The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) recently launched the ‘Safe Stay,’ initiative to focus on enhanced hotel cleaning practices, social interactions, and workplace protocols. The initiative would help to meet the new health and safety challenges and expectations resulted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ‘Safe Stay’ initiative will seek to change hotel industry norms, behaviors, and standards in order to ensure both hotel guests and employees are confident in the cleanliness and safety of hotels once travel resumes after the trying times pass.
Chip Rogers, President, and CEO, AHLA said in a statement that every hotel guest and employee should be aware that their health and safety are the company’s top priority. He mentioned that the initiative represents a new level of focus for an industry that is already built on cleanliness.
He said that hotels have always had rigorous standards for cleaning and safety. He shared that with ‘Safe Stay’ the organisation is enhancing such standards to help create peace of mind. He assured that when travel resumes after the pandemic hotels will be ready to safely welcome back its guests and travelers.
AHLA has also convened the Safe Stay Advisory Council consisting of industry leaders representing all segments of the hotel industry. They will work in collaboration with public health experts, scientists, and medical leaders to develop a series of best practices for the industry.
The council will focus on enhanced cleaning standards throughout the hotel, including guest rooms, meeting spaces, common areas, and back-of-house spaces. They will arrange for superior cleaning products with a greater concentration of bacteria-killing ingredients, in accordance with CDC guidelines. They will also make sure that person-to-person contact is reduced and social distancing measures are following.
The council will also work towards establishing increased transparency throughout the journey of a guest in a particular hotel. The council members consist of representatives from some of the world’s largest hotel companies like Accor, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Group, Choice Hotels, Radisson, Wyndham, and Aimbridge Hospitality among various others.
