Accessible travel planning isn’t optional. It’s already part of your business.
Karen Morales, a Fora travel advisor has personal experience and is ready to challenge how we think about accessibility in travel.
Thoughtful planning for accessibility isn’t about compliance checklists. It’s about confidence. It’s about clarity. And it’s about helping clients dream bigger instead of shrinking their expectations.
Accessible Travel Planning Starts With a Mindset Shift
Most advisors think of accessibility as a niche. Karen sees it as a layer of personalization.
Accessible travel planning includes wheelchair users. It also includes clients with food allergies, mobility limitations after surgery, chronic conditions that require refrigeration, sensory sensitivities, autism, slower walking pace, or guaranteed connecting rooms for medical reasons.
Many of these clients never identify as “accessible travelers.” They identify as parents, grandparents, or adventure seekers who need a few details handled differently.
When you shift your mindset, you stop labeling. You start listening. That’s where real planning begins.
You’re Already Doing This Work
When Karen speaks to rooms full of advisors, almost every hand goes up when she asks who has worked with a client who had a food allergy, medical need, or mobility concern. The same thing happens with suppliers. They’ve all accommodated these needs. But very few actively communicate what they can offer. That silence creates the gap.
Accessible travel planning doesn’t suffer from a lack of infrastructure as much as it suffers from a lack of communication. Hotels hesitate to advertise accommodations because they fear getting it wrong. Advisors hesitate to ask questions because they fear saying the wrong thing. Meanwhile, clients quietly wonder whether they’ll feel like a burden.
You can close that gap.
Ask Better Questions Without Making It Awkward
You don’t need complicated scripts. You need simple, human language.
Instead of asking a client if they have a disability, try this:
“Is there anything I should know about how you travel that would make this trip easier or more comfortable for you?”
That question removes labels. It opens space.
When clients ask what you mean, normalize it. Mention food allergies, mobility preferences, hearing or vision differences, or pacing considerations. Present it as standard trip customization, not an exception. When you stay calm and matter-of-fact, clients relax. They stop bracing for judgment.
Accessible travel planning works best when you reduce emotion around the topic and increase clarity around the details.
Don’t Assume. Present Options.
Never assume what a client can or cannot do. Instead, present facts and let them decide.
Karen shared the example of a 90-year-old client traveling to the Vatican. She didn’t want an accessible hotel room. She did want a wheelchair arranged for touring. That combination makes sense. It also reinforces an important principle: accessibility looks different for every traveler.
Some clients want fully accessible rooms. Others manage well in standard rooms but need transportation adjustments. Some want adaptive excursions but prefer traditional accommodations.
You don’t decide what’s appropriate. You provide information and respect autonomy. That approach builds trust quickly.
Luxury and Accessibility Belong Together
Too often, advisors assume accessibility requires compromise. Karen rejects that idea completely. She still expects five-star service. She still wants elevated properties and meaningful experiences. She refuses to sacrifice luxury because of logistics.
The luxury hospitality industry already thrives on personalization. When properties treat accessibility as part of hospitality rather than an inconvenience, they create powerful experiences.
Sometimes that looks like moving a rooftop dining experience to a lobby space so a guest can participate. Sometimes it means adjusting kids club activities so every child feels included. Sometimes it means arranging adaptive surf lessons or sourcing specific room configurations.
Hospitality professionals don’t frame those moments as “above and beyond.” They frame them as serving the guest. You can adopt that same posture in your business.
Lead With Transparency to Melt Fear
Underneath most accessibility conversations sits one core emotion: fear. Clients fear becoming a burden. They fear slowing down their group. They fear something going wrong far from home. You counter fear with transparency.
Share what the hotel confirmed. Explain what the DMC can accommodate. Clarify vehicle types, door widths, shower styles, or pacing expectations. When you don’t know something, say you’ll find out. Then reinforce partnership. Tell clients you will source solutions together. Tell them you’ve handled complex trips before. Tell them nothing feels like “too much.” When you project calm confidence, they relax.
Accessible travel planning doesn’t require perfection. It requires presence.
Build Supplier Relationships That Support You
Karen maintains a vetted list of properties and suppliers who consistently accommodate a range of needs. She gathers insights in conversations, not just from websites. That’s the work.
Ask suppliers specific questions. Confirm what they can adjust. Document what you learn. Over time, you’ll build your own network of trusted partners.
You’ll also notice something important: most suppliers have handled these requests before. They simply don’t highlight them in their marketing. When you ask directly and professionally, they respond.
And when you read your client well, you know whether they can tolerate creative workarounds or require precise predictability. That discernment elevates your service.
Market Accessibility as Personalization
You don’t need to position yourself solely as an “accessible travel specialist” to signal safety. Instead, describe your services in a way that reflects inclusion.
For example, you might say you create personalized luxury trips that account for food allergies, mobility considerations, medical needs, and multigenerational dynamics. That language normalizes the conversation. It invites honesty.
Most clients view accessibility as a detail of their trip, not their identity. When you treat it that way, they feel seen instead of singled out. Then reinforce that invitation in your intake forms and discovery calls. Consistency builds confidence.
Help Clients Dream Again
The most limiting question a client can ask is, “Where can I go?” That question assumes restriction.
Accessible travel planning flips the script. You ask, “Where do you want to go? What do you want to feel? What lights you up?”
When clients reconnect with desire instead of limitation, the planning process changes. You move from damage control to design. And that’s where your value shines.
If this conversation challenged your thinking and stretched your perspective, step into more rooms like this. Inside Niche, travel advisors grow through conversations with ambitious, like-minded peers who push each other forward.
If you want to strengthen your intake process immediately, our Client Communication Templates will help you ask clearer, more confident questions from day one.
Now go re-listen to the episode.
Then start every new inquiry with this simple shift:
Tell me what you really want to do.
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