Welcome Travel Professionals.
When you become Autism-inclusive, is it a simply a matter of doing something good or a means to improve your bottom line?
Here’s some really great news. It is BOTH. And it comes with a bonus – your staff will thank you. Check it out below:
Autism Travel
Market Size
Market size - USA
In the United States, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that an amazing 1 in 31 children is impacted by ASD.
When factoring in parents and neurotypical siblings, this translates to a total market exceeding 30 million and, perhaps as big as 35 million.
Market size - the rest of the world
Data in each country varies according to diagnostic guidelines, procedures and availability. When diagnostic facilities are similar to the US, numbers appear to be very similar. Lower numbers in some countries may, eventually, show the same when diagnosis “catches up”.
In other words, the worldwide market size is vast!
Current and projected travel numbers
When parents of autistic children were asked “Do you take family vacations?”
87% said NO.
When they were asked “If autism-friendly options were provided, would you family be more inclined to travel?”
93% said YES.
Market characteristics
What does the autism community want most?
When we surveyed parents and asked them to rank factors that they considered important in making a destination suitable, over 90% of them selected, as their top priority:
“Staff that understands our needs”
Seasonal Preferences
Many autistic people struggle with crowds, long lines and long waiting times. In consequence, they are more inclined than the general population to favor low seasons over busy seasons, quieter days over busier days and may even have a preference for the quietest times within any given day.
Everybody in the industry would like to increase occupancy during “soft” periods. We bet that you can say the same.
Repeat Business Potential
A tendency towards repetitive behaviors is a major characteristic of autism. Autistic people can become comfortable with the familiar while remaining stressed about changes/unfamiliarity.
Parents know, from lots of experience, that it pays to stick with things that are successful.
This is a loyal audience that will have a much greater probability of giving you repeat business. Who doesn’t want that?
Requirements for each level
Autism Aware
This is the easiest, quickest and least expensive rollout that you can imagine. Simply register to Accept the Autism Passport.
Autism Ready
Certification to the level of Autism Ready requires that customer-facing staff undertake training on the issues that are specific to the learners job function. For instance, we have different courses for airports, airlines, hotel and travel agents. Within those segments, we make a distinction between, for example, flight crew and ground agents at an airline or housekeeping and front desk at a hotel.
This training is very inexpensive and and can also be rolled out rapidly. Ask us for a consultation to find out more.
Autism Double-Checked
Certification to the level of Autism Double-Checked requires completion of training to the Autism Ready level plus the publication of a Visitors/Flyer’s Guide.
In order to make travel with autism truly accessible the autistic guest and their family need careful and detailed planning. Our guides deliver this information.
Training – prepare the travel entity for the autism community – check.
Information – prepare the autism community for the travel entity – check.
Both together – check and check – Autism Double-Checked.
Ask us for a consultation to find out more.
The components explained
Training - how it works
To eliminate the cost problem associated with employee turnover, ADC charges training “per seat” rather than specifically attaching it to named individuals. It works like this:
- Industry specific.
- Job specific. Courses are tailored to specific situations that may arise in each job function.
- Formulated to give maximum delivery in the shortest possible time. The aim is to minimize time taken away from regular, revenue-producing activities.
- Designed to be suitable for individuals of any educational background.
- Available in both English and Spanish.
- All training is online and accessible 24/7 from any device. No classrooms needed!
- Self-paced and can be done in multiple sessions as easily as it can in just one sitting.
- All course updates and all new course releases are made available at no additional charge.
Training - staff reactions
Staff are incredibly enthusiastic about these courses. We survey every student at the end of each course. Our Net Promoter Scores (NPS) range from +78.4 to +90.3. We are proud of that, given that scores of +25 are generally considered good and scores of +40 are both excellent and very rare.
We also ask students for comments. Here are a few examples of what we see:
“The course taught me so much about ASD and I’m so appreciative of having the opportunity to take it. Even in our daily life, one never knows when you may come into contact with an individual with ASD. It’s reassuring to have the awareness and preparation when, and if, that occurs. Thank you! ”
“Thank you for the opportunity to learn about ASD and ways to respond to related situations. ”
“Cool.”
Visitor/Flyer's Guides
- Autistic people and their parents or caregivers need and greatly appreciate as much advance information as possible so that they can plan the travel.
- Our online questionnaire gathers all of the information that will be relevant for your organization to invite and welcome guests with autism.
- This information is all presented in a Visitor Guide that is linked to our searchable directory of certified organizations.
Reaching the market
Airlines and Airports
When you are certified as Autism Double-Checked, we provide assistance to you with reaching out to the community:
- Your Passenger Guide published on our website and easily found in our directory.
- SEO help via the links inbuilt to that listing.
- Notification to all major national autism support organizations of your status.
- Our help in staging Autism Flies events with no charge to certified airlines/airports.
- PR and SEO help from those events. Just try a Google search for ‘autism flies” and you’ll see how effective this can be.
- Ad-hoc assistance with marketing and publicity aimed at telling the world the unique part that you play in assisting flying with autism.
Hotels and Resorts
When you are certified as Autism Double-Checked, we provide assistance to you with reaching out to the community:
- Your Visitor Guide published on our website and easily found in our directory.
- SEO help via the links inbuilt to that listing.
- Notification to all major national autism support organizations of your status.
- Our help in staging Autism Stays events with no charge to certified hotels/resorts.
- PR and SEO help from those events. Just try a Google search for ‘autism flies” and you’ll see how effective this can be.
- Ad-hoc assistance with marketing and publicity aimed at telling the world the unique part that you play in assisting travel with autism.
Travel Advisors
- Your agency details published on our website and easily found in our directory.
- SEO help via the links inbuilt to that listing.
- Notification to all major national autism support organizations of your host agency’s status.
- Invitation to Autism Flies and Autism Stays events in your area, when held. A great way in which to connect with the community and have fun at the same time.
You can enroll with courses in Spanish. Just follow this link now: Agentes – esp