Choose Lansing has completed an accessibility mapping initiative with Wheel the World, a San Francisco-based travel platform catering to people with a range of disabilities. Through Wheel the World’s Destination Verified program, 55 key tourism listings around the Lansing region—including 14 hotels, 30 attractions, and 11 restaurants—have been mapped to give travelers reliable accessibility information before visiting.
Choose Lansing President and CEO Julie Pingston says her organization initially focused on making the area more welcoming to neurodiverse individuals but has since branched out. “During the height of the pandemic and after, we had intended to start really focusing on other types of disabilities,” she explains. “Wheel the World provided an opportunity to do an assessment of our venues, locations, attractions, and restaurants to especially help those who have mobility challenges. … It’s obviously very important [for people with disabilities] to find the right locations to stay at and eat at, and ‘know before they go,’ so they can have [all the necessary] information and feel welcome.”
