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 masks and gloves at the ready?
Second is basing what you do on your property on science—having science-based standard operating cleaning and disinfecting procedures in place to ensure the highest level of hygiene—especially at all major touch points on your property. These procedures should touch every mechanical system and preventive maintenance step. One example: Do you really know what your guests and staff are breathing from your HVAC systems? Is your HVAC system spreading virus or killing it? Are filters being replaced often enough? What about other areas of your operations? Does science back the products and practices you have put in place to ensure the highest level of hygiene? This crisis should dramatically change the questions you ask of your suppliers!
Green Lodging News has begun to address the systems that can combat coronavirus. Click here for one article. Click here for another. Click here for yet another. In the coming days I will be posting an article on systems that incorporate ultraviolet lamps to combat bacteria and viruses. Watch for it.
Our industry has experienced PURE Rooms, Stay Well Rooms, and Five Feet to Fitness rooms—all of which promise some level of higher hygiene integrity. Moving forward, hotel owners and developers must think of their buildings as entire structures deserving of the very highest level of air purification and overall hygiene. If a hotel chain was called “Healthy Hotels” and built around science-based technology that ensures the healthiest stay possible, what would that say about every other hotel around?
A third lesson we all should learn from this is to be go-ready when it comes to supporting first responders, medical personnel, and yes, possibly even sick folk at your properties.
These are amazing times. It is time for good science to prevail and for good ideas to win out. And of course it is time to put our fellow human beings first.
Who is Your Sustainability Champion?
Green Lodging News is always looking to profile sustainability champions in our Personnel Profile section. If you would like to nominate someone for this section of Green Lodging News, contact me at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Looking for Guest Columnists
Every two weeks Green Lodging News posts a new guest column on its website. (Click here for examples.) The guest column also appears in the weekly e-newsletter. Green Lodging News is currently in need of industry experts to contribute occasional guest columns. Experts may include consultants, architects, designers, suppliers and those who own or operate green lodging establishments. Columns may be articles that take a stance on a particular subject or be strictly educational in nature. Columnists benefit by having their photo included along with a one paragraph description of their company. Interested in writing a column? Contact Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Get in the Green Suppliers Spotlight!
Green Lodging News, lodging’s leading environmental news source, now publishes Green Suppliers Spotlight, an e-blast to 20,349 subscribers that features the lodging industry’s leading green products and services. The e-blast features multiple vendors—unlike the current Green Supplier Spotlight that allows one supplier to “own” the Green Lodging News subscriber list for one e-blast. (Click here for a Green Suppliers Spotlight sample.)
Green Suppliers Spotlight is published weekly on Thursdays to general managers, owners, management companies, directors of sustainability, directors of engineering, facilities managers and many others who are either in purchasing positions or who influence purchasing decisions. Suppliers of green products and services throughout North America and beyond are invited to participate in the e-blast. (Minimum two suppliers per e-blast.) Green Suppliers Spotlight was created to give vendors an opportunity to reach a high number of industry purchasers at a very low cost—as low as $200 per e-mail. (Click here for rate sheet.)
Those advertising in Green Suppliers Spotlight can include up to 100 words, one image, contact information and multiple links to their website in their ad. At the end of each month, a report will be sent to each supplier with information on delivered e-mails, opens and click-throughs.
Planning Advertising for 2020?
Green Lodging News is accepting reservations for advertising spots for 2020. Many excellent spots are available on our new website and in the weekly e-mail newsletter. Many Green Supplier Spotlight dates are also available. Interested in receiving a 2020 media kit? Be sure to contact me as soon as possible at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com. A media kit can also be accessed by clicking here. Thank you to all those companies that consistently support Green Lodging News.
Newsletter & Green Supplier Spotlight Circulation
The circulation of our weekly e-newsletter and Green Supplier Spotlight currently stands at 20,349. Thank you to our new subscribers for signing up. Be sure to encourage your colleagues to do the same. There are “subscribe” links on the Green Lodging News home page. You may also e-mail greenlodgingnews@gmail.com to be added to our list.
Green Lodging News & Social Media
Green Lodging News now has 1,807 Twitter followers. Thank you to all of those who follow our tweets. In addition to following us on Twitter, be sure to bookmark the Green Lodging News Blog in your browser. More importantly, participate with your comments. Green Lodging News is also on Facebook. Be sure to “Like” us there. Green Lodging News now has 982 Facebook likes.
As always, I can be reached at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
