Making a strong case for why the travel industry needs to do better when it comes to creating greater guest inclusivity for disabled people at OutThere’s inaugural Icons of Inclusion event earlier this year, Richard Thompson piqued the interest of many an attendee – reason enough for us to revisit some of his thoughts in an exclusive Q&A.
It was an accident in the French Alps that changed how Richard Thompson looks at travel: suddenly a disabled person adjusting to a new reality, the co-founder and CEO of Inclu Travel was ‘shocked’ and found that there was a ‘complete lack of choice’ when it comes to safe, inclusive and enjoyable travel experiences. Fast forward to 2024, and the sector is still dangerously behind in delivering products that make it possible for each and every visitor to enjoy a carefree holiday.
It’s partly because not enough is done to challenge the idea that it’s their condition that makes a disabled person a disabled person. As Richard explains, ‘it’s the barriers that society and the industry put in the way of disabled people’ that mean they can’t partake in travel in quite the same way as other people do. To challenge old-fashioned concepts around disability, and bring about positive change for those who live with disabilities – both visible and invisible – it’s important to keep the conversation going and push for more initiative on a leadership level… not to mention recognition of the simple fact that this is a vast, untapped market that is as entitled as everyone else to the joys of travel, and willing to pay the money for it.
Richard, I found the insights you shared into why making travel more accessible and inclusive during the panel discussion you participated in at Icons of Inclusion very memorable. Can you briefly recap why you think change in the industry is overdue?
I could choose many reasons and none would have a greater imperative than the other. Take your pick but any – given that disabled consumers choose to assert their rights or make vocal and visible their genuine sense of disenfranchisement and discrimination – could expose a truth that our industry needs to wake up to, which is long overdue: it’s on very thin ice. Ethically, morally, commercially and legally.
You mentioned that many service providers in travel and hospitality don’t take pride in their offering for disabled guests, with some hotels selling accessible rooms at discounted rates. Why do you think this is?
You can’t have pride in something that doesn’t exist. And in most organisations, ‘conscious guest inclusivity’ doesn’t. And make no mistake, this is a leadership issue. Less than 5% of organisations across the globe have a positive strategy to wow and delight disabled guests.
Those that do can evidence significant ROI to their stakeholders. So if leadership are not manifesting a context, vision and route map for their staff, pride will have to wait.
So why is this approach to embracing what is almost certainly the last major untapped opportunity in travel – an emerging market without equivalence in its scale of potential – being largely sidestepped? Well, I would identify a number of reasons:
Firstly, many Leaders think they are doing it already by conflating DEI with Guest Inclusivity. But they are totally different sciences. One is workforce-focused, the other guest-service-excellence obsessed, and the strategy that will establish a completely new customer community and generate significant and measurable ROI. Crucial as this is in any organisation, I just don’t see DEI as capable of doing that.
Secondly, the narrative of ‘accessibility’ has corrupted thinking, behaviours, focus and application of any investment, which tends to be directed towards the built environment: wheelchairs, essentially. Important as this is to wheelchair users, it completely ignores the requirements of 94% of the disabled population that doesn’t use them.
And thirdly, accessibility is also an easy box to tick. That said, the majority of hotels across the globe that we have surveyed do not comply with equality and building regulations in terms of the ratio of accessible accommodations to total stock. And even those that do choose not to make this inventory visible and bookable online. It is often regarded as ‘inferior stock’ and it can be if they have not been designed as beautifully as all the other rooms in a hotel. These accommodations are sometimes over-specced to make them appear more clinical than cosy, which leads to non-disabled guests who are allocated them – normally because they are the last rooms to be booked because the inventory is hidden – being dissatisfied and often demanding discounts.
What was your motivation to found Inclu Travel, and what is the mission behind it?
I broke my neck working in the French Alps. This meant having to grieve a lost lifestyle that included being an Alpine mountain guide, a musician, an owner of travel and hospitality businesses in Greece and France, as well as an independent traveller. When I was eventually able to adjust to my new reality, I looked at the industry I was in from a completely different perspective – that of a disabled travel industry professional and now, a disabled traveller. I was shocked by what I found, which was a complete lack of choice.
The choices that existed were to join a group of other disabled people (normally charity arranged) or book with one of the ‘disability specialists’ that existed at the time. Neither were particularly attractive options and I knew I could do better. So, I set out on a mission to transform the landscape of opportunity for disabled people to travel the world, while influencing the industry at large to do the same. I set up a tour operator called Accessible Travel to shift the narrative from disability to accessibility. It was successful in that we were the first ‘specialist’ to be racked in the high street but I came to realise the specialist model is neither the solution nor indeed scaleable. The main reason is that the vast majority of disabled people will never travel with a ‘specialist’ – they just don’t want that label on their suitcase. They want to travel as those who are not disabled do…. to a destination and with a travel company of their choosing. So since 2004, when I sold Accessible Travel, that was the trajectory, and Inclu Travel is simply a continuum of it.
When people hear the word ‘disabled’, they tend to think of wheelchair users. But there are many invisible disabilities that are frequently overlooked. Can you name an example or two – in a travel industry context – that demonstrates why it’s so crucial that we widen our understanding of what a disability is?
We don’t need to understand what disability is. It’s defined in the Equality Act 2010. We can all read that. What we do need to understand is that it is not a person’s condition that disables them, it is the barriers that society and our industry put in their way. So we need to understand what these barriers are and how to remove or mitigate their effects.
The industry also needs to recognise that this is not a disability issue, and it’s not an accessibility issue either. It is about guest inclusivity. And guest inclusivity excellence is 80% customer service and 20% facility. This means that a hotel could be physically without barriers but if there is little awareness or sensitivity within an empowered and equipped workforce, guests can come to stay, but can they come to experience? Or as we frame it: accessibility means being asked to the party, and inclusivity means being invited to dance!
This is the very purpose of IncluCare – to identify physical and non-physical barriers, take remedial action to address them and critically, educate and equip every single member of the workforce with strategies and confidence to become culture-shaping ambassadors for guest inclusivity. This is why when asked what IncluCare can mean to disabled people and our industry, we say ‘It means the world. To everyone.’
What can abled people do to be allies to the disabled community – within travel and beyond?
That question suggests that ‘abled people’ are in some way separate entities, which they’re not. Disability is societal. It doesn’t exist in isolation and impacts every demographic and community. It is estimated that 70% of the world’s population is in some way physically or emotionally ‘touched’ by it. So statistically, everyone knows someone who is disabled – a family member, a friend, a colleague, a customer… They are almost certainly already, in some way, an ally. But what is missing is any understanding or awareness of the possibilities, so they will probably never engage in ‘travel talk’ with someone who is disabled. They, like the rest of society, have nothing to say. And until every travel operator adds another dimension to their existing provision – customer inclusivity – and this fact becomes common knowledge, the travel dreams and aspirations of disabled people across the globe will remain just that.
Diversity is a wide field and we tried to look at it from as many different angles as possible during our inaugural Icons of Inclusion event. Were there any particular talks and discussions from the day that opened your eyes?
Yes, the one that highlighted society’s attitude to ageing, and how it’s far from celebrated – quite the opposite, in fact. And given that ageing is the primary influence on disability, it resonated on many levels with me. And the talk was brilliantly presented!
We’re already planning our second edition of the event – and there are many more diverse travellers looking to share their stories about why the travel sector should strive to create better, safer and more enjoyable experiences for them. What perspectives would you personally like to learn more about?
Gosh, that’s an interesting question. From my perspective, it’s more about factoring in that whatever a traveller’s exceptionality, disability is likely to impact their buying psychology, planning, preparation and travel modality. It needs to be a thread that runs through every presentation.
For more on OutThere’s Icons of Inclusion event, read our recap of the day here.
www.worldofinclu.com | www.iconsofinclusion.com
Photography by Sarah Lucy Brown and courtesy of Richard Thompson
