The COVID-19 pandemic has essentially changed the way hygiene is perceived in the hospitality industry. Tourism establishments need to reassure their guests more than ever that that they comply with hygiene requirements and do their utmost to ensure a safe stay and work environment. Green Key’s hotel chain partners have found different ways to do so.
During the current pandemic, all of Green Key’s hotel chain partners - BWH Hotel Group, NH Hotel Group, Radisson Hotel Group and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts - had to adapt their operations to stay open or to prepare for a safe reopening to ensure the safety of both the guests and the staff members. Rigorous health and safety procedures with enhanced protocols have been implemented based on the WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines and on the local and national requirements. These changes lead to a deep transformation of the hotel industry and to the digitalisation of many tasks. In addition to flexible cancellation
policies, the customer experience in the hotels is being redefined and the traditional operational processes such as the check-in, the check-out or the buffet service are being reviewed.
Each hotel chain also implemented its own initiative to respond to the pandemic. For instance Best Western Hotels & Resorts (BWHR) expanded its already existing ‘I Care Clean program’ into ‘We Care Clean program’ to ensure an even higher level of cleaning standards and operational best practices at its properties. Based upon guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Health Canada, the ‘We
Care Clean’ program addresses everything from guest room and common area cleanliness, to streamlined processes that minimise contact between guests and associates while maintaining the customer service you expect from a Best Western-branded hotel. The programme addresses five key areas in the hotel: Front desk and lobby, guest room and housekeeping, temporary breakfast offerings, public amenities and hotel employee and staff requirements (Read the full press release here).
NH Hotel Group also partnered with SGS to redefine, adapt and extend their health processes. The new processes, which will include the revision and adaptation of all hygiene and disinfection protocols of the facilities, specific training for employees and control and monitoring of the measures, will be implemented in the hotels so that they are ready to receive their assessment seal as they recover their activity. The first establishment to apply these health standards for it to be monitored will be the Green Key awarded NH Collection Barbizon Palace hotel in Amsterdam. In addition to reinforcing the hygiene and disinfection measures, NH Hotel Group is simultaneously working on redesigning its customer experience with the aim of ensuring that safety and social distancing requirements are met in its facilities. A project in which all the traditional operational processes – such as the check-in, customer service protocols or the buffet concept - are being reviewed, and in which digitalisation will play a major role. Moreover, all members of the company will receive detailed training and preventive medical evaluation controls will be carried out daily for all employees and collaborators upon their arrival at the hotels. (Read the full press release here).
Radisson Hotel Group partnered with SGS, a multinational company which provides inspection, verification, testing and certification services, and announced the Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol, a new program of in-depth cleanliness and disinfection procedures. These procedures include hand sanitizing stations at all entrances, the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and protective screens, enhanced and recorded cleaning and disinfection frequency, social distancing in all areas of its hotels, including in the Meeting & Event facilities, training in local, Centers for Disease Control, or World Health Organization recommendations and health guidelines, reiteration of food safety standards and comprehensive staff training. In addition, the hotel chain will be introducing an official label of cleanliness and disinfection issued by SGS to ensure the highest cleanliness, hygiene and safety standards of all individual hotels. Under this program, individual hotels can receive an approval label upon completion of a comprehensive local audit including on-site testing using the latest technology. (Read the full press release here).
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts have provided their independently owned and operated franchised hotels and their managed and owned properties worldwide with guidelines and safety information provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detailing how to identify COVID-19 symptoms and mitigate its transmission. Furthermore, they have partnered with third parties, including Ecolab which is also a partner of Green Key, and other suppliers to provide their hotels with cleaning and disinfecting supplies and have made training available for their franchisees as well as their owned hotels to achieve the highest standards of cleanliness, disinfection and hygiene (Read the full press release here)