Each year, 3 December is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. And to highlight this important annual observance, Scandic Hotels arranged the world’s largest blind lunch so that people could experience, if only for a short while, what it is like to eat a meal in complete darkness.
Magnus Berglund, Director of Accessibility at Scandic Hotels, will participate in the 3rd International Congress on Ethics and Tourism from April 27 to 28, 2017 in Krakow, Poland. As part of the theme “Tourism for All,” Magnus will present Scandic’s successful accessibility program.
Scandic’s accessibility training has won first prize for best interactive training at the Swedish Learning Awards 2014 and also took home silver in the British E-learning Awards.
Nordic hotel chain Scandic’s Accessibility Director, Magnus Berglund, has been shortlisted for the European Diversity Awards in the category “Hero of the year”. The awards ceremony takes place in London on 2 October.
Ensuring the same high level of service for all guests, whether or not they have a disability, is an important goal for Scandic, but what exactly is the best way of serving a blind guest, for example, and what is the most important thing to do when a guest with a hearing impairment comes into reception? Scandic is launching wide-ranging interactive training on disabilities, open to everyone.
Scandic Denmark has been awarded the Bevica Foundation’s Accessibility Prize 2013. Each year, the foundation awards a prize to people or companies that have shown a particular interest in people with disabilities. Scandic Denmark will be donating the prize money of DKK 100,000 to Danish Accessibility organisations.
Scandic is continuing its expansion in the Nordic market, with today’s opening of Scandic Kristiansand Bystranda in Norway. The hotel is situated in idyllic Bystranda, in the centre of Kristiansand, with over 800 beds and 229 rooms, 23 of which are adapted for disabled guests. Scandic Kristiansand Bystranda is Nordic Ecolabelled.
Assistance dog Ada retired by the 31 May 2013 after 11 years of faithful service. She has been assisting Scandic’s Director of Accessibility, Magnus Berglund, since 2002.
The year was 1963. On 20 May, the Esso Motor Hotell opened its doors in Laxå and welcomed its first guests. Fast-forward 50 years and the hotel chain has enjoyed strong growth, making its mark on both the Swedish and the international hotel industry along the way. In 1984, Esso Motor Hotell changed its name to Scandic Hotels, a chain that now has 155 hotels and around 30,000 rooms across Europe.