Website Designed for Wheelchair Travelers

Nearly 50 million Americans have a physical disability, and about 10 million depend on wheelchairs or other mobility devices. But when it comes to providing quality service to this important segment, the hospitality industry sometimes falls flat.

This business concept, which won second place in The Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge, is an online travel site that allows visitors to book handicapped-accessible rooms and provides a forum where customers can rate and review services with accessibility in mind.

While many travel websites offer information for special needs travelers and allow customers to request such rooms, none guarantees that you will get such a room, explained Robert Holtzman, the founder of Wheelchairtravel.us.

Holtzman’s wife, Mary Jo, struggled with Lou Gehrig’s Disease for five years before her death in January. During her illness, the couple traveled whenever possible.

What they found were often ‘‘appalling accommodations at many hotels, a lack of knowledge by staffers, and an online travel community that did not understand special-needs accommodations,’’ Holtzman wrote.

One time, while visiting their son in Gainesville, they discovered that their ‘‘handicapped-accessible’’ room didn’t have a roll-in shower. And what were advertised as grab bars were really just towel racks.

‘‘In the middle of the night we had to go find a new hotel,’’ he said. ``Not only were they not able to understand it, but it took me three days on the phone to get the money back.’’

Wheelchairtravel.us, which is still in the planning stages, would make its money the same way most travel sites do: buying rooms in bulk and selling them at a mark-up. Holtzman estimates that start-up costs, including a $550,000, 180-day national marketing campaign, would be about $1.8 million.