The Chelsea Hotel Toronto appeals to more travelers by promoting a barrier-free, welcoming experience for everyone.
Toronto hotel attracts guests through inclusive practices
1,590 rooms
Hotel
45 years in business
65% of travelers
are likely to book with travel providers that identify their practices as inclusive*
~$60 billion
spent annually on travel by people with disabilities**
Challenge: How to support diverse travelers
The Chelsea Hotel Toronto, the largest independent hotel in Canada, strives to provide an excellent stay experience to all guests.
The hotel team has prioritized policies that ensure a more inclusive and accessible stay. The hotel conducted an accessibility assessment and became the first hotel in Ontario to offer a Guest Accessibility Package (GAP).
The GAP, available on check-in, helps minimize potential accessibility barriers. It includes information about emergency evacuations, accessible entrances and exits, and hotel amenities. The information is available in multiple formats, including braille and electronic text.
In addition, the Chelsea Hotel is LGBTQIA+ friendly and a member of both the World Rainbow Hotels group and the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association.
All are welcome at the Chelsea Hotel Toronto, and it’s up to Desha Sampson, director of marketing and e-business, to ensure travelers know this when choosing a place to stay in Toronto.
“We pride ourselves on providing an inclusive experience for our guests and we look to align ourselves with partners that share the same values. Expedia Group makes it easy to include our accessibility and inclusivity features and programs in our property amenities.”
Desha Sampson
Director, Marketing & e-Business, Chelsea Hotel Toronto
Solution: Show travelers they are welcome
"The hotel’s focus on inclusion not only aligns their brand principles, it’s the right way to run a business,” Desha said. She wanted to get the word out about their values and inclusive practices.
Desha and her team updated the hotel’s listing to ensure it reflected their commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. This helped bump the hotel’s Content score up to 99%, which in turn improved their listing’s ranking in search results on our travel booking sites.
This visibility helps them attract a larger share of the millions of travelers with disabilities who spend ~$60 billion annually on travel.**
Desha also relies on other Partner Central tools to understand their local market and communicate with guests so she can ensure the hotel is providing a positive guest experience from start to finish.
Future: Attracting more guests
Because of their efforts, the Chelsea Hotel is proud to have been honored with the Accessible Tourism Award by the Travel Industry Association of Ontario. They look forward to creating more opportunities to welcome guests and continuing to be a leader in accessible hospitality in Toronto.
*Expedia Group, Traveler Value Index, 2021
**The Open Doors Organization, October 2020
Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.
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