TEMECULA, CALIF.—Dozens of giant 25-pound bags of onions, carrots and celery. Pallets of fresh ripe strawberries and blackberries. Thousands of pounds of cantaloupes and honeydew melons. Ten thousand dollars in milk (461 gallons) and dairy products alone. All of this and a lot more was sent last week by Pechanga to three charities in Riverside County that regularly support disadvantaged and homeless people in the region. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, these groups have been even harder hit. Pechanga Resort Casino’s temporary closure announced on Saturday, March 14 shut down the casino, hotel, spa, golf course, as well as...

MCLEAN, VA.—As the hospitality industry responds to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Hilton is partnering with leading companies to connect workers from temporarily suspended hotels with hundreds of thousands of short-term jobs created by the global pandemic. Hilton Team Members, and others in the industry seeking employment, will be given direct access and in some cases expedited access to temporary jobs on the Hilton Workforce Resource Center at companies such as Albertsons, Amazon, CVS, Lidl, Sunrise Senior Living and Walgreens. These partners recognize the power of a service culture and the value of hospitality skills training Hilton Team Members are known to receive. With a...

CINCINNATI—Due to the global pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Hydro Systems, a leader in chemical dispensing equipment, software and services, has published an educational white paper, “Dispensing Cleanliness During an Outbreak or Pandemic.” The white paper discusses the current state of the pandemic, cleaning best practices and the benefits of using chemical dispensing systems to combat an outbreak. The white paper is available for download at https://hydrosystemsco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-White-Paper_U.S._FINAL.pdf. “From schools to hotels to office buildings, every facility in the U.S. has been impacted by COVID-19 in some shape or form and now requires frequent cleaning to mitigate the spread of infection,” said...

Earth Hour will be marked globally this Saturday, March 28 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. locally. In the past hotels have extinguished non-essential lighting, created special drinks, held candle-lit dinners, etc. Earth Hour was part party, part reflection on the current state of the planet. Of course, this year’s Earth Hour will be much different with all focus on just staying healthy and safe. I suspect you have seen the numbers this past week—how devastating the coronavirus has been to the travel industry. According to the U.S. Travel Association, the coronavirus will cost the U.S. travel sector 4.6 million...

LAS VEGAS—After closely monitoring the risk and impact of COVID-19 on a daily basis, and speaking at length with members of its community, HD Expo + Conference, which had been scheduled for May 5 to 7, 2020, at Mandalay Bay Las Vegas, has been officially cancelled by Emerald X, LLC. This is due to recent developments regarding COVID-19 that include, but are not limited to, the declaration of a National State of Emergency by President Trump, the Nevada State of Emergency announced by Governor Steve Sisolak, the latest measures, including travel restrictions placed on foreign nationals traveling to the United...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Amid the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, Earth Day Network, the global organizer of Earth Day, will mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with the first Digital Earth Day, a global digital mobilization on April 22 to address the most urgent threats to people and the planet. “At Earth Day Network, the health and safety of volunteers and participants in Earth Day events is our top concern. Amid the recent outbreak, we encourage people to rise up but to do so safely and responsibly—in many cases, that means using our voices to drive action online rather than in...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Leading hotel CEOs met yesterday with the White House to discuss urgent economic recovery solutions needed to protect millions of U.S. hotel employees and 33,000 small businesses as travel grinds to a virtual halt across the country. From Main Street to major cities across the country, hotels everywhere are on the verge of shutting their doors in the coming days—many by the end of this week. With 1 in 25 jobs directly supported by the hotel industry, the rapid pace of booking cancellations is having an immediate, negative ripple effect that risks seeing mom and pop hotel owners...

HOUSTON—The Westin Houston Medical Center is the first and only hotel in the United States to utilize LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots to sanitize and disinfect its guestrooms and common areas to help combat the threat of coronavirus. The room disinfection technology, provided by San Antonio-based Xenex Disinfection Services, was developed by two epidemiologists in Houston, with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as their first customer. The Westin Houston Medical Center purchased two of the decontaminating robots, which are already at work sanitizing rooms inside the building. LightStrike robots have been proven to quickly destroy viruses, bacteria, and fungi using...

PHILADELPHIA—COVID-19 has elevated the need for cleaning supplies, and many suppliers are running out of stock or engaging in price-gauging practices. In times of national emergency and disaster, Monarch Brands has traditionally ramped up production and logistics without raising prices. Recently deployed automation features and a split shift workforce ensures that Monarch Brands continues to meet demand while mitigating exposure to COVID-19. All wholesale microfiber and rags get automatically weighed and wrapped before being carried to the dock by “Fred,” an automated pallet train that moves along a magnetic track. Fred handles 7,500 pounds loaded on his back while pulling five...

LONDON—The World Travel & Tourism Council says up to 50 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector are at risk due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: “WTTC figures show the stark impact on the travel and tourism sector of the present COVID-19 outbreak with analysis now suggesting that up to 50 million jobs are at risk in the sector globally. When the time is right, WTTC and the global private sector will be ready to help and support the government and countries to recover.” Latest figures from WTTC, which represents the global travel...