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Manifest Accessibility

© Scott Paul Rains

An excerpt from, "TOWARD A GLOBAL HISTORY OF INCLUSIVE TRAVEL"

While the history of accessible travel and tourism is intertwined with that of the disability rights and independent living movements, sharing their triumphs and setbacks, it has its own landmark events, advocacy organizations, heroes and villains. Initially a beneficiary of the struggle for accessible transportation and public facilities and services in North America and Western Europe, tourism that accommodates the needs of travelers with disabilities has by now, in the words of the World Tourism Organization, become a "motor of accessibility" worldwide (1997). This opinion was echoed by UN ESCAP at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Tourism for People with Disabilities (2000):

In view of the changing consumer demand, tourism for all is an increasingly important sales argument in a competitive market. At the same time, it can serve as an effective tool in furthering the human rights of people with disabilities in the destination communities.

The extent to which inclusive travel has become big business has been documented in nationwide surveys by Open Doors Organization (2002) in the United States and Kéroul (2001) in Canada. This does not, however, mean that this market is now viewed uniformly through the lens of "economic opportunity." The medical or charity model of disability still holds sway in whole regions of the globe...

From: "TOWARD A GLOBAL HISTORY OF INCLUSIVE TRAVEL" By Laurel Van Horn and José Isola, the Review of Disability Stuies, Spring 2005

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Harry Wolfe advises governments on population trends and transportation systems. As his mother aged before she passed away, they were able to enjoy several trips together. In the process he learned a great deal. Since then, he has developed a professional expertise in airport design for seniors.

Personal experience with the disablement of aging can re-orient one's career and even lead an entire profession in new directions.

Jeanette Cosentino is an Occupational Therapist. She has long been an advocate of ubiquitous good design such as zero-step shower entries (roll-in showers) in homes and hotels. Recently she has become an advocate for inclusion through design on a regional planning scale. Using a line that echoes Dr. Martin Luther King: "I have a dream," she says, as she introduces herself to local leaders in Santa Cruz, CA. "I have a dream that all those seniors clambering to retire there in Monterey will look across the Bay and choose Santa Cruz."

Persistent application of practical thinking toward a vision of barrier-free living by even one person can revitalize the economic well-being of an entire community.