Accor Prioritizes Accessibility and Inclusivity for Customers with Disabilities Ahead of Paris 2024 Games
The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been a tremendous accelerator in recent months to better accommodate travelers with disabilities. Employees and hotels are mobilized for the Paris 2024 Games to give themselves the means to provide everyone with an extraordinary experience. This mobilization will also be one of the legacies of this historic event for Accor, with the desire, once the Games are over, to continue to deploy the best innovations on a global scale to accommodate everyone ,” explains Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor.
Already 380 hotels under the Accor brand have been awarded the “Tourism and Disability” label or are in the process of being awarded the label.
The State label “Tourism & Disability”, whose operational management has been entrusted to Atout France since May 1, recognizes establishments committed to a quality accessibility approach in order to guarantee tourism for all with the greatest possible autonomy. This approach and the labeling criteria meet the four forms of disability – hearing, mental, physical and visual.
On the occasion of the Paris 2024 Games, more than half of the Group’s hotels in the host cities have committed to a labeling process. At the beginning of July 2024, more than 380 hotels under the Accor brand have been labeled (80 hotels) or are about to obtain the label, demonstrating the commitment of the teams, owners and hotel partners to this issue. As proof of this mobilization, the Group was awarded the 2024 Accessible Tourism Gold Trophy by Atout France on June 5, 2024.
Hotels under the Accor brand labeled “Tourism & Handicap” are registered on the online platform “Accès Libre” set up by the government and intended to identify the accessibility of all places in France open to the public and to share this information as widely as possible. The Group intends to continue this approach in all its hotels in France and relay it to other regions of the world to share good practices internationally.
Accelerated deployment of the elements of the “Smart room”, the design and functional room concept that is transforming accessibility standards in Accor hotels
Launched by Accor in 2017, the “Smart Room” is a unique room concept that is changing accessibility standards in the hotel industry and is being rolled out when new hotels open or during renovations. Combining design and functionality, the “Smart Room” goes beyond accessibility standards and offers an experience that ends the segmentation between PMR (Persons with Reduced Mobility) rooms and other categories. “Smart Room” rooms include, in particular, adapted wardrobes (low or high position), a motorized bed, curtains, sinks or sliding bathroom doors. Every detail thus meets PMR standards, without compromising on aesthetics and the sensory experience. All of the Group’s hotels have access to a catalog of features to improve the accessibility of their rooms. The Pullman Paris Bercy hotel has just completed the renovation of its rooms and now includes closets without doors with retractable hanging space and automatic door opening with a remote button for guests who use wheelchairs.
Digital tools for increased accessibility
Beyond the layout of hotels, the Group has developed its digital tools to facilitate access for people with disabilities before, during and after their stays.
| Thus, on the occasion of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the Group will distribute 1,000 remote controls to visually impaired athletes and travelers staying in Accor hotels. These remote controls can be used to trigger all standardized systems (voice terminals in hotels and the Paris 2024 athletes’ village, pedestrian lights, etc.) allowing safe mobility for the blind or visually impaired. |
The Group has also accelerated the deployment of digital solutions to provide accessibility solutions and rethink the customer experience of travelers with disabilities ahead of their stays. For example, on the Group’s reservation platform ALL.com , new filters have been added to better target available accessible rooms.
The Group also provides hotels and their owners with a selection of innovative solutions that can be deployed quickly. These solutions include:
- A magnetic loop at reception;
- An internal GPS system within the hotel that autonomously guides visually impaired guests to their chosen destination (room, lobby, restaurant, etc.), already deployed in particular at the Pullman Paris Bercy and the Sofitel Lyon Bellecour;
- A support solution enabling travelers to identify, find and locate objects and texts present in their environment, from their smartphone camera and using artificial intelligence algorithms, already deployed at the ibis Styles Paris Meteor or the ibis Marseille Saint-Charles;
- A public utility service that allows, through a website and an application, to collect the specific needs of customers, and to offer the most suitable room by delivering equipment if necessary. This solution, initiated by the Ministry of Disability, is notably being tested at the Pullman Paris Bercy and is currently being deployed at the MGallery Molitor.
Heartists® employee training at the heart of the reception system for the Paris 2024 Games
In parallel with the deployment of technological tools and an adapted hotel offer, the services in the Group’s hotels have been redesigned to adapt to all forms of disability through awareness-raising and training. To do this, the teams are relying on new training modules created with Accor employees, Hakim Arezki and Michaël Jeremiasz, athletes and members of the “ALL Champions Family”, a team of French athletes that the Group is supporting for the Paris 2024 Games. These training courses will be rolled out after the Paris Games in other countries.
Accor is a global leader in hospitality, offering experiences in over 110 countries with more than 5,600 hotels, 10,000 restaurants & bars, wellness and remote working spaces. The Group deploys one of the most diversified ecosystems in the sector, thanks to more than 45 hotel brands ranging from luxury to economy, including lifestyle with Ennismore. Accor is committed to taking concrete action in terms of ethics and professional integrity, responsible tourism, sustainable development, community engagement, and diversity & inclusion. Founded in 1967, Accor SA, headquartered in France, is listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC market in the United States (code: ACCYY). For more information, visit group.accor.com or follow us on X , Facebook , LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok .
PRESS CONTACTS
Line Crieloue – VP Group External Communication
Alexis Blottière – Group External Communication