New Cleanliness Sessions Added to TravelAbility Summit 2020
TravelAbility Report: March 2019
New Ninja Warriors Park is EPIC-ALLY Accessible
Panama City, Florida is the new home to an accessible playground that’s inspired by the American Ninja Heroes TV show. How inclusive could a ninja park be? Very. There’s a wheelchair-accessible zipline and 30-foot climbing towers. Looking for a challenge? Hat tip to John Morris, the ultimate adventurer, for writing about this on his blog. wheelchairtravel.org.
Panama City, Florida is the new home to an accessible playground that’s inspired by the American Ninja Heroes TV show. How inclusive could a ninja park be? Very. THERE’S A wheelchair-accessible zipline and 30-foot climbing towers.Looking for a challenge? Hat tip to John Morris, the ultimate adventurer, for writing about this on his blog. wheelchairtravel.org.
OUR TAKE: What a great way for parents to give COVID-19 the finger when lockdown ends! Of course, not everyone’s in Florida. If you can imagine one in your area, there are plenty of resources on fundraising, planning and building on accessibleplayground.net. Their motto is every child deserves to play!
Who Is Wheelchair Jimmy and Why Should We Care?
If you don’t already know ‘Wheelchair Jimmy’, you’re missing out on a treasure trove of information. This month, TravelAbilityInsider.com got a chance to catch up with the man behind the site, Jim Parsons, to talk about his accessibility reviews. There are more than 4,000 reviews in the site of accessible hotels, attractions, destinations—and just about any damn thing he feels like reviewing. He’s developed a credible rating system with the help of other disabled travelers to let folks know where to go and what to avoid. Since he retired, he’s been sharing his wheelchair travel insights through his website/online guide WheelchairJimmy.com.
Q: When and what prompted you to create Wheelchair Jimmy?
A: At the age of 20, I became paralyzed in an accident and began using a wheelchair for mobility. After the accident, I finished up my MBA at Indiana University and began a career in banking that required extensive travel. Well before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), I had to learn to navigate hotels, restaurants, airlines, from my wheelchair.
Q: How many destinations and reviews do you have on the site?
A: Five continents and 40+ countries in 50 years.
Q: What is the purpose of your website and how many followers have signed up?
A: My travels over the past 50 years have taken me to so many places around the world—some great, some horrible. There are always challenges involved when traveling in a wheelchair. When I retired, I decided to create the site, WheelchairJimmy.com. I wanted to put together a site to review and rate hotels, restaurants, attractions, and transportation. My purpose is to let people know what’s accessible and, more importantly, what to avoid. With that in mind, I created the Wheelchair Jimmy Accessibility Rating (WJAR) system.
Q: How does the WJAR Rating System work?
A: Indiana University has an accessibility program, so I asked one of the professors there to work with me to create the WJAR system. As we were building it out, hospitality Professor Cynthia Mehia at the University of Central Florida Hospitality (UCFH) program helped us create a database for the students. As they visited various properties, they collected accessibility information along with videos and photos. I then went in and analyzed the data and decided on a WJAR score for each venue. With the UCFH program, we’ve now covered all of Orlando and much more. I’ve also received calls from other hospitality programs wanting to get involved, so we’re working on bringing them on as well. They’re learning that it’s not just about ADA compliance it’s also about customer service and training. Some of the students rented wheelchairs to do their reviews. Through these programs, we’ve added over 200 entries to the database including hotels, restaurants, casinos, transportation, and attractions.
Q: What recommendations do you have for wheelchair users?
A: Never book anything online or even with the call centers for a hotel chain. When you reserve with a call center, they take down the booking information and then send the instructions to the specific property. However, sometimes the pertinent details aren’t properly relayed, so you end up arriving at your hotel and discover they didn’t reserve you an accessible room. I always reserve with the front desk of the specific property I’m going to stay at. I also have a list of 20 questions I ask them about accessibility.
Q: How many listings do you have on the site now?
A: Currently, we have over 4,000 listings of hotels, restaurants, attractions, transportation companies, cruise lines and destinations. Our YouTube channel has 400 video reviews. A total of 70 were done by hospitality program students from UN Las Vegas, and Rosen School of Hospitality at the University of Central Florida.
Q: When people with a disability will be feel comfortable traveling again?
A: I’m carefully watching Las Vegas resorts and cruise lines. They operate as self- contained cities that have been catering, in varying degrees, to travelers with a disability. Las Vegas is opening in June. Carnival Cruise lines are taking reservations for August departures. From what I’ve seen, if the standards and practices they have been communicating work to create both a high safety level and a positive guest experience, they will be able to attract some people. That said, I don’t think the disability community will be traveling again until there’s a vaccine or pharmaceutical treatment that’s safe and widely available.
Q: Have you traveled since sheltering lockdowns were in place?
A: We drove from Phoenix (where I spent the winter) back home to Washington State and spent two nights in hotels. I could see how sensitive they were to touchpoints, physical distancing, and food and beverage. Room service arrived in bags left outside our hotel room door.
Feedback from 120MM Users Puts Accessibility on Google Maps
With the “Accessible Places” feature enabled, business and points of interest with wheelchair-accessible entrances are marked with a wheelchair icon along with information about whether accessible seating, restrooms, and parking are available, according to a Gizmodo story.
OUR TAKE This change shows the power of crowdsourcing. According to Google, the change came about after Google put out a call for accessibility information contributors in 2017. Since then, 120 million users posted updates on Google Maps regarding the presence of wheelchair-accessible facilities and now they’re not hiding in the ‘about’ section so they’re super easy to find. Plus, it’s a tiny trivia moment for us. One of the companies at our first summit, Wheel the World, was an early supporter of this initiative, which was part of #localguides.
We Will Not Be Out Sanitized! How 13 Hotel Chains are Making Themselves Clean and Safe
In an effort to allay traveling consumers’ fear of contracting Covid-19, the leading hotel chains are practically falling over one another in an effort to demonstrate that their safe and clean initiatives are developed in conjunction with top health organizations. Each hotel’s protocol starts with guidance from the Center for Disease Control. On top of that, each hotel group is also collaborating with a panoply of respected health brands for validation. Here are the details:
The Marriott International Global Cleanliness Council is made up of advisory members: a senior corporate scientist, food safety and public health for Ecolab; an infectious disease specialist at Adventist Healthcare; and the professor of food microbiology in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University.
Hilton has incorporated CleanStay with Lysol Protection, a scientific approach to cleaning practices and product offerings. Experts from Mayo Clinic’s Infection Prevention and Control team also advise and assist in enhancing Hilton’s cleaning and disinfection protocols.
Hyatt’s Global Care Initiative involves an accreditation process by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) at all 900 hotels worldwide. The hospitality brand plans to introduce a GBAC STAR accreditation through a performance-based cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention program.
The IHG Clean Promise team is working closely with medical experts at the Cleveland Clinic to develop guidance and resources for hotel teams on returning to work and keeping guests safe in this new environment.
\Four Seasons “Lead with Care” is a collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine International, the leading global division of health care and research. Johns Hopkins blesses its new global health and safety program and provides ongoing, real-time guidance on the evolving Covid-19 situation.
Cleanliness Protocols for 13 Hotel Groups Globally
| Hotel Chain | Clean + Safe | Primary Brands |
|---|---|---|
| Accor Group | All Safe | Fairmont, Sofitel |
| Best Western | We Care Clean | Best Western, BW Collection, Sure Stay |
| Choice Hotels | Commitment to Clean | Choice, Quality Inn, Clarion, Comfort Inn |
| Extended Stay | Stay Confident | Extended Stay America |
| Four Seasons | Lead with Care | Four Seasons hotel and resort |
| G6 | Covid Update | Motel 6 |
| Hilton | Clean Stay | Hilton, Embassy Suites, Doubletree. Hampton Inn, |
| Hyatt Hotels | Global Care Commitment | Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Destination Hotels |
| IHG Hotels | Fresh Take | Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Kimpton, Embassy Suites |
| Loews Hotels | Safety and Well Being | Loews Hotels and Resorts |
| Marriott | Commitment to Clean | Marriott, JW Marriott, Ritz Carleton |
| Omni | Safe and Clean | Omni |
| Radisson Hotels | Social Responsibility | Radisson, Radisson Blue |
| Wyndham | Count on Us | Wyndham, Ramada, Days Inn, Travelodge, Howard Johnson |
We’ve also added a cleanliness 101 session to TravelAbility Summit 2020. Find the agenda, here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.