Santillo Encourages the Travel Industry to Embrace Accessibility

Jamie Santillo is the CEO and founder of Adventures by Jamie, an award-winning travel agency on a mission to make the world more accessible for all. As a full-time wheelchair user, Jamie turned personal challenges into a powerful purpose, creating a business that empowers people with disabilities to travel confidently while also educating the tourism industry on the importance of accessibility and inclusion.

Under her leadership, Adventures by Jamie has grown into a multimillion-dollar agency, earning recognition as the Best Travel Agency in Florida for four consecutive years. Jamie has become a sought-after speaker, coach, and accessibility consultant, partnering with destinations, tourism boards, government officials, and nonprofits to advocate for change and promote disability inclusion across the travel space.

Jamie is not only a trailblazing CEO but also a mentor, advocate, and role model, dedicated to breaking stereotypes, elevating underrepresented voices, and showing the world that disability and success are not mutually exclusive because they powerfully align.

When did you start to identify as a self-advocate, and why?

I started identifying as a self-advocate from childhood. From a young age, I learned I had to show up for myself, speak up about what I needed, and make sure my voice was heard. As I grew older, that self-advocacy grew with me. I became more confident not only in advocating for my own needs, rights, and opportunities, but also in using my voice and experiences to advocate for others. What started as simply a way of making sure my needs were met became a much bigger passion for helping create change, breaking down barriers, and making sure other people with disabilities have a voice and a seat at the table.

How has advocacy affected your personal life?

I mean, I feel like it's interwoven into my life so much because, you know, my disability is something that is constant. Right? I can't be disabled one day and not disabled another. I feel like there is always potential for a teaching opportunity with a restaurant, a hotel, cruise line, or theme park.  There are always ways to make things better. I own a travel agency that specializes in accessible travel but I'm also a coach teaching other travel advisors how to book accessible travel.

Jamie Santillo 

What advocacy-related issue is important to you and why?

Well, the biggest for me personally is the tourism industry and making sure that everybody, regardless of disability, has the ability to travel safely wherever they want to go.  I know that not every single thing can be accessible. But there are ways to make things more inclusive. And again, it's about having those conversations with the industry because nine times out of ten, they just don't know how to make it work because they don't deal with disability in their own life or somebody that's close to them.  

Another would be addressing my companion and not me.  It's funny because I have had: “What's her date of birth?” And I say “my date of birth is April 24, 1978.”  And you can just see the almost startled look on their faces, like “Oh my gosh, she speaks.” I can talk for myself.  Please address me.  My fiancé is a 6-foot-4 able-bodied guy, right?  And it's amazing to me . . . . how people question the validity of a relationship if one person is disabled and the other person is not. “Oh, you must be with her for her disability.”

What advice would you give to advocates who want to help people look for accessible travel or people with disabilities who love to travel and are looking for resources?

The biggest thing is really getting to know your client and being comfortable asking the not-so-comfortable questions. So, an example: if I am talking to a client that does not have a disability, I do not need to ask them, how did you use the restroom? It doesn't matter. But if I have a person with a disability, especially a mobility disability, I must know how that person uses the restroom.  We book for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, who are vision-impaired, who have a dietary restriction, who are on the spectrum, etc., so there will be different questions depending on the disability.

I teach other advisors that you cannot assume; you have the two of us as an example. As a wheelchair user, I guarantee you we have different needs in how we transfer and what our abilities are for dressing ourselves, or how we use the restroom, how we take a shower; all of that is different.  We are not a demographic.  They might say “Oh, it's okay, I booked for a wheelchair user before. I know what you need.” No, you don't know what I need.  Having those deeper conversations than you would with somebody who is fully able-bodied is important for travel agents.

What would you like to see change the most in the lives of people with disabilities?

I would love to see that we experience a world where we don't always have to worry and ask, “Is this place going to have an accessible restroom or accessible access for me?” I should just be able to go out to dinner with my fiancé and not worry about whether there’s going to be a step to get inside. or you know, like I, I would love to see more people working on making things easier by adding a ramp or moving the trash can in front of the elevator button. It makes it easier for everybody. And I'm sure you know this already but anyone can become disabled tomorrow, right?  They might not have been born with a disability, but anybody can join the disability community. Even if there’s not an accident or a stroke, if you live long enough, everybody’s going to fall into that demographic of needing an assistive mobility device, hearing aids, or glasses. Or maybe you develop some kind of food allergy. Everybody, in some way, is going to be affected by disability so why not try to make it better for everyone?

The FSACentral staff would like to thank Jamie for taking the time to participate in the interview. Let us know what you think about "About Us" on Facebook. If you know an accomplished self-advocate in Florida you think we should showcase in "About Us," contact us here or via Facebook.