Ottawa Tourism Is Redefining What Accessibility Looks Like in Travel
Learn how Ottawa Tourism is helping their community become an accessible destination for both visitors and locals.
What does it take to make a destination truly welcoming… for everyone? For Ottawa Tourism, the answer came through listening, learning, and acting alongside the very people their city hopes to serve. What started as a community-wide conversation has sparked a city-wide transformation, led by a DMO that believes accessibility isn’t just a feature — it’s foundation!
When Ottawa Tourism helped lead the development of the Destination Stewardship Plan in November 2022, accessibility emerged as one of the most urgent calls to action. Not just because it was the right thing to do but because their tourism partners, local residents, and visitors made it clear that inclusion matters and was the cornerstone for meaningful progress.
That clarity helped guide Ottawa’s next steps. Within the broader Destination Stewardship Plan, accessibility was included with a formal commitment to creating a more inclusive and welcoming visitor experience. While one of several key themes, it laid important groundwork for a deeper, multi-year effort to better serve travelers of all abilities. Accessibility wasn’t just used as a buzzword or a line in the plan. It’s an effort that continues to grow in scope and impact.
The DMO stepped into a leadership role, advocating for accessibility, developing an internal strategic accessibility plan, and supporting the creation of accessible tourism products across the city.
From Strategy to Action
To get started, Ottawa Tourism engaged consultants with expertise in both tourism strategy and accessibility to help shape a plan grounded in community input, research, and real-world experience. They understood that it was okay not to be the experts on this topic and that true progress meant listening. So they turned to those with lived experience navigating the city with disabilities, trusting their insights to guide meaningful recommendations.
Together, the consultants developed an internal plan grounded in community learning, site visits, and data-backed research. The resulting framework provided Ottawa Tourism with a clear path forward: how to engage members, advocate for accessibility across the destination, and what accessibility issues to prioritize.
“It was eye-opening,” shared Julia Cosentino from Ottawa Tourism. “People told us how long they spend researching just to book a single overnight trip. We knew we had to be better!”
A Global Sporting Event Driving Local Change
Ottawa’s focus on accessible tourism gained new momentum with the announcement that the city would host the 2026 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship. Anticipating the arrival of international athletes and spectators with diverse mobility needs, Ottawa Tourism recognizes the championship as a chance to accelerate progress.
The organization reframed the event not only as a sporting milestone but as a proving ground for inclusive travel. If Ottawa can successfully host an international sport event for wheelchair athletes, they can apply the same principles across the broader visitor experience. As Cosentino put it, “If we can host world-class athletes who use wheelchairs, we can create a better experience for every traveler.”
Community Education and Capacity Building
As the accessibility plan moves forward, Ottawa Tourism is prioritizing education and capacity building among its members. In 2025, much of their work will focus on helping members better understand accessibility. The Tourism Accessibility Fund will also evolve. Based on early successes, Ottawa Tourism plans to refine the program to address more specific accessibility gaps, reinvest in community-led solutions, and track results more closely. Metrics such as member participation in training, accessibility upgrades, and dollars reinvested will help measure the program’s reach and inform future priorities.
Creating A Legacy of Inclusion
Accessibility isn’t a checklist. It’s a commitment. And in Ottawa, it’s one they plan to keep long after the championship banners come down. The plan has no fixed end date, just an ongoing commitment to growth, learning, and using tourism as a force for good for the community.
Ottawa Tourism sees this work as more than a tourism initiative. These accessibility initiatives are a way to improve quality of life for residents and create a city that’s better to visit, live in, and work in. By embedding accessibility into the fabric of the destination, the organization is leaving a lasting legacy built on inclusion and meaningful community collaboration.
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