The Costco Connection

MAY 2015 ;e Costco Connection 47 improved facilities and procedures to accommodate people with disabilities. They’ve done this because accessible travel is big business: People who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices spend close to $20 billion a year on travel, says Costco member Eric Lipp, executive director of the Open Doors Organization (ODO; opendoorsnfp.org), a Chicago-based nonprofit that advocates for better services in travel, transportation and tourism for people with physical or cognitive challenges.

Lipp notes that the tourism industry is finally paying attention to this growing market sector. The U.S. Census estimates that nearly 24 percent of the total U.S. population will have some kind of disability by 2030.

“The numbers of disabled travelers are going up, because anyone can walk out the door and become a member of the disability community tomorrow,” says Lipp, who became a paraplegic at age 30 due to a tumor on his spinal cord.

By Wendy Helfenbaum

AFTER SEVERAL STROKES left Nancy Berger with severe mobility impairment, her husband, Dr. S. Nathan Berger, vowed to continue their favorite activity: traveling. The couple has visited more than 60 countries on all seven continents, documenting the trials and triumphs of accessible travel through their website, Disabled Travelers Guide (dis abledtravelersguide.com), which offers comprehensive destination guides and tips.

“At the Taj Mahal in 2003, our guide said
that 3. 5 million people visit it every year, but
in the three days we were there, we saw no
other person in a wheelchair,” recalls Dr.
Berger, a retired dentist and facial trauma sur-
geon in Rockville, Maryland. “I suddenly
realized why more disabled people don’t
travel: They’re afraid they’re going to get into
situations they can’t rectify. I thought they just
needed some knowledge and some inspira-
tion, and that if we could show them what
we’ve been able to do, they could do it, too.”

Today, travel is more accessible to the mobility impaired than ever before; many sectors within the tourism industry have

The Costco Connection Costco members can inquire about accessible travel at Costco Travel (click “Travel” on Costco.com or call 1-877-849-2730). Costco and Costco.com also carry a variety of mobility-assistance devices.