CWT has launched a Special Assistance service to support travelers with disabilities, the travel management company announced.
The service provides a dedicated email and phone number to connect travelers with a team of counselors chosen based on skills and experience in helping travelers with disabilities, with additional training for such skills as empathy and awareness, avoiding ableist language and reducing traveler anxiety, according to CWT.
Those counselors can work with the specific needs of travelers, such as arranging airport and airline services, making service animal reservations and finding hotels with reduced mobility facilities. To assist the counselors, CWT has created a digital repository with accessibility information across travel suppliers, which the TMC said has improved the booking process for travelers. In addition, CWT has added capabilities to its traveler profile tool capturing assistance needs including wheelchairs, service animals and seats for caretakers, which prevents the traveler from having to repeatedly request those items themselves.
"With this new service, we are highly equipped to provide access to specialized support to travelers with visible and non-visible disabilities, empowering them to travel for work with confidence," CWT director of service design Stephanie Lewis said in a statement.
CWT is offering its Special Assistance service in more than 20 countries and plans to have it available globally by the end of the year.
CWT currently is in the process of being acquired by American Express Global Business Travel, an acquisition that is expected to close later this year. Amex GBT also launched a global accessibility solution late last year, with IBM announced as its first client.