2 Mar
The market for travel for people with disabilities no longer a niche market: cruise expert
Travel professionals – including independent and hosted agents – should stop viewing the special needs sector – including those travellers who have a disability – as a niche market and instead see it as a mainstream service option, says Andrew J. Garnett, president and CEO of theFlorida-based Special Needs Group/Special Needs at Sea (SNG). Garnett says agents will see more requests to support special needs travelers and should be prepared. This will be partly due to the growth in the number of people with disabilities with the growth in the percentage of Baby Boomers who are ageing (disability increases with age). American Baby Boomers and mature adults took 340 million domestic vacations in 2006 and 110 million international trips from 2004-2006. The mature market alone spent $192 billion in travel expenditures. These markets contain many “slow walkers” individuals who do not consider themselves disabled, but who could benefit from special needs products and services, Garnett says.
Garnett notes that some 63 million Americans (20%) have a disability and roughly 10 million aged 15 and older use a walking aid such as a cane or walker. An estimated 3.3 million use a wheelchair, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The data is dated but Americans with disabilities spent $13.6 billion on travel in 2002 (the latest data available) and that spending is likely to have kept pace with the aging of the U.S. population and growing numbers of disabled. Studies show that 24 million disabled Americans would travel/travel more frequently if their special needs were met.
SNG has a professional education program (SNG Certified Accessible Travel Advocate) that can act as credits toward Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) certification. The one-hour, three-module program focuses on understanding accessible travel, building expertise in accessible travel and demonstrating accessible travel advocacy skills. “This initiative represents the first time travel professionals can become conversant with this market segment through online study and testing,” Garnett says. The program is presented in a non-commercial format with the focus purely on content. It now has nearly 400 agent participants suggesting solid interest in serving the special needs market. “Access to reliable disabled services – a wheelchair or scooter, for example – may be the difference between going or not going on the trip. Access to resources can be a key to families traveling together or for small groups.”
Garnett credits many suppliers – airlines, cruise lines, tour operators, hoteliers and destinations with opening opportunities for disabled travelers. “Access to special needs equipment and expertise has helped expand demand.”
