2025 Agenda

The TravelAbility Summit kicks off with an optional Accessibility Leadership Masterclass, a hands-on pre-conference workshop focused on creating five-star customer service through assessments, training, and practical strategies. The full agenda offers an immersive experience exploring AI-powered planning, adaptive outdoor innovations, inclusive itinerary design, legal insights, and real-world tools to help destinations and businesses advance accessibility with impact and intention.

 

Optional Pre Conference Workshop: Accessibility Leadership Masterclass

Accessibility Leadership Masterclass: Creating Five Star Customer Service

Morning Session

Faculty: Wheel the World (TBA) , Kristy Durso, Kulture City, VisitAble,

Assessments Overview:
  • Paid Assessment options
  • DIY Assessment options
Training Overview:

Understanding the primary needs and solutions for four basic types of disability travelers

  • Mobility
  • Blind/Low Vision
  • Deafness/HOH
  • Sensory
Marketing Overview:
  • Including accessibility imagery into existing marketing efforts
  • Targeting people with disabilities in SMM
  • Working/negotiating with Influencers/content creators
Assistive technology/innovation overview
  • Low cost/no cost solutions for hotels/attractions/restaurants
  • Adaptive/assistive amenities for hotels, attractions, airports
Accessibility Landing Pages-best practices
  • DMO
  • Hotel
  • Attraction/Museum
  • Dining
Certification Quiz.
Unlocking Inclusive Travel with the AI Companion to the Accessibility Playbook

Discover how AI-driven prompts, designed to extract key insights, empower travel industry teams to enhance accessibility.

What to Expect:
  • AI-Powered Itinerary Design – Explore how AI can create self-guided itineraries tailored to individual accessibility needs, making travel planning more intuitive and empowering.
  • AI for Accessible Travel – Discover how AI-driven tools and innovations enhance mobility, communication, and independence for travelers with disabilities.
  • From Insights to AI-Driven Action – Learn how AI can translate accessibility data and feedback into actionable improvements, shaping a more inclusive travel industry.

 

Your AI Coach

Presenter Todd Brook, CEO and Founder of Unchained, will guide you through practical skills and strategies to promote inclusivity in your travel offerings and elevate your AI IQ through hands-on exercises.

How Oregon’s $9 Million Grant Program Funded Adaptive Innovations for Outdoor Experiences that can be Replicated by other destinations

This session provides an opportunity to learn about innovations, amenities and technologies that have improved accessibility and created adventure and other outdoor experiences that can be implemented by other destinations.

To Sue or Not to Sue? (with apologies to Shakespeare)

Disability plaintiff lawyer discusses actual scenarios experienced by travelers with disabilities including whether he would recommend moving forward with litigation.

The Evolving Travel Needs of Aging Travelers: Insights by the Decades

A panel of experienced travelers in their 60s, 70s, and 80s shares their perspectives on how their needs and challenges have changed over time. They’ll discuss what they require from travel destinations, hotels, and attractions to ensure accessible, comfortable, and enriching experiences

Designing Accessible Itineraries for Visitors Using Walkers and Rollators

Traveling with mobility aids like walkers and rollators requires thoughtful planning to ensure comfort, safety, and ease of movement. This session explores key considerations for crafting itineraries that prioritize smooth navigation, appropriate seating, accessible transportation, and fatigue-friendly pacing. Learn how destinations, hotels, and attractions can enhance the travel experience by accommodating the unique needs of these visitors. 

Presenter: Gene Taylor, Founder, the Walking Connection.

Creating Inclusive Itineraries for Neurodivergent Travelers and Their Families

Visit Mesa and Divergent Adventures have pioneered travel itineraries designed for families with autistic children—thoughtfully crafted to minimize sensory triggers and enhance accessibility. These same strategies can also be adapted to support veterans navigating PTSD-related travel challenges.

Should Obese Travelers be considered disabled?

The real skinny about the discriminatory challenges faced by plus-size travelers. 

Challenges faced by the Aging Traveler

A panel of AARP members discuss their travel challenges, booking preferences and how to best reach them.

Assistive Technology/Innovations Overview

Curated pitches from InnovateAble Showcase that can make travel easier for travelers with mobility issues, blindness, deafness and sensory issues.

 

Accessibility Landing Pages: Best Practices
  • DMO
  • Hotel/Accommodations
  • Attraction/Museum
  • Dining
Accessibility Around Sports and Major Events
  • How adjacent World Cup cities can garner their portion of the 1.1. mn disabled ticket holders who will be attending the World Cup in 2026.
  • Things to Know Before You Host an Adaptive Sports Event. From accessible venues to athlete accommodations, this session covers key considerations to ensure a seamless, empowering experience for all participants.
The Business Case for Accessibility in a Nutshell

Investing in accessibility today is a down payment for addressing the needs of aging baby boomers while creating lasting infrastructure that benefits residents, 17% of whom have disabilities. Ultimately, these features will be used ten times more by the community, reinforcing accessibility as both a necessity and a smart business strategy.

Creating Your Accessibility Strategy

Providing information from idea to strategy to plan, through the Accessibility Stack and into the Resource Guide.

From Conditions to Disabilities: Mapping the Spectrum of Accessibility and how it affects travel
  • Mobility: Cane, walking sticks, walker, scooter, wheelchair
  • Hearing: Hearing aid-hearing loop-lip reading-transcription, ASL
  • Vision:  larger fonts-text to speech-large type books-menus-audio description

 

Building Your Accessibility Stack

Just like a tech stack powers websites and apps, an Accessibility Stack is a structured approach to expanding accessibility assets over time. Start with mobility in year one, then systematically add new features each year—creating a dynamic, evolving accessibility framework that enhances inclusivity and keeps pace with innovation.