Our unique new product range offers specially designed and exclusive tours that are tailored for elderly and disabled travellers. The development of these products and experiences will help those with disabilities overcome barriers to travel, and forms a part of our mission to grow travel back better and make the industry a much more equitable, diverse and inclusive environment.
Tripseed has always been about breaking down barriers and creating new opportunities
Many of our new and exclusive products have been designed from the ground up to deliver a wholly uncompromising experience, and we are revolutionising how the elderly and people with disabilities can explore this beautiful country. Tripseed has always been about breaking down barriers and creating new opportunities, and we are committed to growing travel in a direction that is open and welcoming for everyone.
Our new offerings for accessible travel in Thailand go far beyond the basics of just labelling what accommodation is wheelchair friendly. Extensive accessibility audits have been conducted across properties, tour locations and transportation – to evaluate everything from ramp inclinations, availability of grab bars, manoeuvrability clearance and many other important aspects, to advise our agents and partners on the most suitable travel options based on the level of assistance required.
This detailed accessibility data is being made available to all our international partners on request, starting today. It’s important for us to give our industry partners a first-mover competitive advantage to repay the trust and support they have given to us so far, and so we’ll be making all our accessibility information, training, and consultation available to them privately during our initial launch period, before making more details publicly available at a later date.
Going beyond physical disabilities, we are also offering specialised guides that are trained in American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL) and Thai Sign Language (TSL & MSTSL), as well as guides trained to assist with any other audio-visual impairments.
In addition to our accessibility auditing of existing travel products, we have also been hard at work designing a brand-new selection of experiences designed from the ground up to deliver uncompromising accessible variations of top-selling activities.
Travellers may now enjoy a thrilling day time city tour of Bangkok or evening street food experience in a fully electric Tuk-Tuk, specially outfitted with a built-in wheelchair ramp and unique wheelchair restraint system, a first in the industry. We have also worked hard to ensure that the tour routing delivers on accessibility as well, so that travellers are not met with difficult sidewalks to navigate at each stop.
Travellers may also choose to experience a snorkelling or diving experience alongside a Dive Master fully certified by Disabled Divers International, or a private tour through 200 acres of botanical gardens in a vehicle fully equipped for accessibility, alongside many more specially designed accessible touring options. The majority of these experiences will be made available exclusively through our international travel trade partners.
If you are a Travel Agent or Tour Operator that does not yet partner with us, reach out and speak to us today at hello@tripseed.com. By entering new market segments and having the right partner on the ground to handle all of your requirements – you will build a greater resilience into your business through new revenue streams and a distinct competitive market advantage.
Accessibility isn’t just about enabling travellers though. We have carefully considered accessibility requirements beyond this, and we have prioritised additional development on our website which has enabled us to become over 2x more compliant with WCAG 2.1 standards than our closest competitor within Asia’s DMC landscape, and over 8x more accessible than the average Asia-based DMC website. There are currently no known ADA compliant websites available within Thailand’s leading DMCs, and we are confident that we will be the first and only Thailand ground operator that meets ADA compliance standards.
As a travel agent or tour operator, why should you care?
The size of the potential accessible travel market should not be underestimated. The Harris Poll and Open Doors Organisation reported that the disabled travel market in the United States alone was worth $58.7 billion USD during the 2-year period of 2018-2019, with figures based solely on the expenditure of disabled travellers themselves. Realistic estimates put this figure at almost double when considering that most travellers with disabilities will travel with friends, family, or other support. With 15% of the world’s population said to have some form of disability, and an ageing global population, we believe that providing inclusive access to travelling the world is more important now than ever before, and critical to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
We hope to drive deeper discussions and engagement around social sustainability practices as we continue to set new standards, and we look forward to working with like-minded businesses who aim to deliver a tangible market differentiation, bringing valuable expertise and knowledge to our client’s holidays that cannot be found anywhere else.
