Meet Cheryl: Improving Travel for Those Who Can’t See
by Judy Jacobs /As president of the Travel and Tourism Division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Cheryl Echevarria has become a leading advocate for blind-friendly travel.
She’s also a travel agent and the owner of Echevarria Travel in Brentwood, N.Y.
Before losing her vision in 2001 at age 35 – she’s now 48– as a result of the Type 1 diabetes that afflicted her since birth, Echevarria did administrative work. In her last position as an administrative assistant at a Long Island sales firm she performed a variety of duties, including making travel arrangements.
After enduring kidney dialysis and a kidney transplant, also the result of diabetes, Echevarria went through a New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped training program, which taught her how to use computer software for the blind.
A better use of talent
Two years working in medical billing using her new found skills, convinced Echevarria that there might be a better use for her talents.
Her husband encouraged her to write down everything she liked to do and after looking at the list, suggested she become a travel agent.
Echevarria hesitated but was convinced he was right when a travel agent who was planning her trip to Walt Disney World in 2009, said, “Why do you want to go to Disney World when you can’t see anything?”
“My husband said, ‘You can help a lot of people, because you’re not the only one going through this.’”
So Echevarria reached out to representatives of the National Federation of the Blind who introduced her to a couple of travel agents. They told her about working with host agencies.
Soon after, Echevarria signed up with host agency Montrose Travel.
Evaluating accessibility
Traveling without vision was a whole new form of travel for Echevarria, but a year spent studying the travel industry and a couple of cruises taught her how to evaluate the accessibility of places.
She began to work with Norwegian Cruise Lines to help it improve the way it handles blind guests.
“In the late 1990s or early 2000s, the National Federation of the Blind sued Norwegian Cruise Lines,” she said. “A couple had gotten married and planned a cruise on the Pride of America and when they got to the port and tried to get on board, the cruise line refused to let them sail unless they were accompanied by a sighted person.
“They hadn’t told their travel agent that they were blind.”
Things are different now.
Echevarria has encouraged Norwegian to create Braille menus, among other things. She also meets with companies like Sandals as well as other cruise lines, to encourage them to change the way they deal with disabled clients.
Although Echevarria will book travel for anyone, about 75% of her clients are blind. Many of them come to her through contacts at the NFB or friends of friends.
Of her blind clients, about 80% go on cruises, 10% on tours, and 10% to all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean.
Careful qualification
Because her clients have varying degrees of vision loss, Echevarria must carefully qualify them.
“I ask them, ‘What are your mobility skills?’ Some people have great mobility skills with their cane and don’t need any help or they need some help, and others have greater needs,” she said.
Some blind travelers want to bring their service dog companions on trips, but that can be problematic.
“You need to plan ahead,” Echevarria said. “If you’re going on a cruise you can’t bring your dog into Turks & Caicos or Jamaica, for example. Jamaica will allow service animals from the U.K., but they won’t allow service animals from the U.S.”
Echevarria has taken her own service dog Maxx, who is recently retired, to the Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Martin.
Advocating for blind-friendly travel
Besides selling travel, Echevarria devotes a lot of her time and energy to her duties as president of the NFB’s Travel and Tourism Division, one of the organization’s 75 divisions.
The division focuses on improving travel for blind people in every area of the industry – from airlines and cruise lines to busses, trains and hotels.
Its members have fought a long battle over airport check-ins.
As check-in desks become fewer, kiosks have become the means by which most people obtain their boarding passes. That’s another hurdle for the blind, since without vision they can’t use kiosks.
A long way to go
The travel industry has a long way to go in accommodating those with vision loss, but there are many things it can do, according to Echevarria.
“Listen to what we’re saying and give us more respect,” Echevarria advised. “Blind people just need a tour of your property or cruise ship, and [after that] they can get around.
“If you’re offering [travel opportunities] to the general public and you have someone who’s disabled, you should allow them to come and enjoy the experience just like everyone else.
“You should let them come and be welcomed.”