Amilla Maldives launches the world’s first accessibility and inclusion-certified resort
Leading the way in inclusive travel, Amilla Maldives radical adaptations to welcome disabled guests are set to make the Maldives a dream destination for all.
Deaf-alert systems, adaptive yoga and snorkelling adventures, and dedicated ‘calming spaces’ for guests on the Autism spectrum, with learning difficulties or dementia: these are just some of the ground-breaking innovations planned at the Amilla Maldives Resort and Residences, demonstrating its commitment to ‘total guest inclusion’.
The resort is set to become the first in the world to be verified by UK-based accessible and inclusive hospitality experts, Inclucare. The certification follows a comprehensive assessment and training programme which addressed each aspect of the resort’s provision, empowering every member of the guest-facing team to deliver inclusion excellence at every moment of the guest’s experience.
From the provision of information, booking procedures, sea and air transfers, and staff awareness and understanding; to identifying the physical adjustments and adaptations needed to authentically establish Amilla – and the Maldives – as an accessible and inclusive dream-destination for all, the resort is partnering with Inclucare to audit the entire guest experience.
Amilla already had many easy-access ground floor villas, with wide doorways and accessible showers, as well as a beach wheelchair and a floating wheelchair for swimming, and in-villa phones that light up for the hearing impaired. Now, with the new adaptations being implemented following the Inclucare audit – which also include innovative sensory touch, aroma and sound experiences through the jungle for vision-impaired guests – the resort will truly become an inclusion haven.
Amilla’s certification will be marked at an Inclucare inauguration ceremony on Maldives Independence Day, 26 July, hosted by British TV personality and disability advocate Sophie Morgan. Morgan – who will also be working towards obtaining her PADI Open Water certificate during her visit – says, “Knowing that disabled people are, for the first time, going to be able to experience the paradise that is the Maldives, and that our needs will be taken care of throughout our stay, is beyond transformative. Amilla is leading the way in inclusive travel, expanding our world as a result, and I’m delighted to be part of this momentous occasion.”
Attracting millions of visitors from across the globe each year, the Maldives is renowned for its paradisiacal isolation. However, the spectacular air and water transfers, sandy paths and beaches, water jetties, villas and restaurants that characterise the archipelago’s island resorts have also served to discourage guests with additional mobility, sensory or cognitive requirements from even considering it as a genuine accessible holiday option. Now, thanks to the partnership between Amilla and Inclucare, that’s all about to change.
Resort Director and proud Maldivian, Gahthan Halleem says, “This is something close to our hearts; differences are welcomed, and we aim to make everyone feel at home here. We hope that this collaboration, including the learning by our local team members, will also translate back into the local community.”
Inclucare is the vision of Richard Thompson, himself spinal cord injured, and for decades a leading authority and advocate of ‘total guest inclusion’ in global travel, hospitality and leisure. Together with the team of travel, technology and education experts at Inclucare, Richard has created a complete ecosystem of services, solutions and support that is set to transform the landscape of travel opportunities for disabled people – who make up one in six of the global population.
“Inclucare is the culmination of more than two decades of endeavour in removing barriers to travel freedoms, equality and inclusion for disabled people across the globe,” Thompson explains. “We are therefore excited, proud and privileged to partner, support and certify Amilla’s commitment to creating a genuinely inclusive island paradise in the Indian Ocean. In doing so, they are positioning themselves as global pioneers of inclusion in luxury and the Maldives as a destination that now everyone can dream about”.