Written by Alexandria Hilton
What is Adaptive Travel?
I am starting to understand “adaptive travel” as a phrase that generally encompasses the transportation, accommodation, and other services working to accommodate the needs of neurodiverse folks who may not otherwise consider travel possible.
Why is it important?
Every avid traveler knows the simple yet profound power of a journey, of moving from one place to another. There is something about the sustained connection between brain and body, the sensory experience of travel that can capture and consume you, unrelenting with its grip.
Every avid traveler also knows that there are many barriers to travel — some more controllable than others. In ATI’s perfect world, travel is for everyone. In our ideal existence, every human being has the opportunity and the resources to see some place new every once in a while. We also believe that it is possible to make each person feel comfortable and confident doing so.
It is our duty as advisors to instill in first-time adventurers the confidence in their own capabilities. After only one journey, the adventurer is empowered by the steps they themselves have taken — and the loop continues on and on in a lovely cascade of self-made assuredness merely as a result of actions and reactions and preparations and reflections made on the road.
Who is leading the way?
The world of luxury travel has changed in head-spinning ways over a rather short period of time. For too long, though, all types of travel have been easier for some than others without much regard for the ways it could be made easier for all.
Recently, the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) designated Emirates Airlines the world’s first Autism Certified airline.
After investing in the research, Emirates found that close to 100% of families touched by autism and other sensory sensitivities would take more vacations if they felt more sure that hospitality staff along the way would be able to provide adequate and educated service. After investing in the training and certification for more than 30,000 staff, Emirates has proven themselves capable of identifying and assisting customers who would consider overstimulation and its accompanying challenges reason enough to opt out of travel of any kind.
Our hope is that big and small brands alike see this work as the necessary steps toward a more equitable industry and more connected, kind world. As a kid, I sat in this very office and overheard my mother’s many client phone calls. Something seemingly sewn upon my heart is her belief that travel is the most powerful world-changer there could ever be. She would tell clients and friends, unapologetic as ever, when another international conflict broke out or word of another war waded across the radio waves, that if more people traveled there would be less hate, less bigotry, more acceptance, and more love.
If you know of any other companies doing good work in the adaptive travel space, please reach out. We are actively working to adapt ourselves. If you have questions or comments on the topic, please shoot me an email. I’d love to chat.
