Inclusive Legacy Lab – Powered by Let’s Meet

Inclusive Legacy Lab powered by Let’s Meet & PCMA
From Inclusive Discourse to Accessible Experience

The Inclusive Legacy Lab is a strategic and participatory laboratory designed to transform the conversation on inclusion into concrete accessibility criteria applied to destinations, hotels, venues, events, and experiences.

Under the approach “From Inclusive Discourse to Accessible Experience,” this activity proposes analyzing the complete journey of a person with a disability or with specific accessibility requirements: from the search for prior information and event registration to arrival at the destination, accommodation, mobility, participation in sessions, networking, food and beverage, social activities, and return to their place of origin.

The session will combine strategic reflection, real experiences, technical perspectives, and collaborative work to identify barriers, propose applicable solutions, and move toward a meetings industry that is more accessible, competitive, and prepared for everyone.

This initiative is promoted within the framework of FIEXPO Latin America 2026, with the participation of institutional representatives, accessibility experts, and leaders from the meetings industry.

Facilitators and Invited Experts

• Patricia Puentes
  Director, Let’s Meet
• Lucio Vaquero
  Regional Director, PCMA
• Santiago González
  Development Director, FIEXPO Exhibitions Group
• Mónica Garcia
  Association Meetings Manager, Barcelona Convention Bureau
• Leonor Sanabria
  CONADIS — National Council for Persons with Disabilities, Costa Rica
• Karla Araya
  CONADIS — National Council for Persons with Disabilities, Costa Rica
• Gladys Díaz
  President, Latin American Union of the Blind

General Agenda

3:00 p.m. – 3:10 p.m.

Strategic Opening

Accessibility as a Condition for Quality, Competitiveness, and Real Hospitality

Welcome and introduction to the purpose of the laboratory.

This block will establish the central idea of the session: accessibility should not be understood as an additional component, a specific response, or a regulatory obligation, but as an essential part of experience design in destinations, hotels, venues, and events.

3:10 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

From Inclusive Discourse to Accessible Experience

Conceptual Framework and Institutional Perspective

Initial conversation with the facilitators to present the laboratory’s approach and open a reflection on the role of accessibility in the meetings industry.

The session will address how accessibility directly impacts the quality of the experience, the reputation of the destination, the competitiveness of events, and the ability to better welcome all participants.

3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Real Experiences and Lessons Learned

What We Are Doing, What We Are Learning, and Which Barriers Still Remain

Exchange with invited representatives and experts to share experiences, lessons learned, and challenges related to accessibility applied to destinations, events, and services.

The conversation will seek to identify real barriers and translate them into useful criteria for organizers, hotels, venues, convention bureaus, DMCs, PCOs, and institutional stakeholders.

4:00 p.m. – 4:35 p.m.

Barriers Lab

The Complete Participant Journey

Collaborative work to analyze the complete journey of a person with a disability or with specific accessibility requirements participating in an international event.

Participants will work on different moments of the experience:

• Pre-trip information
  • Event registration
  • Communication of specific requirements
  • Arrival at the destination
  • Transportation and mobility
  • Check-in and accommodation
  • Entry and circulation within the venue
  • Participation in sessions
  • Networking
  • Food and beverage
  • Social activities
  • Emergencies or unforeseen situations
  • Return and post-event feedback

The objective will be to identify critical barriers, responsible stakeholders, and opportunities for improvement.

4:35 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.

Short Break

4:45 p.m. – 5:20 p.m.

Applicable Solutions Lab

From Barrier to Action

Participants will work in teams to transform the barriers identified into concrete, realistic, and applicable solutions.

Each group must select one priority barrier and propose an improvement action that can be implemented by destinations, hotels, venues, organizers, suppliers, or public institutions.

The dynamic will seek to answer key questions:

• What barrier do we want to solve?
  • Who is mainly affected by it?
  • Which stakeholder should lead the solution?
  • What concrete action can be implemented?
  • What minimum resources are required?
  • What could be done in 30, 60, or 90 days?
  • How will we know if the experience improved?

5:20 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.

Group Sharing

Lessons for an Accessible Experience

Brief presentation of each team’s main contributions.

The facilitators will organize the lessons learned into a general working matrix, identifying common barriers, proposed solutions, responsible stakeholders, and expected impacts.

This block will make it possible to build an initial shared base of applicable criteria to improve accessibility in destinations, hotels, and events.

5:45 p.m. – 5:55 p.m.

Accessibility as Real Legacy

Summary and Next Steps

A synthesis space to highlight the main lessons from the laboratory and project possible lines of continuity.

Accessibility will be presented as a concrete dimension of legacy: when an event drives improvements in the way a destination welcomes, guides, communicates with, mobilizes, and supports its visitors, the destination becomes better prepared for everyone.

5:55 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Institutional Closing

Final conclusions and closing of the activity.

The laboratory will conclude by reaffirming that an accessible experience does not only benefit people with disabilities; it raises the quality of the entire system: it improves hospitality, strengthens competitiveness, and expands the capacity of destinations to welcome more people, and welcome them better.

Expected Outcomes

By the end of the Inclusive Legacy Lab, participants will have contributed to building an initial base of lessons learned on accessibility applied to the meetings industry, including:

• Identification of critical barriers throughout the complete participant journey.
  • Practical solutions for destinations, hotels, venues, and organizers.
  • Applicable criteria to improve the accessible experience.
  • Greater understanding of accessibility as a dimension of quality, competitiveness, and legacy.
  • Initial inputs to consolidate an accessibility work agenda within FIEXPO Latin America.

More than a conversation about inclusion, the Inclusive Legacy Lab will be a space designed to activate learnings, commitments, and concrete actions that make it possible to move from inclusive discourse to accessible experience.