Create calmer environments
“The travel industry’s biggest barrier for hidden disability travellers isn’t infrastructure, it’s attitude. Staff need mandatory, meaningful training of conditions like autism, ADHD, chronic illness and anxiety, and how travel environments amplify them. A noisy, crowded airport can push someone into crisis in minutes,” says Paula Hanson, managing director of World Accessible Holidays.
“Right now, schemes vary wildly across countries, leaving travellers to navigate a different system at every border. Regional consistency would also help. The [Hidden Disabilities Sunflower] lanyard is a strong foundation. Trust it, train for it and extend that same trust to the person wearing it.”
“Travel is too often designed around constant stimulation, when what some families need most are moments of calm, space and reset,” adds Olivia Cryer, co-founder of The Conscious Travel Foundation. “Something as simple as sensory information in advance, alternative activities or built-in downtime can transform a trip for a neurodivergent child and their family.”
Invest in understanding
Underneath all of this sits one root cause. “The industry’s biggest challenge is a lack of understanding. The first investment needed is in awareness training,” says Richard Thompson, chief executive of Inclu Travel Group. “Being inclusive takes more than ramps and widened doors. It takes an investment in consultancy and training to achieve a change of mindset.”
Expand perceptions
“As two femme-presenting disabled people in a same-sex relationship, when I travel with my partner, we feel judgement multiplied,” says Jet Gates, member of the Rights on Flights campaign.
“As when disability meets another marginalised identity, the discrimination doubles. When people picture a disabled traveller, they often picture one type of person, typically a white male wheelchair user. But we are far more than that. We come from every community, including the LGBTQ+, black and faith communities, and the majority of us who do identify as disabled have a hidden disability. The fix isn’t another policy, it is for the industry to confront its own unconscious bias.”
End the disability premium
“We talk a lot about access, but not enough about affordability. Having travelled to nearly 50 countries, I’ve seen how accessibility is too often treated as a premium rather than a basic legal requirement. From higher travel insurance to the extra cost of travelling with a carer even when an airline refuses to accept you without one to accessible rooms that cost more, adapted transport and equipment hire, disabled travellers are routinely expected to pay more for an experience that is less convenient and less spontaneous,” says Dr Shani Dhanda, disability advocate and broadcaster.
“For every £1 of disposable income a non-disabled person has, a disabled person has just 56p. Travel is not a luxury. Until we can travel without paying a disability premium, the industry cannot claim to be inclusive.”
Make communication accessible
“Dealing with lost luggage, the only contact method offered is often a telephone number, with no email, text, WhatsApp or web chat, which is an unnecessary barrier for deaf travellers at an already stressful time,” says Emma Holness, independent travel agent and advocate for deaf travellers.
“The industry assumes everyone can pick up the phone or follow complex written guidance. Plain language, BSL videos and easy-to-find digital resources would let deaf travellers communicate independently, from the moment they start planning a trip until they return home.”
