Accolade for inclusive hotel’s manager
Hotel manager Olivier Lacoua’s life motto is to be inclusive.
Lacoua oversees CQ Hotels Wellington and was awarded the 2017 Arts Access Accolade last night by advocate group Arts Access Aotearoa for his commitment to inclusive hotel services.
Starting his role in 2010, French-born Lacoua has introduced several inclusive services to CQ Hotels Wellington’s Cuba St complex, including braille and New Zealand Sign Language menus, an iBeacon navigation system for visually-impaired guests and a lowered check-in desk.
While he is honoured to have received the award, Lacoua says being recognised does not change anything.
‘‘That’s overwhelming to know that people have been watching what we’ve been doing at the hotel, but that’s just what we do.
‘‘What we achieve and what we put in place wasn’t done overnight and wasn’t done by one person, it was done by many people.’’
The Cuba St accommodation provider holds the top rating of gold on accessibility information provider Be.Accessible’s website.
It boasts nine rooms over two hotels which fully cater to people with disabilities. It is considered the most accessible hotel in the country.
Lacoua says he feels a duty to provide facilities which assist a wide range of people. ‘‘We just want to make sure that we try to accommodate for everyone.’’
His proudest moment in his seven-year tenure at CQ Hotels Wellington has been seeing the enthusiasm with which his staff learned sign language.
‘‘It’s actually overwhelming for me to see my team learning and practising sign language as part of their jobs,’’ he says.
‘‘People we employ, they’re so happy. They’re part of a team and they know they make a difference.’’
A major goal was to inspire other organisations to follow suit. ‘‘We try to send the message to other businesses to include everyone and keep making a difference.’’
Lacoua will leave the Cuba St hotel later this year for a new job in Christchurch but says he will be sure to take the same accessibility mantra with him.