Welcoming guests with disabilities and ensuring accessibility, two key Accor priorities for 2024 Paris Games

Over the past few months, the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been a catalyst to improve the way in which we cater for disabled travelers. Employees and hotels have been working hard to make Paris 2024 a wonderful experience for everyone.  This achievement will be one of the legacies of this historic event for Accor and we are determined, once the Games are over, to continue rolling out the best innovations worldwide to welcome every single guest”, explained Sébastien Bazin, Chairman & CEO of Accor.

380 Accor brand hotels have received or are in the process of receiving “Tourisme & Handicap” certification

The French government’s “Tourisme & Handicap” certification, which has been operationally managed  by Atout France since Maay 1, 2024, recognizes the commitment of tourism establishments to ensuring and improving the accessibility of tourist destinations and providing optimum autonomy, for all. This initiative and the certification criteria meet all four types of disability – auditory, cognitive, physical and visual.

As part of the Paris 2024 Games, over half of the Group’s hotels in host locations have begun a certification process. In early July 2024, more than 380 Accor brand hotels had already received (80 hotels), or were about to receive, certification, demonstrating the dedication of hotel teams, owners and partners to improving accessibility. Reflecting this commitment, on June 5, 2024, the Group received Atout France’s Gold Award for accessible tourism.

Accor brand “Tourisme & Handicap” certified hotels are registered on the “Accès Libre” online platform set up by the French government, which aims to list the accessibility of all venues open to the public in France and share this information as widely as possible. The Group intends to extend this initiative to all its hotels in France and carry this across to other regions of the world in order to share best practices internationally.

Accelerated rollout of “Smart Room” features – the practical designer concept that is transforming accessibility standards in Accor hotels

Launched by Accor in 2017, the “Smart Room” is an original room concept that elevates accessibility standards in the hotel industry and is rolled out as part of new openings and hotel refurbishments. Combining style and functionality, the Smart Room exceeds accessibility standards and offers an experience that ends the demarcation between PRM (Persons with Reduced Mobility) rooms and other room types. “Smart rooms” include an adaptable wardrobe (low or high position), adjustable bed, curtains and washbasins, as well as a sliding door to the bathroom. Every detail has been designed to meet PRM standards, without any compromise to aesthetics or the sensory experience. All Group hotels have access to a catalog of features to improve the accessibility of its guestrooms. An example is the Pullman Paris Bercy hotel, which has just completed the refurbishment of its guestrooms – they now include open cupboards with a retractable wardrobe, and automatic door opening via a push button for guests in wheelchairs.

Digital solutions for augmented accessibility

In addition to refurbishing its hotels, the Group has upgraded its digital solutions to facilitate access for people with disabilities before, during and after their stay.

For the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the Group will be distributing 1,000 remote controls to visually impaired athletes and travelers staying at the Paris 2024 athletes village or at Accor hotels. These remote controls can activate all standardized systems (voice activated terminals in hotels, in the Paris 2024 village, at pedestrian crossings, etc.) facilitating safe travel for blind and visually-impaired people.

The Group has also stepped up the rollout of digital solutions to improve accessibility and rethink the customer experience for disabled travelers ahead of their stay. As such, new filters have been added to the Group’s reservation platform ALL.com to highlight available accessible rooms.

The Group also provides hotels and their owners with a selection of innovative solutions, including:

Audio induction loops at reception,
A GPS solution within the hotel that guides visually impaired guests autonomously to their chosen destination (guestroom, lobby, restaurant, etc.), already rolled out at Pullman Paris Bercy and Sofitel Lyon Bellecour,
A support solution that enables travelers to identify, find and locate items and text in their surroundings, using the camera on their smartphone and artificial intelligence algorithms. This solution has already been rolled out in ibis Styles Paris Meteor and ibis Marseille Saint-Charles,
A public interest service that uses a website and app to identify the specific needs of guests and offer the most suitable room, with equipment added if necessary. This solution, instigated by the French Ministry for Disability, is notably being trialed at Pullman Paris Bercy and being rolled out at MGallery Molitor.

Training employee Heartists® who form the heart of the Paris 2024 welcome program

In addition to technology solutions and a tailored hospitality package, service in Group hotels has been overhauled to cater for all types of disability through awareness-raising and training. The teams are using new training modules developed with Accor employees, along with Hakim Arezki and Michaël Jeremiasz, athletes and members of the “ALL Champions Family”, a team of athletes that the Group is supporting during Paris 2024. These training courses will be extended to other countries after the Paris Games.

The article Welcoming guests with disabilities and ensuring accessibility, two key Accor priorities for 2024 Paris Games first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.