Attention turns to tourist accommodations at the Montréal Summit

Of the many accessibility-related topics covered during the Summit currently taking place in Montréal, on Day 3, the focus of discussions turned to tourist accommodations.

The Scandic hotel chain, which has 230 establishments in Scandinavia and the Nordic countries, is making a name for itself as a world-class champion of accommodations for all. In his presentation, the chain’s director of accessibility Magnus Berglund explained the philosophy behind the company’s extraordinary success. For Scandic, every single guest, even a disabled one, is still a guest. And its strategists recognized something that other hotel operators are still struggling to acknowledge: that accessibility for all is a lucrative niche and a gateway to a growing market.

Scandic developed a 110-point list of accessibility standards, 81 of which are mandatory. These numbers alone are a good indication of how complex such an undertaking can be, but its method reflects a little-known fact, namely that 70% of disabilities are not visible. Surprised? Just think of hearing impairments, for example. The organization also places a strong emphasis on training for each of its 13,000 employees, which it treats like members of a big team, and provides sufficient resources for the orientation of 2,000 new teammates per year.

Throughout the day, speakers examined other aspects of the topic, through recent experiences and studies from Québec and Europe. These aspects included:

• The pressing need for building standards for hotel establishments, which, where they exist, may be minimal and should be revised regularly, in contrast with the flexibility of the broader guidelines enabling interested organizations to take their adapted services even further according to their situation, means and target markets;
• The best avenues for inciting hotel developers to invest more in accessibility policies and accessible infrastructure, considering both their preconceived notions and their basic motivations, by providing them with appropriate tools and information;
• The challenge of distributing reliable, accurate, relevant and verified information on the degree of service accessibility, etc.

By pooling the expertise developed worldwide on implementing accommodations for all, the Summit will help create more opportunities to better align supply and demand, for the mutual benefit of hotel operators and their patrons, including the growing market of persons with disabilities.

This event is organized by Kéroul and JPdL International.

For further details on the Destinations for All World Summit, go to: http://www.destinationsforall2014.com/en/

Follow Summit activities on Facebook and Twitter (DPT2014) with hashtag #D4ALL2014

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Source: Kéroul

Information: Marie-Hélène Paradis

mhparadis@keroul.qc.ca

514 252-3104, ext. 3575

514 531-6797 mobile