Larger travellers complain they’re being ignored

Jimmy and Amanda are plus-size travel Youtube vloggers from Texas, USA, otherwise known as Chubby and Away. Here they explain why they believe it’s time for the travel industry to embrace larger travellers.

"As one of the only plus-size travel vloggers on YouTube, we get the same comment almost daily: why hasn’t the travel industry recognised that people are getting bigger across the globe? It’s a good question. People are getting bigger and the travel industry is not growing with them. Literally billions of dollars are being left on the table because airports, airlines, hotels and resorts do not recognise the advantages of accommodating people of size.

We are not talking about people who are really, really over weight here. When talking about overweight people, we generally have the image of a 600-pound person, and that just isn’t the case. Thanks to shows like the Biggest Loser or My 600 Pound Life in the USA, the media doesn’t really show bigger people in a good light. We are talking about people carrying 50-150 extra pounds.

According to the US Center for Disease Control, there are over 100 million overweight people in the USA. That’s over 40% of the population. We understand about the need to loose weight. We are actively trying, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to have fun and relax on a beach too.

The travel industry is usually the first to implement new ideas but seem to have been left in their own jet exhaust on the need to serve larger people. We appreciate that accommodating bigger people can be a hassle, but think about what you would get in increased revenue by including them.

The plus-sized clothing industry jumped on the opportunity to serve large people and has reaped the benefits. Statista.com says it made over $21 billions dollars in 2016 and is growing at a rate of 4% each year. That’s roughly $26 billion dollars by 2020. That’s a lot of plus-size trousers and Hawaiian shirts.

Why don’t people of size want to travel? Do you think it is because they fear they will be laughed at? To some extent that’s true, but it’s not the main complaint. Most plus-size people are afraid of where they will sit when they arrive. Yes, the number one complaint for people of size is fear of not being able to find a large enough chair to comfortably sit. A simple modification can boost their confidence, comfort, and your brand.

Seats are not just an airplane problem, as those seats are small for anyone. It is all seating. Chairs at the gate have those uncomfortable armrests that divide the seats and dig in to your hips, the resorts have plastic and mesh beach recliners that can rip due to the weak tensile strength, not to mention the hotel bed frames that can’t handle a few extra pounds, or the springs that might not support the extra weight at the edge of the bed.

These small adjustments are just drops in the bucket when looking at the amount of money to be made by promoting that you can accommodate bigger guests. Bigger people look for this. We all know about Southwest Airlines’ customer of size policy and tend to give them our business. It is all about acceptance, understanding and inclusion. The plus-size community feels excluded. Why not make it feel welcome? After all, it is literally almost half your target audience.

Advertising usually portrays unrealistic expectations, regardless of your size. We are all tired of seeing the doctored photos of a skinny woman in a sundress on the beach with a hunky boyfriend with his shirt off. That doesn’t make the majority of people feel welcome, let alone a bigger person. So, why would we go to your resort? The advertising industry is getting more diverse with regards to people of ethnicity and orientation. People of size should also be included. After all, we are a much bigger majority than all of these other groups.

So where do we go from here? Plus-size people have the same desire to explore and travel. Dare we say, if the plus-size community is made to feel more welcome, we would see a decrease in their weight. In our travels across Asia, we have lost a lot of weight, not from a change in diet but a change in activity level. By being excited about a new location or adventure, guests will naturally be more active and excited to explore. By making guest of size feel welcome you are giving them the confidence to get out of their home and be active. This small gesture of acceptance could change the way they approach their life when they return home.

So, invest in those heftier, wider chairs and get bigger bathrobes in the hotel rooms. As we travelled, lost weight, and became more active we fell in love with the way our body felt. We wanted to keep it going. It’s simple really. Inclusion, acceptance, and a spirit of welcoming to these guest of size can and will increase your bottom line, as well as, the quality of their life. It’s a win win."