AUGUSTA, MAINE—The Maine Office of Tourism (MOT), in partnership with the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation, has launched Look Out for ME, a marketing and educational initiative to support responsible recreation in the Maine outdoors. With input from leaders in the outdoor recreation industry, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Bureau of Parks & Lands and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, MOT developed a communications tool that is meant as an asset to be shared with both the public and private sectors to reinforce Maine’s outdoor brand and ensure respect and care for natural...

The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped hotel operations in many areas, from contactless check-in to keyless room entry to QR codes for restaurant menus. Hotel gym operations and cleaning protocols have also changed in response to pandemic health and safety concerns. Many of these changes are projected to become mainstays in 2021 and beyond to meet guest expectations for enhanced cleaning and hygiene protocols. For most hotel guests, the best location, five-star restaurants and over the top amenities have taken a back seat to high standards for health and safety. According to a TripAdvisor survey, cleanliness is the most important factor in...

BANGKOK—The Six Senses Botanique has joined the Six Senses portfolio. This emerald gem is located 2.5 hours from São Paulo and 3.5 hours from Rio de Janeiro. It lies at the confluence of three river valleys in the heart of the Mantiqueira Mountains, known as the “mountains that weep” due to the abundance of springs and rivers. For Six Senses Botanique, however, there is plenty to be happy about. After three months of training centered around the Six Senses brand standards and values, hosts cannot wait to showcase out-of-the-ordinary experiences and emotional hospitality, with the Six Senses integrated pillars of...

FORT LEE, N.J.—Even before COVID-19 there was an “ick” factor when it came to touching public door handles, handrails, elevator buttons, and other high-touch areas. Today? These areas are of course of much greater concern. Back in 2018, Zeynep “Z” Ekemen, one of the inventers and current Managing Partner of Silver Defender, recognized the need for some type of antimicrobial protection on high-touch areas. “We wanted to create the next Purell,” she says. Ekemen and her colleagues developed chemical-free Silver Defender antimicrobial protected film that can be applied to any high-touch surface. Silver Defender’s technology is activated by light, air...

DALTON, GA.—Troy Virgo, Director of Sustainability at Shaw Industries, has been selected by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) to receive a 2020 IWBI community award recognizing outstanding members of the WELL AP and WELL Faculty community. Virgo joins a group of honorees from around the globe who are leading the charge to revolutionize the way we think about our buildings, communities and organizations, and the impact they have on our health and quality of life. Virgo has served as a member of IWBI’s Materials Concept Advisory team since 2018, an advisory created to explore, better understand and ultimately, more...

NATIONAL REPORT—The hotel industry is one of the most successful in the world, but also one of the most competitive. Statistics show that there are literally hundreds of thousands of hotels worldwide, each competing with the surrounding establishments for the attention of each and every traveler, and all doing what they can do to stay ahead of the game and keep up with the competition. The roles and responsibilities of a hotelier can therefore be varied and numerous, as it’s vital to constantly try to think two steps ahead and explore every avenue to improve your service, appeal to the...

PLANO, TEXAS—Aimbridge Hospitality, the leading, global, third-party hotel management company, has earned the WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Maintenance at an initial 96 hotels across North America. The company has enrolled an additional 209 hotels to pursue the rating, bringing the total number of its properties in the program to 305 initially, with the goal to grow the number of enrolled hotels in the near future. “Aimbridge Hospitality is pleased to bring the benefits of the WELL Health-Safety Rating to hundreds of our hotels, leveraging our scale and expertise to deliver a comprehensive and rigorous approach to wellness,...

NATIONAL REPORT—As concern about COVID-19 has skyrocketed, so too has interest in wellness and one of the places that interest has been focused is the guestroom—specifically the mattress. Any company today must be careful about its anti-viral/anti-bacterial/anti-microbial claims but at least two mattress companies are offering options that include at least one or more of the above “anti” properties. The first company, Corsicana Mattress Co., is offering its Copper ProTech collection to the hospitality market. Corsicana, one of the top few mattress makers in the United States, has nine mattresses and a topper engineered with copper-infused foam. The copper included...

Beyond topical or air spray cleaning and disinfection in the guestroom, how far have you gone to accommodate your guests during this pandemic? I am curious to know. I have traveled some in recent months and certainly touchable items such as pens, and pads have been removed. I have stayed at a Hilton Home2 Suites in Orlando a couple of times and the TV remote was wrapped to indicate it had been sanitized. The hotel bathroom there still had its soap, shampoo, and conditioner dispensers. Have you backtracked on dispensers and transitioned back to the wasteful individual plastic containers?...

DALTON, GA.—Zeftron Nylon, a premium nylon 6 solution-dyed yarn system for commercial carpets, is introducing an educational eBook, “4 Reasons Carpet Matters Now.” The free resource provides insights on how designers and facility managers can utilize carpet to improve the health and safety of commercial environments. The easy-to-read document consists of articles, research, and practical tips. It shows how carpet can be designed to create socially distanced and wellness-focused spaces. Research contained in the eBook shows how carpet contributes to improved indoor air quality, and how carpet can best be properly maintained to achieve maximum performance and aesthetics. “With the onset...