Travability, founded in 2007, aims to enhance accessibility in tourism through training and consultancy services, advocating for inclusive tourism for travelers with disabilities. The organization emphasizes that inclusive design should be integral to hospitality and not merely a compliance issue, highlighting the economic potential of catering to this growing market segment. With significant experience and industry partnerships, Travability seeks to change perceptions and improve marketing of accessible facilities.

1. About Travability Our Services
Travability was formed in 2007 by Bill Forrester and Deborah
Training Services
Davis. We are members of SATH (Society for Accessible Travel and
Travability is committed to the accessible tourism sector. Our
Hospitality), ENAT (European Network for Accessible Tourism) and
vision is to make the world accessible to all. We offer full training
Tour Watch the world incubator for Accessible Tourism. We are
services for both front line staff and management in the needs and
acknowledged as global thought leaders on inclusive tourism and the
requirements of of the disabled community. Further we offer cultural
economic impact the sector will have on the travel industry over the
change courses on the concept of inclusivity not just accessibility.
next ten years.
We have presented at international forums including: Marketing Services Inclusive Tourism
• SATH World Congresses in 2009 and 2011
We can help develop the basic information requirements and The Most Under Serviced Sector in Travel
presentation to allow your facilities to be identified and enjoyed.
• Inaugural Access Tourism New Zealand Conference in October
We have developed a self assessment guide and improvement
2010
manual, that can be tailored to your
establishment.
Bill Forrester We can develop your marketing
Bill was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. Bill material including photo shoots or
has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of images from our stock library.
Melbourne and spent most of his working life in the
corporate field in both financial and operation roles. Property Audits and Universal
He specialised in corporate and cultural change, and Design
has extensive experience in facility management, Compliance with design standards is
major project delivery, stakeholder relations and only a starting point in making a facility truly inclusive. We have a
corporate training programs. He has worked in the principle that good inclusive design should just blend in. Universal
private, mutual, and government sectors. Several years ago he left the
corporate world and bought three retail travel agencies in Melbourne
Design is an evolving thing centering around making as much of a
facility as possible usable by all. Our audits concentrate on making
Accessibility Marketing Guide
to pursue his love of travel. improvements to things not directly covered by the design standards.
Recognising that there was a lack of information of accessible tourism It is often surprising just how easily, and often inexpensively, a non Why and How to present accessibility
facilities, three years ago, Bill formed Travability with a mission to accessible venue can be made inclusive. information and attract the Inclusive
change the way the tourist industry viewed travellers with disabilities
and the way accessible information was made available.
Resort Development and Design Review Tourism market.
In addition to just incorporating legislative design requirements
for access we can review your project to ensure that inclusion is
Contact Bill on 61 4 1769 0533 or bill@travability.travel incorporated into the entire concept based on the 7 principles of
Universal Design
Deborah Davis
Deborah was born and raised in Maryland and
moved to Miami in 1984. She was involved in a car
Contact Us
Bill Forrester
accident at the age of 18 sustaining a C6/7 spinal
Phone: 0417 690 533
cord injury resulting in incomplete quadriplegia.
Email: bill@travability.info
Deborah has a Bachelor of Business Administration
from the University of Miami and has had a
Deborah Davis
successful career in the medical sales field and was
Email abildavis@aol.com
the Director of Abilities Florida. She has extensive
experience in developing and conducting training programs on
Web: www.travability.travel
disability awareness and the seamless inclusion of accessible facilities.
She has a wealth of experience in marketing. She is well travelled and Travability
enjoys the thrill of discovering new places. As an active and accomplished
individual she is passionate about our dream of making the world Travability
accessible to all.
Travability
Contact Deborah at abildavis@aol.co
Prepared by Travability Pty. Ltd.
www.travability.travel www.travability.travel

2. What is Inclusive Tourism? Enhance your Utilisation En-suite Bathroom • Door width
All sorts of terms have been used by providing the right • Roll in shower
to describe this growing market information • Wall mounted shower seat
from Barrier Free Tourism in the The Victorian Competition and provided: or, a free standing chair
United Kingdom, Accessible Efficiency Commission’s draft is available upon request
Tourism in Australia, Access report on the barriers facing • Shower handrail
Tourism in New Zealand. All of Victorian Tourism expressed some • Remote shower head
those terms have their foundations concern over the cost and lack of
based on the physical term of utilisation of accessible rooms. A
“access” More often than not Toilet • Toilet height
review of the accessibility requirements, however, argued business • Widest clear space next to Toilet
those expressions also have could address this low use of accessible rooms by more carefully
a narrow interpretation as people think of them applying only to • Clear space in front of Toilet
designing accessible rooms, educating staff and better marketing to • Handrail: Fixed, position
travelers with a mobility related disability. older people as well as people with a disability.
More correctly what we are describing in talking about Inclusive • Sink height
Tourism is an environment where people of all abilities are felt Key elements are: • Clear space under sink
welcome and wanted as customers and guests. • Don’t assume all disabilities are the same • Height from the floor to the base
• Don’t hide the information, put it where the rest of the facility of the mirror
Market Size information is. Bookings are often made by friends, family or
Dining and Bars • Accessible entry
For the first time Inclusive Tourism is being regarded as an economic employers. Headings such as “special facilities” or “compliance
• Clear path to tables
market driven by the retirement of the baby boomer sector. Inclusive requirements” are meaningless and demeaning.
• Tables, including outdoor
Tourism is already a major tourism sector with Australian research • Provide enough detail
settings accommodate roll under
putting its value at 11% of the total industry market share. US • Use photographs of your accessible facilities
wheelchair
research by McKinsey & Company predicts that by 2015, the baby • Include people with a disability in your general marketing and
• WC facilities
boomer generation will command almost 60 percent of net U.S. imagery
• Choice of table locations and sizes
wealth and 40 percent of spending. In many categories, like travel, • Servery is accessible from
boomers will represent over 50 percent of consumption. The impact Examples of Critical Inclusive Information wheelchair height
on the Inclusive Travel sector is significant as over 40% of them will • Braille or large print menus
be retiring with some form of disability, raising the total value of the Entrance • Ramped or level access
• Door Width • Food is available pre-cut
Inclusive Tourism sector to over 25% of the market by 2020. • Dietary restrictions catered for
• Type of door: Automatic, Manual,
There are myths in the marketplace that suggest that people with a Manual with doorman • Access to dance floor
disability travel far less than the general population, however, the
2008 Australian National Visitor Survey estimated the following: Lift • Door width
• Depth
• Some 88% of people with disability take a holiday each year that • Width
This is by no means an exhaustive list but it serves to indicate the
accounted for some 8.2 million overnight trips. • Control height, braille
level of detail required by a person with a disability to make an
• The average travel group size for people with a disability is 2.8 • Audio floor announcements
informed decision as to whether or not a facility is suitable for their
people for a domestic overnight trip and 3.4 for a day trip. Guest Rooms with • Door width needs.
• There is a myth that the inclusive tourism market does not Facilities • Type of beds available
spend because of economic circumstance. That is false as it is a • Largest free space at side of bed It offers an opportunity to develop products to service one of the
significant proportion of each travel market segment. • Height of bed fastest growing and loyal market segments in tourism.
• They travel on a level comparable with the general population • Clear space under bed
for domestic overnight and day trips. • Height of desk
• The total tourism expenditure attributable to the group is $8bn • Clear space under desk
per year or 11% of overall tourism expenditure. Inclusive Tourism is no longer a disability rights issue,
• Clothes rail height in wardrobe
• Light switch next to the bed it is an economic imperative.
“American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility Paths of access • There is level or ramped access in
currently spend an average of $13. 6 billion a year on the hotel to the swimming pool,
parking and restaurant
travel. Creating accessible cruise ships, accessible ship
• Pool lift availability
terminals, accessible ground transportation, and accessible
• Garden or connecting paths: width
tourist destinations is not charity. It is just good business.” and surface
Dr Scott Rains. a US expert on disability issues