In a fairly uncertain future, hospitality owners are preparing to reopen with both the CDC and WHO offering guidelines for resorts, country clubs, and hotels. In their recent research, McKinsey & Company identify that although business & leisure travel will eventually resume, resorts & upper scale hotels are likely to be the slowest to recover.
‘Economy class’, the research concludes, will be the leading segment as only essential travelers including relatives, truck drivers, and business professionals will be the only ones traveling with a budget in mind. The economic devastation caused by the coronavirus on all income classes is still to show itself with massively disrupted supply chains.
McKinsey & Co.’s research surveyed 3498 U.S. travelers across 5 countries to identify 13 safety actions the guests demand from resorts, country clubs, and other lodging businesses. We take a look at five critical actions from the list that are being actively addressed through technology.
More Intensive Room Cleaning
The first factor that travelers identify is more intense cleaning measures must be taken to prevent coronavirus infection. Since there is also the requirement of fewer human interactions, technology is being deployed to assist staff rapidly sterilize guest rooms and public areas.
UV sterilization was already being used in several industries, and will now make its way into resorts, country clubs, and hotels. A great example is at work in the Westin Houston Medical Center Hotel:
Conducting on Arrival Temperature Check for All Guests
The second action that travelers suggest hotels should consider taking is assuring all guests are tested for coronavirus on arrival. While it is a great idea, not every guest will be comfortable taking these tests if they have already done so.
Installing thermal scanners to monitor the temperatures of staff and guests as they move through them is a more feasible idea for resorts and country clubs.
Staff Must Wear Protective Equipment On-Premises
Travelers demand that staff must always be in protective gear with access to protective equipment at all times. This step requires that staff must be offered complete checklists that must be strictly adhered to, especially to avoid liabilities.
Staff can use a variety of tech tools to monitor guest health and constantly check public areas for infection. Skift already published a guide to all the safety steps being taken by leading hospitality franchises.
Completely Automated Self-Check-In & Checkout Process
An increasing number of travelers now well acquainted with mobile and touch screens are now demanding increased touchless technology. With mobile check-in and self-service kiosks already a popular means to onboard guests, guests demand even simpler touchless check-in services that require no human contact.
Marriot, Hilton, and several other hotel franchises have already begun migrating their check-in services to their mobile apps.
Allow Room Service & To-Go Meals
Room service will be the most disrupted service that usually allows resorts & country clubs to upsell several other services. This is an area being completely dominated by robotics technology and has been seen at various hotels.
The Yotel robots in New York, the Aloft Hotel Botlr robot, and many others are taking room service to a new level. Futurism explains in their latest video:
Conclusion
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