Adaptive Strategies for Hospitality Industry post Covid 19
Covid 19 has introduced a new culture of never leaving anything to chance especially on health matters. Every person is now more careful with where they stay, how they are served and much more the hygiene of everything they interact with. Experts in the hospitality industry are coming up with different approaches in expectations of new customer expectations.
Handshakes might not happen again
The traditional handshake greetings has suffered a major if not a fatal blow in the wake of Covid19 mitigation measures. It is now almost illegal to handshake and people are being encouraged to avoid physical contact as much as possible. The old age practice of the manager having to take greet staff at work will mostly remain handsfree. Guests too will now not receive the famous welcome handshake that has been the norm.
Focus on Room Sanitization
Every guest will question the state of sanitization of any room before occupation. Hotels and short term rentals must look for ways of ensuring sanitization of all spaces and equipment before booking a new guest. Some hotels are already making progress on this front by use of tags which depict the state of sanitization of a room. There will be a need to invest in technologies that will help measure this aspect to the satisfaction of customers. Focus should also go beyond the specific room to include common places like elevators, lifts, balconies and lounges.
More Room Service
Room service has remained a premium service for long but it might just become the norm going forward. Requirements for social distancing and hygiene considerations are forcing hotel owners to shift from restaurant to room service model. This helps to limit the number of people meeting in common places thus making it more secure considering the prevailing covid fears. This shift will however require investing in more service staff which will impact on profits. It might end up adding to the cost of accommodation.
Disposable Crockery and menus
Covid19 is said to stay longer on surfaces for as long as 5 days if they are not properly cleaned. One school of thought is proposing the use of disposable menus and crockery for restaurants. This will come at an additional cost but it’s a better way to assure guests that they will not be exposed to the virus by way of crockery. There are many emerging options to this and its an options that is worth considering.
Keyless Rooms and Sensor Doors
The keyless room technology has been on the trials for some time now but covid19 has now given it more authenticity. As bookings go digital, keys are following suit and some hotels are already experimenting with digital keys in addition to sensor doors. Most rooms might now be fully automated requiring no manual opening of doors for clients.
Covid 19 Testing
Testing is the sure way to tell if one is Covid19 positive or negative. There might now be a need to know the status of guests before they are booked into a hotel. What is their history of infection and have they been into contact with and infected person. If a vaccine is found, it will be normal practice to carry a vaccination certificate.