Handiscover, an Amadeus “SME Reimagined’’
Hear from Sebastian Archambeaud how Handiscover made the most of crisis period to pivot their business model.
SMEs ReImagined
Case study: Handiscover
Handiscover pivots to new accessibility business-to-business model during pandemic shake-up.
With the Covid-19 pandemic bringing travel to a standstill, rapidly developing accessibility booking platform Handiscover took the opportunity to begin a whole new journey.
Sebastien Archambeaud, Founder and CEO
Who are we?
Launched in 2015, Handiscover began as a marketplace for holiday rentals with a focus on the needs of people with disabilities. The company worked to build a unique database, at the core of which is a classification system allowing users to select accommodations based on their level of mobility.
Founder, Sebastien Archambeaud, is personally invested in the area, drawing on the experience of a son with a muscular disease. His challenges finding suitable accommodation promoted the idea for Handiscover.
Prior to the launch of the business, accessibly data for accommodation was limited – or simply incorrect. Very few relevant data points were accessible to travelers with disabilities. In response, Handiscover built its database, drawing on relevant legislation from theUnited States, Europe and across the globe.
Classifications cover everything from standard regulations like door widths, ramps and adapted elevators, to more customer-focused insights. For example, a cane holder at reception is not a regulation, but is a nice additional feature to know about.
Today, Handiscover allows travelers with disabilities to make an easy assessment of a property, right down to evaluations of individual rooms. The company maintains a software as a service model, with property owners paying an annual fee to use the platform.
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Company details
What are the fundamentals?
Headquarters
Sweden
Industry
Accessibility focused hotel booking platform
Plan
Build a database of accommodation for travelers and move toward leveraging in the business‑to‑business space.
Website
B2B:www.haccess.io
What was the challenge?
Online travel agencies (OTAs) saw traffic plummet during the COVID-19 pandemic, with global restrictions on movement severely impacting the industry. At Handiscover, we were particularly hard hit – our clients were the first to stop traveling and the last to return.
With business at a standstill, our company was forced to reevaluate its offering.
How did Amadeus support?
Handiscover partnered with Amadeus from an early stage in our journey. We realized the sheer number of high-quality properties did not exist in the Nordic vacation rental space, and so we looked to our travel technology partner to get access to hotel distribution tools.
We can now access the huge range worldwide as well as getting the bookability through Amadeus Selling Platform Connect, with Handiscover’s key accessibility data then layered on top. We also joined the Amadeus for Developers scheme, working to distribute our accessibility data to small- and medium-sized (SME) travel agencies around the world.
Amadeus aspirations in this area are exploredhere.
What did you reimagine?
In response to falling traveler numbers during the pandemic, we worked to develop a business-to-business (B2B) pillar of our operation, elaborating an accessibility data management system. While the solution has similarities to a property management system (PMS) seen in hotels, it is solely dedicated to accessibility data points.
We are proud that the Handiscover platform can now be offered to any hotel operator, allowing them to first assess levels of accessibility, before quantifying the data and displaying it effectively online. Although other start-ups have explored similar areas of this business, they tend to focus on developing the apps through which the accessibility data will be presented. No other company has developed a database of accessibility data as deeply as we have, bolstered by our solid travel and tech background.
Additionally, as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) concerns continue to climb the global agenda, we expect this part of the business to grow significantly. Tracking ESG targets is now a big focus, with us being able to offer an innovative tool for accessibility measurement.
Handiscover has since expanded our offering to cover retail outlets, arenas, museums, shopping malls, airports and railway stations – anywhere with a large footfall of people with disabilities. The solution can also be expanded to cover corporate customers, rating employers in terms of accessibility – an area of huge potential growth.
Alongside our existing business – now as both a business-to-consumer (B2C) certified hotel booking aggregator and B2B accessibility management tool – we are also planning to move into the business-to-government (B2G) space.
With the tools developed, it would be possible to help municipalities gather better data on public spaces – potentially crowd sourced through the work of residents. A white label product we already offer enables destinations to develop mobile apps, showcasing local accessibility data. Visitors with disabilities can access the information they need, while SME travel agencies can use the tool to orientate customers on arrival.
With the new technology in place, we are now seeking how to grow out of the Nordics market, into Europe, the United States and then the rest of the world.
We believe Amadeus played a crucial role in the global scaling of the organization; our close partnership has the potential to take Handiscover to the next level.
Results
- Handiscover pivoted to a B2B model during the COVID-19 slowdown, which now accounts for 90 per cent of its business.
- Change has seen turnover at the company grow by roughly 300 per cent.
- Handiscover now works with eight of ten of the largest property owners in the Nordics market.
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