New normal in the wake of COVID-19 for the hospitality industry

Now that the world is coming out of lockdown and businesses starting to re-open again, the travel and hospitality industry will see footfalls soon. But the expectations of the customers have changed. Consumers are now looking for hygiene practices more than the luxury and comfort of the stay. It is paramount to satisfy the expectation of the customers to stay afoot in this new normal.

Even if you had a very good hygiene practice in place earlier, changes must be made to the current program to cope up with the guidelines set forth by governments and to ease the anxiety of the customers. Customers need to be made aware of the cleaning practices to instill confidence. You need to pay attention to individual aspects during the stay of a customer right from check-in and employ different solutions for cleaning around the hotel.

SECURITY

A customer can transmit viruses right from the moment they land on your doorstep. The checklist to avoid this would be to

• Place a doormat at the entrance for customers to wipe off their footwear. Wash these doormats with antibacterial washes like DGA-100
• Their luggage can be cleaned by fogging methods to wipe off germs. Instant disinfectants like ID-100 have smaller contact time and doesn’t need to be wiped off.
• When automatic doors are not available, install a hand wash station right outside for eliminating bacteria. HW-100, GENTLE CARE HERB, PEARL are effective in eliminating bacteria.
• Clean the surfaces like staircase railing, check-in counter with surface disinfectants. Surfaces can transmit pathogens from one human to another and this can be prevented by FDA approved solutions like SD-100 and Ecover N.
• Frequently clean the floors of communal places like lobby, corridors, and rest area. Solutions like FC-100 kills all the microorganisms while providing a pleasant smell and shine to the floor.
• Use digital key cards or touchless entryways if possible. If not, install a hand sanitizer like HS-100 near the elevator buttons and other common touchpoints for preventing cross-contamination

LAUNDRY

Bedding, pillow covers, carpets, towels are used by multiple customers. Care must be taken to ensure that these are washed after every occupancy of the room. Carpets, sofa covers, and curtains are rarely used items and these can be washed with durable antibacterial finishes like DGA-100 to prevent the build-up of germs and bacteria. Other textiles like bed and pillow covers can be washed with either DGA-100 or DFS-100. Clean laundry also assures your customer about the standard of hygiene set forth by your hotel. Using safe and environment-friendly chemicals are beneficial to the environment and are also safe for customers.

INFECTION FREE SURFACES

With surface disinfection foraying into popularity, it is important to pay attention to every surface in the hotel for an end to end hygiene. Surfaces can carry disease-causing pathogens leading to infecting humans, so ensure the disinfection of these surfaces. For instance, you need to use different methods to sanitize the walls, floors, and other commonly touched surfaces like countertops, tables, doorknobs, phones, etc..

• ID-100 can be used to instantly disinfect frequently touched hotspots like electrical switches, door handles, telephones, elevator buttons, etc..
• Open areas like the lobby, recreational centers can be covered entirely if the aerosol application is followed. Ecover N is a bio-degradable, environment-friendly option that is suitable for the fogging method. It is highly effective and safe to use.
• Floor areas are usually cleaned with solutions that remove dirt and stains and give shine to the surface. But to comply with new normal safety standards, use disinfection solutions like FC-100 to effectively eliminate germs, bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms and maintain shiny looking floors.
• SD-100 is a multi-surface disinfectant that can be used to deep clean any non-porous surface, including but not limited to walls, countertops, coffee tables.

IN HOUSE EFFORTS TO SUSTAIN HYGIENE

Implementing and following high standards of hygiene can be made possible only when all the employees and cleaning staff share the same view. So it is important to educate them about the standards and protocols implemented in the new normal and ways to achieve it.

• Train your employees about the steps to be followed and other guidelines before the industry opens in full swing.
• Show them that you care. Equip your employees with the right safety equipment.
• Educate them so that they can manage customer’s queries regarding hygiene.
• Train your cleaning staff to the new normal disinfection. It is necessary that they learn the different solutions available for different areas and the level of cleaning requirements in different spaces.
• Promote hand hygiene with your employees.
• Actively involve them while formulating plans for maintaining hygiene around the hotel. This will help you learn the difficulties, if any, in a particular situation and will give the employees a sense of responsibility towards upholding the hygiene standards.

COMMON PRACTICES TO MAINTAIN HYGIENIC ENVIRONMENT

• Keep a note of travelers’ and employees’ past travel records
• Update on the regulations set forth by your local authorities from time to time
• Use solutions that are made by reputed companies
• Use customized solutions for different areas and requirements in the hotel
• Audit your space to evaluate your strong and weak points for thorough cleaning
• Keep a detailed system to achieve complete hygiene in your hotel

With the economy still reeling from the effect of COVID19, it is important to adapt to the expectations of the customers to sustain and excel in business. Communicate about your hygiene standards to let your customers know. Be visible in your quest towards maintaining a higher cleaning standard. Share it on social media. Ask customers for inputs and keep refining the process to be sustainable and successful.