The Illusion of Inclusion: Part 2 – The Risks of Disability Signalling in Travel

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The Impact on Disabled Travellers

Disability signalling is not harmless. Whether rooted in misunderstanding, overconfidence, or marketing ambition, misrepresenting accessibility may have serious consequences. Disabled travellers often rely on accessibility claims not for convenience, but for safety, independence, and the ability to participate in daily life. When those claims are inaccurate or incomplete, they set people up to fail, and sometimes at great personal cost.

The impact is not theoretical or abstract; it is tangible and real. It is felt in missed flights, inaccessible bathrooms or swimming pools, embarrassment, emotional distress, and lost opportunities. This section outlines the very real implications for those affected by accessibility misrepresentation, showing that even well-intentioned exaggeration can lead to tangible harm.

Safety and Access Risks

When disabled travellers rely on inaccurate accessibility information, the consequences can be severe:

• A blind traveller expecting assistance at an unfamiliar airport may be left to navigate through jostling crowds alone.
• A wheelchair user may book a hotel based on online symbols, only to discover stairs, narrow doorways, or non-accessible bathrooms.
• A neurodivergent guest may attend an event without promised sensory accommodations.

Financial Costs

Misleading accessibility claims force travellers to adapt at the last minute, often incurring unexpected costs:

• Booking alternative accommodation.
• Hiring private transport when promised transfers are unusable.
• Purchasing equipment or services that should have been provided.

But the financial toll isn’t limited to travellers alone. Travel operators may face:

• Emergency rectification costs, such as moving guests to accessible alternatives at company expense.
• Loss of revenue from cancelled bookings or negative online reviews is affecting both the disabled community and the elderly, as well as responsible travellers alike.
• Staff time spent resolving complaints or compensating disappointed travellers.

While some of these costs are reactionary, many could be avoided through upfront honesty and collaboration with the disability community. In contrast, proactive accessibility can lead to long-term loyalty, broader customer reach, and a better public image.

Emotional and Psychological Toll

Disabled travellers who experience misleading accessibility often develop a strong sense of caution and hyper-preparedness. Some may become reluctant to travel at all, whilst many report needing to double-check every detail, make contingency plans, or limit their travel to only the most familiar or well-reviewed services.

This loss of spontaneity and increase in travel-related stress is not rooted in fear but in lived experience. While some travellers develop resilience, others choose not to travel extensively but are relatively more likely to be caught off guard. The result is a culture of avoidance that limits freedom, opportunity, and participation.

Disability signalling intensifies this by:

• Undermining trust.
• Creating anxiety around travel.
• Reinforcing barriers to perceived exclusion
• Reinforcing internalised ableism or self-blame when access fails.

One aspect rarely addressed in the literature is where disabled signalling impacts the psychology of a family group where a parent or child is not able to join other family members in the swimming pool or other infrastructure. Altering the family’s dynamics through exclusion, restriction or the inability to function together as one unit.

Exclusion from Travel Experiences

Building on the concepts raised above, ultimately, false accessibility claims discourage disabled people from travelling. Many may simply avoid particular experiences or stay at home rather than face yet another broken promise. This reduces not only individual opportunity but societal inclusion more broadly.

Loss of Independence

Like many people who are disabled or who have become disabled in later life, I work hard to maintain my sense of autonomy and independence. When faced with the reality of false claims, that sense of pride in our self-independence can be stripped away.

Being forced to rely on others, to modify or abandon plans for safer options, or being forced to ask for help when navigating unsafe terrain is degrading and demoralising.

Erosion of Confidence in the Industry

In a similar manner to pyramid schemes or timeshare sales, if you want a direct travel alternative, overblown misrepresentation eventually backfires, and people get emotionally or financially hurt.

Repeated experiences of disability signalling foster a general scepticism toward the entire travel sector. Disabled travellers may find it increasingly difficult to trust any provider’s claim of accessibility, no matter how well-meaning.

This mistrust limits travel options, restricts economic liquidity for implementing improvements for people with disabilities, and reinforces a culture of second-guessing every step of the journey, from booking to boarding to lodging.

Diminished Quality of Life

Travel isn’t just about leisure. It can be an essential part of maintaining social connections, accessing education or professional development, or simply enjoying a change of scenery. When false accessibility claims undermine these opportunities, they contribute to social exclusion and a lower quality of life for disabled individuals.

The Ongoing Burden of Verification

When accessibility claims are overstated, disabled travellers are left with the task of verifying every detail for themselves. This often means spending hours researching hotel layouts, contacting customer service teams, or seeking firsthand testimonials from other disabled travellers. While most people book holidays with ease, disabled travellers often become informal investigators. This hidden workload is exhausting, time-consuming, and frequently necessary just to avoid unpleasant or dangerous surprises.

This burden is exacerbated by poor communication from travel providers. A vague promise of “accessible facilities” tells a wheelchair user nothing about doorway widths or bathroom design. Ultimately, they may be presented with an impossible situation trying to explain their complex needs, hindered by language and cultural barriers. A general statement like “staff are happy to help” offers no confidence to a blind traveller needing consistent human guide support, and whose last experience was unfortunate memories of being tugged, shouted at in a language not understood and a once glad-to-help but now frustrated helper. In such cases, disabled travellers are forced to over-prepare, recheck, and sometimes take command of the situation in a way that misrepresents them as difficult to please, dominating and unwelcome future clients.

Worse still, disabled travellers who flag up discrepancies or request additional clarification are often met with defensiveness or disbelief. This places the disabled person not just in the role of customer, but of advocate and educator, roles they never signed up for on a holiday, and which drain energy and goodwill.

Addressing this requires providers to offer better transparency, more specific information, and to treat disabled travellers not as problems to solve, but as valued customers whose time and effort deserve respect.

Barriers to Spontaneity and Joy

True accessibility supports not only safety but spontaneity, the ability to book a last-minute trip, join friends at an event, or explore a destination freely. Disability signalling creates environments where spontaneity is dangerous, and joy is diminished by the need for added vigilance, and potentially the risk of disappointment.

The great promise of all travel marketing advertisements, brochures and promotional videos is ultimately that of ‘freedom’. So, what does “freedom” in travel ultimately mean in reality?

In the language of travel advertising, freedom is projected visually as the ability to go where you want, when you want, without limits. The dream sold is effortless mobility, discovery, and independence alone or shared. For disabled travellers, that promise of freedom is as aspirational as for able-bodied

travellers, but it is not always attainable. Without real accessibility, travel becomes a series of negotiations and compromises, not an escape. True freedom in travel only exists when information is honest, support is reliable, and the infrastructure welcomes everyone. The reality, for many disabled travellers, is confinement masked as inclusion.

The core issue is that disability is too often treated as either a ‘problem’ or a marketing category rather than a user group with real, diverse needs.

This article is in three parts:

Part 1 – The Illusion of Inclusion: An Introduction to Disability Signalling in Travel

Part 2 – The Illusion of Inclusion: The Risks of Disability Signalling in Travel

Part 3 – The Illusion of Inclusion: Moving from Signalling to Substance, Case Studies and Action.

This article was formatted and structured with the assistance of artificial intelligence. As a blind writer, I utilise AI tools to assist with research and organise complex content. While the editing, tone, perspectives and experiences shared are entirely my own, AI supports me in making my work more accessible to readers and publishing-ready.