Need Help? (FAQ)

How large is the accessible travel market?

There is no single agreed global valuation for the accessible travel market, but the available research shows that it is significant. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 billion people, or 16 percent of the global population, experience a significant disability. The opportunity also includes travelers with temporary, age-related, medical, sensory, and situational access needs, as well as family members, friends, caregivers, and colleagues who travel with them. Open Doors Organization reports that U.S. travelers with disabilities spent almost $50 billion on their own travel over a two-year period in its 2024 study. VisitBritain estimates that tourism trips in England involving a traveler with an impairment, or a member of their group with an impairment, generate GBP 14.6 billion annually.

What are the types of disabilities?

Disabilities and access needs are diverse. The current GATA working framework considers mobility, vision, hearing, neurodivergent and cognitive, and allergy and medical access needs. Disabilities may be visible or non-apparent, permanent, temporary, or situational. Every traveler is an individual, so organizations should provide detailed information and flexible, respectful service rather than assume that people with the same disability have the same needs.

What are the Three Pillars of Accessible Travel?

The Three Pillars are Accessible Facilities, Accessible Customer Service, and Accessibility Information. Facilities include the built environment, transportation, products, services, and digital technologies. Customer service includes staff, policies, processes, booking channels, communication, and training. Accessibility information must be accurate, detailed, clear, comprehensive, trustworthy, easy to find, and useful enough for travelers to make informed decisions. All three pillars must work together.

Is travel already accessible?

Not consistently. One part of a journey may be accessible while another creates a barrier. A hotel may have an accessible room, but the transportation to the hotel may not be accessible. A venue may have an accessible entrance but fail to publish the information travelers need. An organization may have a strong policy while its staff lack the training or processes to deliver it consistently. The Accessible Travel Chain recognizes that every component must work for the overall journey to be accessible.

What is purple washing?

Purple washing occurs when an organization presents itself as disability-inclusive or accessible without supporting those claims through meaningful action and evidence. Examples may include using inclusive imagery without publishing useful accessibility information, promoting disability awareness without training staff or removing barriers, or making public commitments while travelers continue to encounter preventable obstacles. Using the color purple is not itself purple washing. The concern is the gap between the message and the actual experience.

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