Phostia

Some needs don't show.
We train your team to see them.

Phostia prepares teams across hospitality, aviation and tourism to recognise and welcome the people they serve — travellers with non-visible conditions like autism, chronic pain, anxiety and hearing loss. Welcome shouldn't depend on what staff can see.

We see you.
Why Phostia
Years ago I interviewed a woman who'd been shut out of work — not for anything she couldn't do, but because the sensor managing her diabetes beeped and it made others uneasy.

I gave her the job. She flourished. The barrier had never been her — it was a room that hadn't learned how to make space. Phostia is how I make sure the next room has: the difference between a team that means well and one that knows what to do.

Ioannis Vellios Founder, Phostia
The reality

Most of the people you serve carry something you can't see.

Hospitality is built around visible needs — a ramp, a wheelchair, a sign. But the majority of disability never shows at the front desk and the guest is left to explain themselves or quietly go without.

1 in 6
people live with a significant disability — the world's largest minority.
World Health Organization
~80%
of disabilities are non-visible — over a billion people with no outward sign.
Hidden Disabilities · WHO
0
diagnoses a guest should have to disclose to be treated with care.
The Phostia principle

A guest with autism, fibromyalgia or hearing loss doesn't need your building rebuilt. They need the person at the desk to know what to do.

The approach

The law defines the minimum. Phostia defines the welcome.

We design service so a guest never has to prove a condition to be looked after well — the same shift that made the kerb-cut, built for wheelchairs, a relief for everyone with a suitcase.

Universal by default. Quiet options, clear signage and a calm check-in are there for anyone — no disclosure, no special request, no burden of proof on the guest.
Staff over renovation. Most of what a guest needs costs little or nothing to put in place. The real value is a trained team, not a rebuilt lobby.
Grounded in the field. Built on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the World Health Organization's model of disability, alongside the internationally recognised accessibility standards the sector already trusts — and on years spent on the front line of aviation, hospitality and tourism.
What we cover

Six kinds of need — and what welcome looks like for each.

Training is organised around the conditions your teams actually meet, with concrete, low-cost responses rather than awareness slogans.

Mental health

Depression · anxiety · PTSD
A calm tone, an unhurried check-in and a quiet corner to wait — options offered neutrally, never with a raised eyebrow.

Neurodivergence

Autism · ADHD · dyslexia
Plain, literal language, a warning before anything changes and control over light and sound — no pressure to make eye contact.

Chronic pain & fatigue

Fibromyalgia · ME/CFS
Seating along the route, a room near the lift, a later check-out without a fuss and luggage carried before it's asked for.

Chronic & systemic

Diabetes · epilepsy · Crohn's
A fridge for medication, flexible meal times, fast access to a toilet and a basic emergency protocol handled with discretion.

Non-visible sensory

Hearing loss · low vision
Captions on screens, strong contrast and lighting and staff who'll write it down as readily as say it, face in view.

Cognitive

Post-stroke · brain injury · brain fog
One instruction at a time, written reminders, stable wayfinding and patience with repetition instead of a sigh.
Who it's for

Built for every front line that welcomes people.

The needs are shared — the setting isn't. Choose yours to see how Phostia fits.

From the front desk to the floor.

Your team meets guests at their most vulnerable moments. We train each role for the non-visible needs it actually encounters — and help you make small, low-cost changes guests feel the moment they arrive.

Book an intro for your hotel →
  • A calmer check-in and quiet options, offered to anyone
  • Room and service flexibility handled with discretion
  • Every department trained for its own guest moments
The programme

Start with a day. Build a standard that lasts.

Three steps you climb — not three products to choose between. Everyone begins with Foundation. Professional and Certified Partner build on it.

1Phostia Foundation

The foundation

One intensive, experiential day that gives your whole team a shared culture of inclusion.

  • Recognise and support guests — without intrusive questions
  • One shared culture, from the front line to behind the scenes
  • Ends with the Phostia stamp

For every team starting out — the base everything else is built on.

2Phostia Professional

The depth

Deeper, role-specific training — and inclusion that extends to your own team, not just your guests.

  • Role-specific scenarios, tailored to each front-line team
  • Supporting staff with invisible needs of their own (the HR side)
  • Builds on everything in Foundation

For teams that want to go beyond the basics.

3Phostia Certified Partner

The continuity

An ongoing partnership — annual refresher, review and renewal, so inclusion stays a living standard.

  • Annual refresher, including staff who joined since
  • Re-assessment against the framework
  • Yearly renewal of the mark

For those who want inclusion to stay alive, year on year.

Every organisation is different — we shape the plan and the cost together, in a first conversation.

Ask for a quote
Who's behind it

Years at the front line of welcome.

Phostia comes from a career spent where service is made or lost — the cabin, the airport, the front desk and the HR office that hires and trains the people at them. Ioannis Vellios has worked across multinational environments in hospitality, aviation and tourism, in both academia and industry, before turning to the question that runs through all of it: how do you welcome someone whose needs you can't see?

Today he pairs that hands-on background with doctoral research on inclusion and the Sustainable Development Goals in tourism — so Phostia's training is grounded in both the floor and the field.

Academia Aviation Diverse Multinational Working Environments Hospitality HR Sustainable Tourism Tourism
The name
phos+hestia

Phostia joins two Greek words: phos (φῶς, light) and hestia (ἑστία, the hearth — the heart of the home and the spirit of hospitality). It means bringing into the light what usually stays unseen: welcoming every guest, including those whose needs you cannot see. The whole of what we do, in a single word.

We see you.

Bring the welcome your guests can't ask for.

Tell us about your team and the people you welcome and we'll shape a session that fits. Working with hotels, airports, travel companies and the wider hospitality & tourism sector, across Greece and beyond.

Or email info@phostia.com directly.

Your details are used only to reply to your enquiry — never shared or sold.

Athens, Greece · phostia.com
Practising what we teach

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