Are accessibility and inclusion the same thing?

We don’t believe so. The narrative of accessibility is commonly perceived as relating almost exclusively to the built environment and its barriers – and little beyond the ‘accessible room’ inventory. This often means that the focus and attention is directed solely to the 8% of disabled guests and visitors who use wheelchairs, and their capacity to manage and manoeuvre in a particular place or space. In contrast, inclusion is the experiential and considers equity of opportunity for every guest to partake, participate in all aspects and at every touch-point of a stay, service or experience, however different their physical, sensory or neurodiverse requirement may be.

Guest-Inclusion

Less than 5% of organisations across the globe have positive inclusion strategies to wow and delight disabled customers; Inclusion policies almost exclusively targeting the boardroom and workforce. Necessary as these are, impacts on the actual guest experience and revenue generation are questionable and extremely difficult to quantify. In contrast, the impacts of Guest-Inclusion on revenues, customer-satisfaction, brand-differentiation and loyalty are tangible and crucially, measurable.

Is there a market for Guest-Inclusion in luxury?

There is. It is embryonic, emerging and represents the most significant commercial opportunity that our industry has seen in decades. A completely new guest base who will choose to come and stay, quite simply because you show understanding and caring and a genuine desire to welcome and delight every guest, however different their requirement. Factor in those who will accompany them – companions, family, friends and colleagues and we are looking at a global demographic of customers even greater than the 1.5billion people who are actually disabled.

So, there is a market. It is without equivalence in scale. And it’s ours for the making.