Accessible Travel, a $58 Billion Market, Gets Its First One-Stop Shop
AccessibleGo is the first website to tailor bookings for flight, hotel and car rentals for travelers with special needs. Competition is growing fast.
Wheelchair vans, car rentals with special features, hotels and flights can all be booked via accessibleGO’s expanded travel booking site.
Photographer: 24K-Production/Getty ImagesBefore the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans with disabilities made up an active, rapidly growing segment of the travel industry. In 2018 and 2019, at least 70% of them (28 million people) collectively spent $58.7 billion on trips, according to a 2020 nationwide study conducted by the Harris Poll. The report, commissioned by Open Doors Organization, an accessible-travel advocacy group, shows that such spending has skyrocketed—up 339%, from $17.3 billion, in 2015. Still, more than 70% of the special needs travelers reported that they encountered major obstacles in dealing with airlines, airports, cruise lines and hotels.
Accessible travel took a hit during the pandemic years, like every other travel segment. And now, with travel spending soaring, a startup focused on accessible vacations aims to better serve the sector.