Virtual Booth

AksesTravel: Travel Without Barriers

Nurul Adilla Abd Rahim1

, Muhamad Zulkarnaen Mohamad Yusoff2

, Norhaniza Emrizal3

,

Harith Izwan Nisbar4

, Roozita Maskun5

Innovative University College (IUC), Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia1,2,3,4

Putra Business School, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia5

Abstract

With over 805,509 registered Persons with Disabilities (Orang Kurang Upaya - OKU) (Department of

Statistics Malaysia, 2024) and an increasing elderly population, as well as families with young

children, not all of which are currently being catered for by travel platforms, Malaysia's Visit

Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY2026) campaign aims to serve 47 million tourists this year. While a lot of

information is available on price, location and customer ratings, accessibility information is limited,

self-reported or hard to verify. This extended abstract presents AksesTravel, a new digital travel

platform that has been developed with a simple belief: everyone can travel with confidence, regardless

of their mobility and/or physical abilities. The platform includes information from verified

accessibility sources, all in one place, allowing users to easily find and plan accessible

accommodation, attractions, restaurants, transport and tourism. Structured verification and

reinforcement of key accessibility features including wheelchair accessible entrances, ramps/lifts,

accessible toilets, suitable parking, stroller access, and accessible transportation are evaluated. The

venture generates money through booking commissions (10-15%) and ancillary revenue sources such

as high-dollar venue subscriptions, featured listings and government and non-government

organisation partnership grants. AksesTravel is seeking RM150,000 pre-seed funding, coinciding with

Malaysia's Cradle Fund CIP Spark grant, where financial projections show that it will reach cash-flow

breakeven within 20-22 months of running. AksesTravel supports three United Nations Sustainable

Development Goals: SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities),

and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). It also creates opportunities for the tourism

businesses, including the smaller ones, to stand out by showing consumers they are accessible.

AksesTravel is going to launch with a minimum viable product (MVP) and a pilot verification

programme of 10 selected tourism venues in Kuala Lumpur before expanding its database,

partnerships and services gradually. In conclusion, AksesTravel is an inclusive tourism ecosystem,

aiming to make Malaysia a place where everyone can travel, explore, and experience with greater

confidence and dignity. AksesTravel – Travel Without Barriers.

Keywords: Accessible tourism; Digital platform innovation; Business Model Canvas; Inclusive

entrepreneurship; Malaysia

1. BUSINESS IDEA INTRODUCTION

Malaysia's tourism sector is undergoing a significant transformation under the Visit Malaysia

Year 2026 (VMY2026) campaign, which targets 47 million tourist arrivals and aims to

position the country as a leading global destination (Tourism Malaysia, 2025). Alongside this

growth, Malaysia recorded over 805,509 registered persons with disabilities as of 2024

(Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2024), a figure that excludes the country's expanding

elderly population and families travelling with young children who share similar

mobility-related needs.

Despite this sizeable and growing market, existing travel platforms such as Booking.com and

TripAdvisor treat accessibility as a secondary, self-reported feature rather than a verified core

offering. Travellers seeking reliable accessibility information are frequently left to rely on

outdated personal blogs and informal forum discussions (Alexander, 2018; iWheelTravel,

2020), with no single trusted source to consult. This gap persists despite Malaysia's parallelnational commitment to disability inclusion, exemplified by initiatives such as Grab

Malaysia's GrabAccess programme (Wiki Impact, 2024).

In line with the iCEBIV 2026 theme of empowering next-generation innovators to shape the

future of business, this extended abstract presents AksesTravel, a youth-led digital business

idea that applies platform-based digital entrepreneurship to close this accessibility gap in

Malaysian tourism. AksesTravel proposes a verified, technology-enabled solution that

consolidates accessibility information into a single trusted platform, while building a

commercially sustainable business model around it. The remainder of this paper outlines the

methodology used to develop the business idea, presents the resulting business model and

financial outlook, and discusses the venture's broader contribution to inclusive and

sustainable tourism development in Malaysia.

2. BUSINESS IDEA, MATERIALS AND METHODS

The development of AksesTravel followed a structured, desk-based business model design

process rather than an empirical data collection study, consistent with early-stage business

idea development. Three main sources informed the analysis. First, secondary market and

policy data were gathered from official sources, including Department of Statistics Malaysia

(2024) disability statistics and Tourism Malaysia (2025) VMY2026 campaign documentation,

to establish the scale of the target market and the policy context supporting the venture.

Second, a competitive landscape analysis was conducted on existing travel and

accessibility-related platforms, including Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Grab, and Airbnb, to

identify gaps in accessibility verification and to benchmark AksesTravel's proposed value

proposition against current market offerings.

Third, the Business Model Canvas (BMC) framework (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010) was

applied to structure the venture across its nine interrelated building blocks, while platform

business theory (Parker et al., 2016) informed the selection of a brokerage-based, multi-sided

internet business model. Financial projections were developed through comparative

benchmarking against realistic funding structures available to early-stage Malaysian

technology ventures, specifically Cradle Fund's CIP Spark pre-seed grant, rather than through

primary financial data, given the venture's pre-launch stage (Tracxn, 2026).

3. BUSINESS IDEA DISCUSSION AND CONTRIBUTION

Business Opportunity and Value Proposition. AksesTravel proposes a mobile platform that

consolidates verified accessibility data including wheelchair access, accessible toilets, lift

availability, and OKU-friendly transport into a single trusted source. Every listing is

supported by a combination of on-site audits and photo-verified community reviews, directly

addressing the self-reporting weaknesses identified in existing platforms. Artificial

intelligence-based filtering further personalises recommendations according to each

traveller's specific mobility requirements, replacing guesswork with confidence. The

platform's value proposition centres on dignity and independence in travel for three

overlapping target segments: persons with disabilities and OKU cardholders, elderly

travellers, and families with young children.

Business Model. AksesTravel adopts a brokerage-based internet business model, functioning

as a digital intermediary connecting travellers, verified venues, and accessibility service

providers. Primary revenue is derived from booking commissions (10–15%), while secondary

2streams include venue premium subscriptions, featured listings, and government or NGO

partnership grants. Structurally, the venture follows a multi-sided platform pattern in which

value increases as more travellers and verified venues join the network, generating a

self-reinforcing network effect and a defensible competitive advantage. Table 1 summarises

the venture's Business Model Canvas.

Table 1. Business Model Canvas summary for AksesTravel

Building Block Summary

Customer Segments Persons with disabilities/OKU cardholders, elderly travellers, families with young

children; supply-side: hotels, attractions, transport operators

Value Proposition Verified, audit-backed accessibility data enabling confident, independent travel

planning

Channels Mobile application, website, social media, NGO and tourism board partnerships

Customer Relationships Self-service app, community-verified reviews, in-app support, loyalty engagement

Revenue Streams Booking commissions (10-15%), premium subscriptions, featured listings,

government/NGO grants

Key Resources Mobile/AI platform, verification auditors, partner network, brand trust

Key Activities Accessibility verification, platform development, partner onboarding, marketing

Key Partnerships Tourism Malaysia, MDEC, OKU associations, Grab (GrabAccess), hotels and

attractions

Cost Structure Platform development and hosting, verification operations, marketing,

compliance; value-driven cost approach

Competitive Positioning. Unlike mainstream travel platforms that compete primarily on

price and inventory depth, AksesTravel differentiates itself through structured verification

credibility, mobility-specific AI filtering, and network effects that strengthen with scale

(Malaysian Investment Development Authority, 2025). These core capabilities present high

barriers to entry for generic travel aggregators seeking to replicate verified accessibility data

quickly.

Financial Outlook. AksesTravel's three-year financial projection is summarised in Table 2.

Revenue is projected to grow from RM45,000 in Year 1, driven primarily by grants and

featured listing fees during the pilot phase, to RM550,000 by Year 3, as the venture

transitions to a commission-based revenue model and expands beyond Kuala Lumpur.

Cash-flow breakeven is projected between months 20 and 22 of operation. To reach this

stage, AksesTravel is seeking RM150,000 in pre-seed financing, aligned with Malaysia's

Cradle Fund CIP Spark grant, allocated toward application and AI development (45%),

verification operations (25%), marketing and partner acquisition (20%), and working capital

(10%).

Table 2. Three-year financial projection for AksesTravel

Year Revenue (RM) Operating Costs (RM) Net Result (RM)

Year 1 45,000 140,000 (95,000)

Year 2 220,000 180,000 40,000

Year 3 550,000 380,000 170,000

3Contribution to Sustainable Development. AksesTravel demonstrates how a digital

business idea can create both commercial and social value by making tourism more inclusive

and accessible. The venture supports SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) by empowering persons

with disabilities, elderly travelers and families with mobility needs to travel with greater

confidence and independence. It contributes to SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities)

by encouraging tourism businesses and destinations to improve and showcase their

accessibility. AksesTravel also supports SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) by

creating new market opportunities for tourism operators, particularly smaller businesses, to

reach the growing accessible-tourism market (United Nations, 2015). Together, these

contributions position AksesTravel as a purpose-driven and scalable digital business idea that

transforms accessibility challenges into opportunities for inclusive tourism growth in

Malaysia.

4. CONCLUSION

This extended abstract has presented AksesTravel, a digital business idea addressing a

genuine and quantifiable gap in Malaysia's tourism industry: the absence of a verified, trusted

source of accessibility information for persons with disabilities, elderly travellers, and

families. By applying the Business Model Canvas framework within a brokerage-based,

multi-sided platform structure, AksesTravel is positioned as a scalable, asset-light venture

capable of reaching commercial sustainability within approximately two years of operation.

A key limitation of the current proposal is its pre-launch stage; the business model has been

validated through academic coursework and desk-based research rather than live market

testing, and the financial projections presented remain estimates pending pilot

implementation. Future work will prioritize developing a minimum viable product (MVP),

executing a pilot verification program involving ten selected tourism venues in Kuala

Lumpur, and systematically testing user willingness to adopt the platform.

Nonetheless, AksesTravel demonstrates how young entrepreneurs can apply digital

innovation to address overlooked social gaps while building commercially viable ventures,

directly reflecting the iCEBIV 2026 theme of empowering next-generation innovators to

shape the future of business.

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to express their appreciation to Ts. Dr. Rozita Maskun from Putra

Business School, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Innovative University College (IUC) for their

guidance and support in the development of this business idea.

6. REFERENCES

Alexander, C. (2018). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia wheelchair accessible travel guide.

Wheelchair Travel.

Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2024). Person with disability statistics, Malaysia, 2024.

DOSM.

iWheelTravel. (2020). Visiting Kuala Lumpur in a wheelchair: Accessibility tips and advice.

Malaysian Investment Development Authority. (2025). Reimagining hospitality: A digital

and sustainable pathway for Visit Malaysia Year 2026. MIDA.

4Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y . (2010). Business model generation: A handbook for

visionaries, game changers, and challengers. John Wiley & Sons.

Parker, G. G., Van Alstyne, M. W., & Choudary, S. P. (2016). Platform revolution: How

networked markets are transforming the economy and how to make them work for you.

W. W. Norton & Company.

Tourism Malaysia. (2025). Launch of Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign: A milestone for tourism

growth. Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.

Tracxn. (2026). Startups in Malaysia — 2026 latest funding rounds, trends and news.

Wiki Impact. (2024). 7 positive steps toward making Malaysia more disabled friendly.

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