Tourists, not victims: Guidebook attracts disabled tourists to city

"I would say exploit the hell out of us."

That's the view of one Chicagoan who spends her life in a wheelchair.

Her name is Marca Bristo, and she is talking about the disabled community.

Bristo is the president of Access Living, an advocacy group for disabled people in Chicago, and she was attending the public release of the first-of-its-kind guide for disabled visitors to Chicago.

"It's to our advantage if businesses see that it's in their interest to help us," Bristo said.

The new guide, released by the state of Illinois in partnership with the Open Doors Organization, provides information for disabled visitors about more than 300 sites in the Chicago area.

To make the guide, which is free, Open Doors hired members of the disabled community to go out and test the accessibility of Chicago hotels, restaurants and cultural attractions.

Laurel Van Horn, a research director with the group, said that more than 70 percent of the nation's disabled population takes a trip at least once every two years. The majority in this group will take at least two such trips, she said.

And, Van Horn said, Chicago rates high on these travelers' itineraries, behind only New York City and Washington, D.C., as a desirable destination.

The guide, named Easy Access Chicago, is being promoted as a way to bring more disabled visitors - and their money - to Chicago.

"It's just great to have people talking about disabled people making money, not costing money," Eric Lipp, Open Doors director, said in a speech at the Chicago History Museum, where the guide was presented.

Using the latest guidelines from the Americans with Disabilities Act, site inspectors took note of the size of doorways, the height of beds, shower rails and many other details typically overlooked by other guidebooks, Lipp said.

"Yes, it's the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, but it's also the right thing to do economically," said Jack Lavin, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. He added that people need to get over the idea that helping the disabled is about being a do-gooder.

It is, he said - but it's also good for business.

The Easy Access Chicago guide is available online.