AHLA Sets Out “Safe Stay” Guidelines for Guests
Five checklist items include wear a mask and don’t travel when you’re sick, says hotel association
The American Hotel and Lodging Association has released a guest checklist based on its industry-wide Safe Stay guidelines which it released in May. Hotel guests are asked to consider these five points:
1. Wear required face coverings in all indoor public spaces and practice social distancing in all common areas.
2. Choose contactless options, where available, including online reservations, check-ins, and payments.
3. Consider daily room cleaning, only if necessary. Ask the hotel about your options.
4. Request contactless room service delivery.
5. Refrain from traveling if you have, or recently had, any symptoms of COVID-19 or contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19.
“The top priority for the hotel industry is the health and safety of guests and employees. Utilizing these best practices, including requiring face coverings and practicing social distancing in public spaces, will create an even safer environment for all our guests and employees,” said AHLA’s president and CEO Chip Rogers.
“As an industry, we want every guest to experience a clean and safe hotel no matter where they stay. We applaud governors who have standardized the use of face coverings in all indoor public spaces and we urge all lawmakers to help make this a national standard by implementing this requirement in their states. These preventative measures make it safer and easier for Americans to travel while also supporting hotel and tourism employees.”
AHLA also recently launched COVID-19 Precautions for Hotels, an online course developed in partnership with the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute to help hotels train their staffs on the enhanced safety and cleanliness guidelines.
On June 18th, the organization reported that despite safety initiatives and re-openings, state and local tax revenue from hotel operations will drop by $16.8 billion in 2020, according to a new report by Oxford Economics. Some of the hardest hit states include California (-$1.9 billion), New York (-$ 1.3 billion), Florida (-$ 1.3 billion), Nevada (-$1.1 billion) and Texas (-$940 million).
Rogers commented in a statement that he believed it would “take years” before the hotel industry returns to pre-Covid 19 profitability, a grim outlook reflected in industry analysts’ numbers.
The organization has laid out a “Roadmap to Recovery” calling on Congress to provide support to help hotels retain and rehire employees, protect employees and guests, keep hotel doors open and incentivize Americans to travel again.
