TravelAbility (travelability.net) works closely with tourism businesses and maintains a list of comprehensive destinations across the world. AccessibleGo (accessiblego.com) allows travelers to search hotels by their specific accessibility needs.

Hopefully, we will continue to see improvements for travelers with disabilities as more destinations see the value of catering to this segment of consumers. Wherever you go, be safe, and I hope your challenges are minimal!