Online Marketing KEY to Disability Market

Someone once told me that people with disabilities buy/acquire almost 95% of their goods and services online. Seems hard to believe until you start to think about the fact that even people who can't move their hands can use a computer. Computer technology is one of the great equalizers wehn it comes to disability and these people depend heavily on computers for their every day lives. Even many people who can move their limbs don;t leave the house very often due to some other severe disability.

The Open Doors Organization (www.opendoorsnfp.org) that i quote so often agrees that "The internet is an important resource for adults with disabilities." In fact they found that:

• Half of those who travel (51%) use the internet to book their trips
• Close to half (43%) consult the internet to suppor their disability-related travel needs.
• 57% used the internet to find and/or book hotels
• 47% used the internet to find accessibility information about airlines
• 47% used the internet to find accessible activities, tours, and attractions at their destination

And i want to remnd everyone that people with disabilities in the US have a discretionary income of over $220 billion. And we love to travel with cash!

Don;t foget to take my FREE ACCESSIBILITY QUIZ at www.ckconsultingonline.com

People with Disabilities Travel Internationally too!

For those of you who run international travel businesses, don;t forget aabout catering to your disabled travelers too. There is money to be made in this market. Our friends at Open Doors Organization are proving it again. According to the most recent study on adult travelers with disabilities, the typical international traveler spent $1,600 on this travel.

Which means...the 16% of online adults with disabilities who have traveled outside the United States will spend over $7 billion over the course of two years!

Don't you want a piece of this market? Aren't you even the least bit curious???

If you want to know more, all you have to do is ask me. www.ckconsultingonline.com

You can also follow me on Twitter (craigpekennedy) and Facebook (Craig Kennedy).

People With Disabilities are Diverse Travelers

According to a Harris Poll conducted wtih Open Doors Organization, 69% of adults with disabilities have traveled at least once in the past two years. Which includes:

• 3.9 million business travelers
• 20 million pleasure/leisure travelers
• 4.4 million travelers who combined business and pleasure

IS your business accessible? You might only need some small fixes. Take my FREE ACCESSIBILITY QUIZ. CK Consulting, LLC.

CK Consulting handles:

• ADA Interpretation and Application
• Individual Business & Site Plan Inspection
• Accessibility Planning and Strategy
• Disability Marketing Development
• National & State Scenic Byways Inspections & Ratings
• Speaking Services

Fastest Growing Consumer Market in the World

Right now there are 55 million people with disabilities in the United States, represnting about 20% of our population. Experts estimate that by the year 2030 (that's only 21 years from now) that people with disabilities will represent almost 25% of our population, or 80 million people. With this is mind, your marketing, products and services should ALWAYS address accessibility before any other action is taken.

Basic Disability Marketing Ideas

Now that we have seen some successes in marketing to people with disabilities, let's focus on some basic strategy. Here are a couple of things you can do right now to get started.

1. Improve your overall accessibility. If your business is not accessible, then people with disabilities are less likely to patronize your business. Access starts with four main areas: accessible parking and path of travel, accessible entrance, accessible restrooms, and access to goods and services. If you need to, hire a professional to help you make the right decisions in a cost effective manner. Access does NOT have to cost a lot of money!
2. Improve your Web site. People with disabilities spend much more time and make more spending decisions online than most other demographics. Improving your Web site for people with visions and hearing impairments, and using a universal "handicap" symbol to poiint to your accessibility page are great ways to start!

Cruise Industry Profits from Travelers with Disabilities

It’s been a few months since my last post and I do apologize. Let’s pick it up where we left off last time when we discussed some of the successes that mainstream businesses are already having in their efforts to market to people with disabilities.

Here is a great example of an entire industry that is benefiting from their disability marketing efforts:

Cruise Lines have embraced this market and are seeing huge revenues
Ø 12% of all PWD have cruised in the last year (ODO)
Ø 10% of total population have cruised in last 3 years (CLIA)
Ø 59% of PWD who have cruised plan to do so again (ODO)
Ø 55% of total population who have cruised plan to do so again (CLIA)
Ø Royal Caribbean full ship Deaf Charter in 2007 (3,800) on worlds largest cruise ship – Freedom of the Seas
Ø 32 accessible cabins on 3 of their ships

Success in Marketing to People with Disabilities

In my first couple of entries I talked about how much money travelers with disabilities spend in different areas of travel and how some of the necessary fixes to making sure these travelers are properly accommodated don’t cost much money at all. My last two posts (hopefully) dispelled some of the popular myths about people with disabilities. With all of this in mind, let’s talk about some of the success stories we are already seeing from the few major travel providers that are already taking advantage of this untapped market.

In 2003, Microtel Inns & Suites, a budget line of motels, decided to start marketing to travelers with disabilities. Their plan immediately paid off! In one year, here is what they reported:

o 275% increase in ADA Room Night Bookings
o 260% increase in revenue from ADA room bookings
o 400% increase in internet bookings

IF there are still any questions as to this market’s viability, I have more examples I will chare next week. IF you know of any successes within this market, please share your stories with me. Craig.kennedy@ckconsultingonline.com