FINN Partners Named Public Relations Agency For Autism Double-Checked

World Autism Awareness Day Marks the Launch of the First Travel-Specific Training Service

News provided by

Apr 02, 2019, 10:28 ET

NEW YORK, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Autism Double-Checked (ADC), the only autism spectrum disorder training and certification company for the travel and hospitality industry, has selected FINN Partners as its North American communications agency of record. FINN will spearhead media relations, executive thought leadership and strategic partnerships for the company.

Based in the U.S., ADC was created to ready the travel industry to assist guests with autism through industry-specific and job-specific training for all public facing staff. It provides assistance to the autism community to be confident in selecting travel opportunities that best fit their needs and offers comprehensive marketing support to certified companies via autism community specialized channels.

"The Autism community is a completely untapped travel market. Autism Spectrum Disorder touches more than 10 million people in the U.S. alone. ASD families have an absolute need for known autism-friendly travel," said Alan Day, Founder & CEO, Autism Double-Checked. "The benefit to the travel industry is considerable; the nature of ASD is such that this population has a distinct preference for low seasons and low occupancy. Autism-ready training is good for business, rewarding for staff and pays off in a new customer segment. We selected FINN Partners because of the firm's own commitment to diversity, its passionate people and stellar reputation in travel and hospitality."

Autism Double-Checked's training and certification is designed for destinations, airlines, hotels and resorts, restaurants, the cruise industry, visitor attractions and travel providers, such as travel agents and agencies. Services include the preparation of autism-ready destination and attraction Visitor Guides, a Guide to Social Media Marketing (SMM) integration, and access to ADC's monthly webinars for "Outreach to the Autism Community" for sales/marketing associates of certified companies.

"The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 provided millions of people access to public locations, however, nothing of any great significance since has been available to help special needs communities enjoy the benefits of traveling," said Gail L. Moaney, founding managing partner and director of the global Travel & Lifestyle practice at FINN. "We are honored to work with ADC in this new endeavor to create a better understanding and responsibility within the travel industry towards the autism traveler and their families."

The new assignment will be managed out of the firm's New York office, and led by Virginia M. Sheridan, a managing partner in the Travel & Lifestyle Practice. As a first step in the partnership, FINN's U.S.Travel & Lifestyle staff will become ADC trained and certified.

With more than 70 travel and lifestyle specialists across three continents, FINN has the largest global travel practice in the public relations industry with professionals in marketing and corporate communications, media relations, crisis and issues management and social media. In 2018, FINN received a PR Council Diversity Distinction in PR Award for its "Actions Speak Louder" campaign.

About Autism Double-Checked
Autism Double-Checked was co-founded by Alan Day, a travel agent who began his career with Liberty Travel, before forming his own agency. Alan's son has Autism Spectrum Disorder; when considering the impact that his son's Autism had on their own family vacations, Alan decided to refocus his agency and specialize in assistance and support for families impacted by Autism. His partner is David M. Tait OBE, who spent most of his career in commercial aviation, where he worked closely with two of the industry's greatest innovators, Sir Freddie Laker and Sir Richard Branson, where he was the fledgling airline's first employee and then spent the next two decades as Executive Director and EVP. In 2001 at Buckingham Palace, David was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of The British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for "Services to British aviation in the USA".

About Finn Partners, Inc.
Founded in 2011 on the core principles of innovation and collaborative partnership, FINN Partners has more than quadrupled in size in seven years, becoming one of the fastest growing independent public relations agencies in the world. The full-service marketing and communications company's record setting pace is a result of organic growth and integrating new companies and new people into the FINN world through a common philosophy. With 700 professionals, FINN provides clients with global access and capabilities in the U.S., Europe and Asia, in addition to PROI Worldwide. Headquartered in New York, FINN's other offices are located in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Nashville, Orange County, Paris, Portland, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore and Washington D.C. Find us at finnpartners.com and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @finnpartners.