People With Didabilites are Spending Money

10.9.2008

So I realize that my stats from last week’s Blog were pretty general so let me break it down a little further to give you an idea what people with disabilities (PWD) are spending their money on. The $13.6 billion can be separated out into 4 main categories. These travelers spent $4.2 billion on hotels, $3.3 billion on airfare, $2.7 billion on food and beverage, and $3.4 billion on retail, transportation, and other activities. This a pretty typical split for mainstream travelers as well and as you can see includes all areas of travel and tourism. What sets this group apart from mainstream travelers however is the fact that the people surveyed also suggested that they would double their spending if some minor amenities were made available. That’s right, double their spending, which puts another $13.6 billion into play.

Meet and greet programs at airports, preferred seating on airplanes, hotel rooms closer to amenities, and employees who go out of their way to accommodate guests with disabilities topped the list. Please notice that spending thousands of dollars on remodeling and accessibility improvements is NOT on this list. By making sure that PWD feel confident that their needs will be met and going out of your way to make them feel welcome you can start to tap into the unspent billions in this market.