Accessible Destination Action Plan
FOR FORT WAYNE & ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA
FROM THE CEO
Fort Wayne and Allen County have long embraced a vision of community for all abilities, supported by the dedication of nonprofit and service organizations across our region. Accessibility is not just an aspiration, it is a mindset rooted in action, commitment, and care.
Building on this strong foundation, Visit Fort Wayne, through our 10-Year Tourism Master Plan, is committed to advancing Fort Wayne and Allen County as a nationally recognized accessible destination. Our goal is to set the standard for inclusivity and Universal Design, ensuring that visitors and residents of all abilities, ages, and backgrounds can fully experience and enjoy our community.
This Accessibility Action Plan represents our promise: to embed accessibility progress into the recommendations of the 10-Year Tourism Master Plan, to share our story widely, and to strengthen collaboration and infrastructure across the community.
Together—with the leadership of businesses, nonprofits, community partners, and individuals with lived expertise—we are shaping a future where Fort Wayne, Allen County, and the region are celebrated as a destination where everyone belongs, and where the social fabric of our community is open and welcoming to all.
Jill Boggs President and CEO Visit Fort Wayne
INTRODUCTION & METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION & METHODOLOGY
Visit Fort Wayne’s 10-Year Tourism Master Plan prioritized a proactive commitment to enhancing the accessibility of Allen County as a destination for visitors and residents. The following Accessible Destination Action Plan challenges Fort Wayne/Allen County to define and deliver on becoming an accessible destination—a foundational value identified as the underlying basis for all our community does. With community assets and partners such as The League for the Blind and Disabled, WindSwell Foundation, and Turnstone Center for Children & Adults with Disabilities, and others, Fort Wayne/Allen County have existing resources, awareness, and advocacy that uniquely position the destination to create a nationally recognized accessible destination. These agencies, and others, are working to build an inclusive and equitable city for all (Universal Design) and in doing so, will become an accessible destination for tourism.
This Five-Year Accessible Destination Action Plan builds from the foundation of the Tourism Master Plan, provides a road map for Visit Fort Wayne, and helps bring to life the vision of the destination in regard to accessibility.
The planning effort began in May of 2025 in
partnership with Whereabout, a destination strategy firm. The process of crafting this Accessible Destination Action Plan included:
▶ Review of background reports and data.
▶ Interviews of 22 individuals representing diverse perspectives from the tourism and disabilities communities.
▶ Engagement with the Visit Fort Wayne Accessibility Task Force and individuals with lived experience with disabilities in two focus groups.
▶ Deployment of a survey in July and August 2025 that garnered 288 responses.
▶ Creation of a Strategic Perspectives Report that presented 11 key themes from the work to date (see next page for report themes).
▶ Facilitation of two in-person planning workshops in September and one virtual session in November with the Visit Fort Wayne Accessibility Task Force. The Task Force reviewed the Strategic Perspectives Report, then crafted elements of the Accessible Destination Action Plan:
▷ Accessibility Principles: high-level decision criteria to be used to ensure that the actions of this Plan are in keeping with the big idea for Fort Wayne/Allen County as an accessible destination.
Strategic Perspectives Report Themes
1. Fort Wayne’s Accessible Identity is a Civic Opportunity: A civic pride campaign focused on accessibility could begin to shape the city’s reputation among both potential visitors and potential residents.
2. Amplify the Accessible Destination Signal: The destination could position itself as a leader in accessible tourism by highlighting best practices, accessible attractions, and community commitment.
3. Aspire to Accessibility Greatness: To achieve the goal of becoming a globally recognized, premier accessible destination, the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act should be conceived of as the bare minimum of what a community and destination do to accommodate people with disabilities.
4. Foster Awareness to Ensure Readiness: Increasing community awareness of—and changing mindsets towards—how people with disabilities navigate spaces is vital for ensuring that infrastructure investments are matched by cultural readiness to welcome all visitors.
5. Make Information as Accessible as the Destination: Clear, centralized, and transparent communication regarding accessibility information is critical for increasing traveler confidence.
6. Identify and Close Physical Infrastructure Gaps: Improving the physical environment—including infrastructure, sidewalks, crosswalks, and buildings—is a first step to inclusion.
7. Promote a Comprehensive Accessible Transportation Network: Transportation barriers compound inequities and perpetuate inaccessibility for visitors and residents with disabilities.
8. Integrate Inclusive Experiences & Programming: Events should be welcoming without making participants feel “othered” or marginalized.
9. Lead with Innovative Technological Solutions: By investing in tech tools, Fort Wayne and Allen County could empower visitors to plan confidently and navigate seamlessly, while also becoming a leading innovator in destination inclusivity.
10. Ensure Those with Lived Experience are Always at the Table: Collaboration and partnerships with people with lived experience will provide for more viable solutions for accessibility needs.
11. Engage to Garner Political Will and Funding: Securing political will and funding will help turn a broadly supported community priority from plan to reality.
▷ Objectives: the key goals Visit Fort Wayne wishes to accomplish in the next five years.
▷ Initiatives: the work Visit Fort Wayne and/or community partners will do to accomplish the Objectives.
▷ Indicators: how success will be measured.
▷ Lead Organization: which organization will take the lead on a particular Initiative.
▷ Partner Organizations: which additional organizations will contribute to each Initiative.
▷ Resource Level: represented by 1 to 3 dollar signs, an indication of how resource-intensive an Initiative will be.
▷ Phasing: when the work will occur within the five-year planning horizon.
▶ Hosting of a Community Forum in September with nearly 50 participants. The purpose of this Forum was to gain insights into the Plan as work was underway, see what people loved, and what was missing.
The outcome of this process—this Accessible Destination Action Plan—provides a vision and direction for Visit Fort Wayne and its partners to grow the destination and its reputation. This Plan is not intended to replace Visit Fort Wayne’s day-to-day work, but rather complement that work with a focus on enhancing the destination’s accessibility. It is not meant to be an inflexible mandate, but should be used as a reliable and adaptable guide.
How to Use this Plan
The work to be done is centered around three Objectives:
1. Expand Community Collaboration, Commitment and Education
2. Increase the Accessibility of Our Infrastructure and Built Environment
3. Amplify Our Brand Identity as an Accessible Destination
Each of these Objectives is supported by a set of Initiatives that will occur in the fiveyear planning time frame. To ensure that Objectives and Initiatives track toward success, Visit Fort Wayne will continue to convene the Task Force to recruit individuals and organizations to lead individual Initiatives, report on success, and identify opportunities for any needed course corrections. Working teams should be identified to undertake each of the Initiatives that are underway at a given time, and those teams should identify the action steps necessary and how they will know when the Initiative has been completed.
PRINCIPLES, OBJECTIVES
& INDICATORS OF SUCCESS
ACCESSIBILITY PRINCIPLES
Accessibility Principles are high-level decision criteria to ensure that the actions of this Plan are in keeping with the big idea for Fort Wayne/Allen County as an accessible destination. Our Action Plan must:
1. Align with and support the priorities of the 10-Year Tourism Master Plan
2. Integrate the voices of visitors and residents with disabilities
3. Prioritize progress over perfection and encourage open-minded learning within our community
4. Focus on attainability and identify a clear path to progress
5. Provide concrete and demonstrable benefits to our local economy
6. Elevate our shared community value of Hoosier Hospitality
OBJECTIVE 1: EXPAND COMMUNITY COLLABORATION, COMMITMENT AND EDUCATION
1.1 Develop an accessibility support hub for businesses
Because businesses are the front lines of interactions with visitors, Visit Fort Wayne will work to ensure that Allen County businesses have the tools and resources they need to continually improve accessibility. A webbased platform could have easy-to-use training materials for frontline staffers such as short video trainings, guidance for businesses to develop accessibility improvement plans, tips on maintaining and communicating accurate accessibility information, resource guides such as the TravelAbility Playbook, and information about where businesses might secure funding support for accessibility improvements.
Paired with this resource, businesses will be provided the option to participate in a marketing program that identifies businesses who are committed to improving their accessibility. Inclusion in the program would offer businesses possible benefits including a web page listing, window clings, media templates, etc. to use in their own marketing. This could be done in conjunction with Visit Fort Wayne’s hospitality frontline training and resource materials.
▶ Lead Organization: Greater Fort Wayne Inc.
▶ Partner Organizations: Visit Fort Wayne, WindSwell Foundation
▶ Resource Level: $$
▶ Timeline: Q1 2026—Q4 2029
1.2 Encourage continued business commitment through periodic Accessibility Summit and recognition awards
To give businesses a low-barrier way to enter into the accessibility movement, an open invitation to an Accessibility Summit would bring businesses together to build excitement for accessibility. The event could be annual and would be informational, celebrate wins, and give awards to inspire the business community. This event may be scheduled to leverage a relationship to the Disabilities Expo that WindSwell Foundation leads every spring.
▶ Lead Organization: WindSwell Foundation
▶ Partner Organizations: Visit Fort Wayne, Turnstone, The League, Easterseals,
Northeast Indiana Disability Advocacy Coalition, Fort Wayne/Allen County Disability Advisory Council, Allen County Commissioners, Allen County Council, City of Fort Wayne, City of Fort Wayne Council, City of New Haven, Greater Fort Wayne Inc.
▶ Resource Level: $$
▶ Timeline: Q1 2027—Q4 2030
1.3
Explore the creation of a Destination Accessibility Ambassador Program
To support larger events in Fort Wayne/Allen County that bring a high concentration of visitors with disabilities to the community, a corps of street-level volunteers—to assist with directions, accessibility tips, and general recommendations—may be helpful. Such a group could be staffed by volunteers such as students or volunteer business representatives, and would be easily identifiable, possibly by a uniform jacket or vest. Because of the complexity of organizing such a group, this initiative proposes to explore the possibility, including the consideration of a contracted part-time volunteer coordinator, opportunities for funding the program, and the feasibility of mobilizing a sufficient number of volunteers. Alternative possibilities will also be explored, such as the use of digital kiosks to supply similar information to visitors.
▶ Lead Organization: Northeast Indiana Disability Advocacy Coalition
▶ Partner Organizations: N/A
▶ Resource Level: $
▶ Timeline: Q1 2028—Q4 2028
1.4
Develop a small group of accessible tourism Champions from Fort Wayne/Allen County’s disability & business communities
To amplify its messaging and support initiatives that foster change, the Accessible Destination Task Force will develop a group of advocates who are strong allies and who may have personal lived experience. The primary role of these Champions will be to advocate to local and regional governments for needed improvements and policies, though they may be called upon to advocate more broadly to communicate the value of greater accessibility to visitors and the community alike.
▶ Lead Organization: The League
▶ Partner Organizations: WindSwell Foundation, Turnstone
▶ Resource Level: $
▶ Timeline: Q1 2026-Q4 2026
1.5
Identify and foster relationships with key accessibility Allies within regional governments
Complementary to the Champions, Visit Fort Wayne will identify and cultivate a group of Allies in influential positions within regional governments—whether in elected or staff roles. These individuals will have the ability to speak internally within governmental organizations to promote change, and will also serve as the primary points of contact for the Champions, advising them on message development that will be most likely to be influential and on which contacts and agencies will be important to communicate with.
▶ Lead Organization: Visit Fort Wayne
▶ Partner Organizations: Northeast Indiana Disability Advocacy Coalition, Fort Wayne/Allen County Disability Advisory Council, The League
▶ Resource Level: $
▶ Timeline: Q1 2027—Q4 2027
1.6 Designate a Visit Fort Wayne Foundation fund to support businesses in efforts to attain greater accessibility
This initiative recommends a dedicated fund supplying small grants for businesses to take on “easy wins” that advance accessibility. This grant program would be promoted at the summit, and would give an opportunity to amplify Fort Wayne/Allen County’s successes via public relations efforts regionally and nationally.
▶ Lead Organization: Visit Fort Wayne Foundation
▶ Partner Organizations: WindSwell Foundation
▶ Resource Level: $$$
▶ Timeline: Q1 2028—Q4 2028
OBJECTIVE 2: INCREASE THE ACCESSIBILITY OF OUR
INFRASTRUCTURE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
2.1
Develop a comprehensive strategy to establish Fort Wayne and Allen County as leaders in Universal Design for destinations
While many destinations are focused on improving and promoting accessibility, and many destinations have put focus on particular types of disabilities, Universal Design is not often featured in destination branding and marketing. This presents an opportunity for Visit Fort Wayne to establish itself as a leader in this space—highlighting the principles of Universal Design within the destination, taking on advocacy for changes to support Universal Design, and educating the local tourism industry on Universal Design. Visit Fort Wayne will also be seen as a leader in the national accessible tourism conversation, elevating the conversation and educating peer communities.
Convening an ad hoc panel of local and regional experts on Universal Design such as architects, urban designers, landscape architects, and transportation planners will bring rigor and momentum to the effort. This nearer-term effort will help establish credibility in this space. Once set, in a later time frame, a comprehensive strategy to
promote this leadership position will include plain-language branding that avoids jargon, marketing through paid, owned, and earned channels, and thought leadership possibly through white papers, op-eds, or speaking engagements.
▶ Lead Organization: Visit Fort Wayne
▶ Partner Organizations: Local and regional experts on Universal Design (architects, urban designers, landscape architects, and transportation planners)
▶ Resource Level: $$
▶ Timeline: Q1 2026—Q4 2026; Q1 2029— Q4 2029
2.2
Develop an advocacy strategy to foster accessible transportation in Fort Wayne and Allen County
Transportation has been identified as one of the primary challenges to accessible tourism in Fort Wayne and Allen County. An Accessible Transportation Committee and the Visit Fort Wayne Champions of the Accessible Destination Action Plan will collaborate with existing efforts to improve accessible transportation, quantify
and demonstrate positive economic and community impacts from greater accessible transportation links, and craft and deploy strategic messaging to Cities and County leaders and staff, particularly the Allies that have been designated within those governmental bodies.
▶ Lead Organization: Establish an Accessible Transportation Committee
▶ Partner Organizations: Fort Wayne International Airport, Citilink, Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council (NIRCC), City of Fort Wayne Public Works, City of New Haven Public Works, Fort Wayne Trails
▶ Resource Level: $
▶ Timeline: Q1 2027—Q4 2030
2.3 Designate and advocate for the development of accessible mobility pathways in key destination nodes
Using Universal Design principles, an Accessible Transportation Committee will
map existing mobility pathways, identify and prioritize critical needs, and work in partnership with Cities and County staff to develop accessible wayfinding and to increase the number of pathways. In some cases, this will be as simple as mapping existing pathways, but in other cases will include the identification of high-priority gaps that need to be completed. Beyond physical infrastructure, Visit Fort Wayne may also explore how accessible pathways might be highlighted on digital infrastructure such as Google Maps or accessibility apps.
▶ Lead Organization: Establish an Accessible Transportation Committee
▶ Partner Organizations: Fort Wayne International Airport, Citilink, NIRCC, City of Fort Wayne Public Works, City of New Haven Public Works, Fort Wayne Trails
▶ Resource Level: $$
▶ Timeline: Q1 2029—Q4 2029
OBJECTIVE 3: AMPLIFY OUR BRAND IDENTITY AS AN ACCESSIBLE DESTINATION
3.1
Develop an accessible destination marketing and brand strategy with national reach
Visit Fort Wayne will amplify its signal as an accessible destination, focusing targeted messaging at specific disability audiences, and highlighting Fort Wayne and Allen County’s dedication to Universal Design. Owned and paid channels in target markets will draw regional visitation, while a public relations campaign will raise Fort Wayne/ Allen County’s profile as an accessible destination nationally. The attraction of major conferences focused on accessibility in tourism and other industries will also support Fort Wayne and Allen County’s leadership in Universal Design for destinations.
▶ Lead Organization: Visit Fort Wayne Marketing and Sales Departments
▶ Partner Organizations: N/A
▶ Resource Level: $$
▶ Timeline: Q1 2027—Q2 2027
3.2
Create and manage a speaker group to elevate visibility of our efforts
Within the group of Champions who advocate to local government for greater accessibility, Visit Fort Wayne will identify a subset of a few individuals who will become part of a speaker group that can be deployed to speak to public audiences in a thought leadership capacity about Visit Fort Wayne’s efforts to create a more universally accessible destination. These speakers will present at local and regional events, industry conferences, and will promote group travel opportunities.
▶ Lead Organization: Visit Fort Wayne
▶ Partner Organizations: N/A
▶ Resource Level: $
▶ Timeline: Q3 2027—Q4 2027
3.3 Review and update Visit
Fort Wayne web content and features to enhance accessibility
To keep up with ever-evolving accessibility best practices, Visit Fort Wayne will undertake an effort to refresh the accessibility of its website, both in terms of accessibility technology and content supportive of accessibility. As part of this effort, Visit Fort Wayne will identify and implement creative and engaging approaches, turning
the website into its own demonstration of accessible tourism, more deeply engaging website visitors.
▶ Lead Organization: Visit Fort Wayne Marketing Department
▶ Partner Organizations: N/A
▶ Resource Level: $
▶ Timeline: Q3 2027—Q2 2028, with ongoing updates
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS
Indicators of Success provide an ongoing mechanism to measure progress of implementation:
1. Improvement in visitor sentiment rating Fort Wayne/Allen County’s accessibility as a destination
2. Improvement in visitor rating on accessible transportation in Fort Wayne/Allen County
3. Year-over-year growth in number of businesses participating in Visit Fort Wayne’s accessibility programs
4. Year-over-year growth in self-reported readiness to welcome guests with disabilities among Fort Wayne/Allen County businesses
5. Growth in total miles of identified and promoted accessibility pathways
6. Year-over-year growth in earned media value on the topic of Universal Design in destination accessibility
7. Year-over-year growth in engagement with Visit Fort Wayne’s accessibility content on website
TIMELINE & IMPLEMENTATION
TIMELINE: 2026 - 2030
Objective 1: Expand Community Collaboration, Commitment and Education
1.1 Develop an accessibility support hub for businesses
1.2 Encourage continued business commitment through annual Accessibility Summit and recognition awards
1.3 Explore the creation of a Destination Accessibility Ambassador Program
1.4 Develop a small group of accessible tourism Champions from Fort Wayne/Allen County’s disability & business communities
1.5 Identify and foster relationships with key accessibility Allies within regional governments
1.6 Designate a Visit Fort Wayne Foundation fund to support businesses in efforts to attain greater accessibility
Objective 2: Increase the Accessibility of Our Infrastructure and Built Environment
2.1 Develop a comprehensive strategy to establish Fort Wayne and Allen County as leaders in Universal Design for destinations
2.2 Develop an advocacy strategy to foster accessible transportation in Fort Wayne and Allen County
2.3 Designate and advocate for the development of accessible mobility pathways in key destination nodes
Objective 3: Amplify Our Brand Identity as an Accessible Destination
3.1 Develop an accessible destination marketing and brand strategy with national reach
3.2 Create and manage a speaker group to elevate visibility of our efforts
3.3 Review and update Visit Fort Wayne web content and features to enhance accessibility
IMPLEMENTATION
“Collective Impact is a systemic approach… that focuses on relationships between organizations and the progress towards shared objectives.”
—Stanford Social Innovation Review
“The concept of collective impact hinges on the idea that in order for organizations to create lasting solutions to social problems on a large scale, they need to coordinate their efforts and work together around a clearly defined goal. This approach of collective impact is placed in contrast to ‘isolated impact,’ where organizations primarily work alone to solve social problems.”
—Wikipedia
The Collective Impact Model forms the foundation for the ongoing management of this Accessible Destination Action Plan. The backbone support organization, Visit Fort Wayne, will ensure that all the necessary representatives come together regularly to share progress, course-correct, and strategize the next steps. While Visit Fort Wayne is the convener and the subject matter expert on travel and tourism, it is not the sole decider in the process.
Common Agenda
The Common Agenda for this Collective Impact Model is the vision of the destination as outlined in the 10-Year Tourism Master Plan: “The foundation of the Tourism Master Plan is to be a beacon of Universal Design, where we anticipate everyone’s needs and provide for the needs of those with intellectual, developmental, physical, sensory, and emotional disabilities, the Deaf community, and the aging population.”
Mutually Reinforcing Activities
Mutually Reinforcing Activities are the three Objectives and 12 Initiatives described in this Plan. The three Objectives are:
1. Expand Community Collaboration, Commitment and Education
2. Increase the Accessibility of Our Infrastructure and Built Environment
3. Amplify Our Brand Identity as an Accessible Destination
Backbone Support Organization
Visit Fort Wayne will act as the Backbone Support Organization, responsible for convening community and government partners in service of implementing the work of this plan.
Depending on the project, additional partners will be brought in on an as-needed basis to participate in ad hoc work groups. These may include governmental agencies, local organizations, industry partners, and nonprofits. As needed, the people and businesses that call Fort Wayne and Allen County home will also be called to share their thoughts.
Shared Measurement Systems
The Shared Measurement Systems are the seven Indicators associated with this Plan. These demonstrate how to measure progress and describe how the Plan is being achieved. It is recommended that these be tracked regularly and reported publicly once a year.
Continuous Communication
Visit Fort Wayne will ensure that energy is placed in the continuous communication of this Plan. Tools to support this include:
▶ Webpage
▶ Newsletters
▶ Local print and broadcast media
▶ Government relations
Meeting Cadence
Two meeting tracks are envisioned for the implementing the Accessible Destination Action Plan:
1. The Fort Wayne/Allen County Accessibility Task Force will meet quarterly to share progress on Initiatives.
2. Ad Hoc Initiative Teams will be convened for each Initiative. Each team will identify a point person from the Lead Organization to manage and report on the work, set a more detailed work plan to achieve the Initiative, and meet monthly to do the actual work. The point person for each Initiative will report to the Backbone Support Organization on progress it has made and hurdles it has encountered.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank the many people who participated in interviews, focus groups, community forums, and the destination survey, as well as members of the Visit Fort Wayne Accessibility Task Force.
Visit Fort Wayne Accessibility Task Force
▶ Gail Altekruse, Parkview
▶ Jill Boggs, Visit Fort Wayne
▶ Rachel Brouwer, MKM Architecture + Design
▶ Jessa Campbell, Visit Fort Wayne
▶ Stasha Carrasquillo, Turnstone
▶ Tamara Cummins, Downtown Fort Wayne
▶ Gavin Drew, Fort Wayne Civic Theatre
▶ Chris Fleischer, Allen County
▶ John Guingrich, The League
▶ Kristen Guthrie, Visit Fort Wayne
▶ Patti Hays, WindSwell Foundation
▶ Alec Johnson, PLA, ASLA, City of Fort Wayne
▶ Julie Larame, Local Advocate and Mother
▶ Amy Lazoff, Fort Wayne Zoo
▶ Joe Marana, Fort Wayne Airport
▶ Mandee Mikulski, Science Central
▶ Alanna Olah, Purdue Fort Wayne
▶ Megan Price, Science Central
Consulting Team
▶ Stacy Humphrey, Whereabout
▶ Matthew Landkamer, Whereabout
