Accessible business travel sits in a blind spot for most corporate travel programs. In a recent study The State of Corporate Travel Policies: U.S. and Canada 2025, produced by GBTA in partnership with ALTOUR makes that hard to argue with. Just 13% of travel policies strongly address the needs of travelers with a disability, hidden or visible. In the last few years, travel management has focused on getting more specific about fares, hotel caps and approval chains, and accessibility is being overlooked.
This matters more than a single statistic suggests. Your policy can be airtight on spend and still leave a chunk of your workforce to figure out travel on their own.
What the data actually shows
The study surveyed travel buyers across the US and Canada. The accessibility numbers are stark:
- 13% say their policy strongly or very strongly addresses disability needs
- 19% say it does so moderately
- 68% say it does so slightly or not at all
The pattern repeats with traveler inclusion more broadly. Only 19% of buyers say their policy clearly explains how employees can request special assistance, flag concerns or report discrimination. Women and LGBTQ+ travelers who hit a problem on the road, harassment or discrimination, for instance, often have nowhere obvious to turn in the policy itself.
So the gap isn’t just about wheelchairs and ramps. It covers the whole question of how a traveler who needs something extra actually asks for it.
Why the gap exists
Travel policies have been growing, not shrinking. Half are now more than 10 pages, and a quarter run past 20. Programs have poured detail into cost control, compliance and risk. Accessibility was left out of the policy because it feels like an HR or legal topic that lives in a separate document.
There are some shining examples of where companies have it right, such as opening policies up “for special needs and minority group travel preferences” or cross-referencing a Disability Accommodations policy directly inside the travel rules. Those are the exceptions.
The bar is lower than you think
You don’t need to publish an exhaustive list of accommodations to fix this. The study’s own takeaway is modest. At a minimum, your policy should explain:
- How an employee confidentially discloses an accessibility need to the travel program or your TMC
- How they request assistance
- Who they contact if something goes wrong on the trip
That’s it. You can spell out specific accommodations later. The first job is making sure people know the door exists and how to open it. Confidentiality matters here, because hidden disabilities only get disclosed when the traveler trusts the process.
The wider accessibility picture
Over a billion people, around 15% of the world, live with some form of disability, according to the WHO. The US travel market for people with disabilities alone is worth an estimated $50 billion a year, according to the Open Doors Organization study, 2024. The global over-60 population passed two billion in 2025, and ageing brings its own accessibility needs. This is not a niche you can afford to skip.
In 2024, the U.S. Department of Transport posted a mishandled wheelchair and scooter rate of 1.26%, which was better than 2023, but still more than one device in every hundred checked.
Regulation is catching up fast
The voluntary era is closing. Two 2025 developments should be on your radar:
- The European Accessibility Act took effect in June 2025. It requires accessible websites and self-service terminals across the EU, and it reaches e-commerce and digital services used in corporate travel, flight bookings and hotel reservations included.
- The UK’s Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group, led by Baroness Grey-Thompson, published 19 recommendations in July 2025. These include mandatory disability-awareness training for aviation staff and clearer rules for booking assistance and transporting mobility aids.
If your suppliers and booking tools have to meet these standards, your policy should reference them and tell travelers what protections they can expect. A policy that ignores the regulatory floor will date quickly.
What forward-looking programs should do now
Treat accessibility as core policy, not an annex. A few practical moves:
1. Add a clear accessibility section to the travel policy itself. Disclosure channel, assistance requests, emergency contact. Keep it short and findable.
2. Build disclosure into the booking flow. A confidential field at the point of booking beats a buried form. Embedded policy gets used; imposed policy gets ignored.
3. Brief your TMC. Your travel management company is the operational front line. Make sure they know how to handle disclosed needs and equipment issues, and that travelers know they can reach them.
4. Cover inclusion alongside accessibility. Spell out how any traveler reports harassment or discrimination on the road. The 19% clarity figure has a lot of room to climb.
5. Map your obligations to the EAA and UK aviation rules. Know which apply to your routes and suppliers, then reflect them in policy.
Getting accessible travel right does more than keep travelers safe and reassured. On talent, you widen the pool of people who can travel comfortably for work, it’s a real edge as the workforce ages and regulation tightens. The 13% who already address accessibility strongly have a head start. The other 68% have some way to go.
Closing that gap starts with knowing where your own policy stands. If you’d like a consultation to have your travel policy assessed, contact us and we’ll get a meeting scheduled.
