GBTA launches accessibility toolkit

The Global Business Travel Association Foundation has developed a toolkit to help buyers address traveller accessibility in their policies and practices, the organisation announced last week.

The GBTA Accessibility Toolkit includes seven modules designed to help buyers in such areas as travel policy, traveller communication, supplier engagement and challenges and opportunities around travel accessibility. It also includes a glossary of terms and industry case studies. GBTA’s Inclusion and Culture committee – which includes travel managers and buyers, consultants and representatives from travel management companies, online booking tools and other suppliers – helped to develop the toolkit.

Parts of the toolkit are available to the public, but the full product is restricted to GBTA members.

Citing a 2022 survey from Accessio, which surveyed 346 travel managers, GBTA said nearly four in 10 business travellers have accessibility requirements that can affect their travel experience. More than 70 per cent of travel managers, however, said they either don’t know or can’t estimate how many of their own travellers have such requirements, particularly since some are hidden such as chronic pain, neurodiversity or mental health, the organisation said.

“There is still a significant gap in understanding business traveller differences and how these translate into various needs,” GBTA Foundation managing director and GBTA SVP of sustainability and advocacy Delphine Millot said in a statement. “Our GBTA Accessibility Toolkit is designed to help companies address this issue, in turn enhancing the business traveller experience, maximising the ROI of business travel, and supporting the delivery of travel services from across the supplier landscape.”

The foundation also issued a call to action for the industry alongside releasing the toolkit, including encouraging buyers to conduct an accessibility self-assessment, find ways to confidentially collect and store traveller information on accessibility, positively respond to and support travellers who disclose accessibility requirements and demand more accessible facilities and services from suppliers. For the entire industry, the foundation said there should be collaboration to create a universal coding system for accessibility information.