Accessibility, Trust, and the $25 Billion Opportunity in Travel cover art

Accessibility, Trust, and the $25 Billion Opportunity in Travel

Accessibility, Trust, and the $25 Billion Opportunity in Travel

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 In this episode of Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer, Eric Hultgren sits down with Arturo Gaona and Sofia Bravo from Wheel the World, a company focused on making travel more accessible for people with disabilities. Recorded during the Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism, the conversation explores how accessibility data, trust, and verification are transforming how travelers with disabilities plan trips—and why destinations that ignore this market are leaving billions on the table. Wheel the World operates both a consumer booking platform and a verification system for destinations and hospitality businesses, helping travelers confidently plan accessible trips while giving destinations a clearer way to understand and promote their accessibility offerings. Key Topics in This Episode What Wheel the World Does Wheel the World operates two core services. On the consumer side, travelers with accessibility needs can use the platform to search and book accessible experiences—from hotel rooms to multi-day trips around the world. On the industry side, the company works with destinations, hotels, and tourism organizations to verify accessibility information and improve how those offerings are communicated. To gather that information, the company deploys trained “mappers” who physically visit properties and collect more than 200 accessibility data points, ranging from door widths and bed heights to mobility considerations throughout a property. Why Accessibility Data Matters Traditional hospitality listings often describe accessibility in vague terms—simply labeling a room as “accessible.” But for travelers with disabilities, that binary description doesn’t provide enough information to plan a trip confidently. Wheel the World solves that problem by combining detailed property measurements with personalized traveler profiles. Travelers can create accessibility profiles that include information about mobility needs, assistive devices, or comfort requirements. The platform then uses that information to match travelers with properties that best fit their needs. The goal is simple: replace uncertainty with trust. Oregon’s Accessibility Leadership Oregon has become a national leader in accessible tourism. The state has invested roughly $8 million in accessibility initiatives over the past six years, funding improvements, training programs, and verification projects across destinations. Through partnerships with Wheel the World, Oregon has verified more than 770 tourism businesses, making it the most accessible-verified state in the country. That verification effort began along the Oregon Coast and later expanded statewide as more destinations saw the benefits of standardized accessibility data. Accessibility as a Major Travel Market Accessibility is often framed as a compliance issue or a diversity initiative. But Arturo and Sofia argue that the travel industry should view it as something else entirely: A massive growth opportunity. In the United States alone: • Travelers with disabilities and their companions generate about $25 billion in travel spending annually • Roughly 40 million trips are taken by travelers with accessibility needs each year Despite that demand, the industry frequently fails these travelers. Research suggests that three out of four accessible trips experience a problem, ranging from incorrect accessibility information to inadequate facilities. The Real Problem: Lack of Trust Interestingly, the biggest barrier isn’t technology or booking systems. It’s trust. Travelers with disabilities often struggle to find accurate, detailed information about accessibility before they arrive at a destination. That uncertainty prevents many people from traveling at all. Studies show that half of travelers with disabilities would travel more frequently if they had reliable accessibility information before booking. Providing transparent data—even when a property isn’t perfectly accessible—builds trust and allows travelers to make informed decisions. Accessibility and the Future of Search One of the more interesting insights from the conversation touches on how accessibility data intersects with AI and search. Because Wheel the World has spent years collecting structured accessibility data, their platform has become one of the most comprehensive databases of accessibility information in hospitality. As AI systems increasingly rely on trusted data sources to answer travel questions, platforms that provide structured, authoritative data are more likely to surface in AI-generated search results. In other words: The future of travel discovery may depend heavily on who owns the best data. The Network Effect of Accessible Travel Wheel the World has also built a large online community of travelers with disabilities who actively share experiences and recommendations. Their Facebook group alone has grown to more than 40,000 members, where travelers exchange ...
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