A few days ago we closed Fitur 2021 and we would like to take this opportunity to shed some light on this summer’s mystery: Is it safe to sleep in a hotel?
At the round table on ‘The post-COVID-19 customer, safety and health’, Vincci Hoteles Marketing and Communication Director, Aixa Rodríguez, made it clear that everything they have done in terms of health protection has been to generate confidence in the guest, with the aim of making them feel comfortable and cared for.
He also acknowledged that one of the biggest challenges they have faced as a result of the pandemic has been to make their hotels safe spaces for guests without making them look like a hospital.
What measures are being implemented?
These are some of the measures that we will encounter this year during our stay in the hotels:
- Face masks and hydroalcoholic gel as complimentary amenities.
- Say goodbye to the breakfast buffet and hello to a la carte lunches via QR code.
- Safety distance between hammocks in the pool.
- Online check-in.
- Constant disinfection of common areas.
- Limited capacity at the spa.
As usual, the International Tourism Fair was attended by the largest hotel chains. Among them, Vincci Hoteles, Room Mate Group, Barceló Hotel Group and NH Hotel Group. These are some of the statements made by their directors regarding the measures:
«If we all know how to act and what the measures will be, we can plan our sales strategies and services to have a good summer season», says Carlos Calero, general manager of Vincci Hoteles.
To this end, they have reinforced the «high standards of hygiene» with which they worked through the Vincci Care seal in order to guarantee «100% customer peace of mind».
NH Hoteles is moving along the same lines with Feel Safe at NH, an initiative that includes 700 adaptations in 10 areas that will be applied in the group’s 364 hotels around the world to preserve the health and safety of travelers and employees. The measures include the following individualized proposals:
- New digital solutions such as instant chat with staff to request information or solve a problem.
- Reinforcement of the air and water purification system.
- Redesign of spaces to ensure distance.
«We want to send a positive message. We are starting on the road to recovery, although it is slower than we would like. Vaccination is setting the pace and, if everything goes according to plan, people will be looking forward to traveling in the summer», concludes Marina López, head of Marketing and New Technologies at the Hotusa group, to which the Eurostars hotels belong.
How to attract customers?
As for how to attract customers, Lopez believes that they should innovate and offer personalized, unique and tailored experiences.
«We must avoid homogeneity and standardization. The proposals of signature brands and hotels with personality, integrated into their environment and local culture, will prevail, adding value to the destination».
It is clear that the hotel industry has to commit to a transformation that will help them improve retention, loyalty and acquisition. But where to start? These are the keys to improving the digitization of a hotel and, with it, increase guest satisfaction, strengthen loyalty, bring innovation and, above all, ensure their safety.
So, is it safe to sleep in a hotel? As we have seen, the industry is making great efforts to ensure that it is. Little by little, the data speak in their favor, since, after the state of alarm, flight plus hotel package bookings have increased by 68%.
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