There has been so much bad news this year that I thought I would highlight some important bits of good news from this past week. Here goes: The pickup in travel is slow but it is happening. According to STR, U.S. hotel occupancy was 30.1 percent the week of May 3 to 9. That is up from the dismal 21 percent the week of April 5 to 11. Many markets are seeing much higher numbers on the weekends. Yes, if we continue to flatten the curve, business will continue to improve and the worst will remain behind us. One hotel company after...

A little more than two weeks ago I added a wellness section to Green Lodging News. Just a few days ago I added a COVID-19 news section. You can find the link to the new section at the far right of the green navigation bar on the Green Lodging News website. There are already 90 articles in the section—focusing on topics ranging from new cleaning and maintenance procedures to new technologies, to socially responsible steps companies are taking in their communities and within their companies. Be sure to bookmark this section as I will be adding new articles to it...

With all the precautions you are taking to protect your guests and staff against COVID-19, you should pay special attention to your drains and pipes. The interconnection of all parts of a hotel building by the wastewater plumbing system makes it vulnerable. The plumbing can be the conduit for the spread of the virus and stagnating water could increase the growth of Legionella bacteria and other pathogens. A recent article published in The Lancet explains how wastewater plumbing systems have the potential to enable airborne transmission of COVID-19. Buildings that have gone dormant for long stretches of time are especially...

When you open your property again (I know some are still open), will it be certified clean to the level of standards that travelers in a COVID-19 world expect? I ask this because of several developments I came across this past week. First, Accor announced that it had joined forces with Bureau Veritas, a provider of testing, inspection and certification, to develop a label designed to certify that the appropriate safety standards and cleaning protocols have been achieved to allow businesses to reopen. The label will apply to Accor hotels in Europe and first to Accor hotels in France. The...

I wrote my first Green Lodging News Earth Day column 13 years ago. So much has changed on our planet since then. For example, last year was the fifth year in a row that was the hottest on record. We all have different priorities now, but I challenge you to keep your eyes on sustainability this 50th Earth Day (April 22) and every day—even as you fight your way through the current crisis. When COVID-19 is solved, we will still have global warming, air pollution, a dramatic decline in biodiversity, species extinction, etc. In fact, with recent rollbacks in emissions...

In this space I have recently highlighted Bi Polar Ionization and ultraviolet radiation as technologies to consider to combat COVID-19. One of my clients recently highlighted his company’s Thermal Accelerated Nano Crystal Sanitation (TANCS) technology. Another client will highlight his company’s steam cleaning products this coming week. In an article I will be posting in the next several days, I highlight electrochemical activation (ECA)—the process for creating electrolyzed water using a low electric charge and natural minerals. Feeling lately like you need to be a scientist just to clean your hotel? I hear you. I urge you to consider all the...

One thing there is no shortage of at this trying time is good deeds—and many of them are coming out of hotels, hotel companies, and suppliers to hotels. I have received many press releases about, and read elsewhere about food donations, cash donations, executives giving up their salaries, companies committing to pay their employees during the shutdown, etc. Of course there have been tens of thousands of layoffs as well but at such a dismal time it helps to grab onto glimmers of goodness and hope. For those of you still working on the front lines of our industry, a...

What should our industry learn from the coronavirus? I thought about that a little bit this week and would welcome your thoughts as well. Of course, one lesson is everyone’s lesson: paying attention at a heightened level when a country thousands of miles away has people dying from a new virus and having a crisis management plan in place to prepare for it. Don’t wait for government to tell you what to do. Be prepared with your own action steps. Who would have thought front desk, housekeeping, and other personnel would need to have personnel protective gear such as face...

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...

Our industry is certainly going through a challenging time right now. Hygiene and disinfection are top of mind and even a matter of life and death in some cases. I reached out to Stephen P. Ashkin with The Ashkin Group—The Green Cleaning & Sustainability Experts to get his take on the current coronavirus situation and how to address the virus and he contributed the following very helpful six questions and answers relating to disinfection. Please read through his list—especially paying attention to disinfectant dwell time. Are we using the right disinfectant? US EPA has established specific guidelines for disinfectants that are...