Marriott International is incorporating neuroinclusive practices into Marriott-hosted customer events that will make them more inclusive for people who have medical disorders, learning disabilities, and other conditions brought on by brain differences.
Marriott’s neuroinclusive practices will be applied to events of 250 people or more globally. Drew Pinto, who works in global sales, distribution, and revenue management for Marriott International, explains that Marriott’s neuroinclusive practices grew out of the company’s commitment to innovation, inclusion, and making meetings and events more accessible to everyone.
“Over the past two years, we have collaborated closely with The Neu Project, an initiative from Google’s Experience Institute (Xi) that aims to share resources designed to better accommodate and create a more inclusive experience during meetings and events for neurodivergent attendees,” Pinto says. “Through this joint commitment, we were able to learn directly from the neurodivergent community to develop and implement various neuroinclusive event practices that suit their needs.”
Marriott’s neuroinclusive practices include offering a dedicated quiet room during Marriott customer events that attendees can use as a calming retreat to manage fatigue, overload, or other sensory stress. In addition, attendees will be able to request tools to better accommodate their needs at registration. Those may include fidget toys, noise-canceling earplugs, sleep masks, sunglasses, printed agendas and venue maps, and details about loud music, flashing lights, or surprise moments that may occur during the event.
Closed captioning for mainstage and conference presentations are also part of Marriott’s neuroinclusive practices. The effort coincides with other programs Marriott has been involved in to improve accessibility at meetings, events, and conferences.
“One of the third-party organizations we work with is Disability:IN, which is the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide,” Pinto says. “Through this relationship, Marriott offers a variety of resources to improve accessibility at meetings, events, and conferences. Marriott has training for associates on welcoming guests with disabilities and holds focus groups to continue to learn.”
Meanwhile, response to Marriott’s neuroinclusive practices has been positive, Pinto adds. “We are committed to learning more from the neurodivergent community,” he says, “and we look forward to exploring how we can make these tools and resources more broadly available.”
