Hospitality and COVID-19
The Hospitality sector is being ravaged by COVID-19.
Hotels, bars, and restaurants alike are being shut down or forced into restricted operations depending on location and business type. While the CDC provides guidance on how to deal with the actual disease here and now, there are many unanswered questions about options available beyond wearing masks, social distancing, hand washing, physical barriers, and signage. The Small Business Association and Better Business Bureau both defer to the CDC for guidance as well.
This sector needs to prepare for considerable changes in consumer demands when restrictions are lifted and public demand returns. COVID-19’s long-term impact on consumer opinion and behavior seems to be evolving almost daily since the onset of this pandemic. As the infection rate declines and resurges, consumer opinion on “what is good enough for me to return to normal (new normal)” also changes. Consumers are looking for commitment, assurance, and proactive action. The reality is that consumers will not return to hospitality venues unless they are demonstrating the highest level of hygiene.
Lab testing conducted by Dr. Gregory R. Wiedman at Seton Hall University of NeverGerms® antimicrobial surface covers, to prove their effectiveness.
One solution is antimicrobial coated surfaces.
Antimicrobial surface covers work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to eliminate germs, providing customers with a safer touch point for many hard surfaces. They also provide a visual assurance to consumers that an extra effort to protect them has been taken by the merchant.
These self-sanitizing covers can be applied to virtually any high traffic touch point in the hospitality industry.
Think of all the surfaces you (and thousands of others before you) touch within a hotel; automatic door switches, lobby counters, bellhop carts, hallway railings, elevator buttons, room door handles, light switches, and toilet flush handles are just the beginning of the list.
Restaurants have a similar challenge in terms of shared surfaces touched by many in congested areas and during short periods of high activity. Bathroom stall doors and locks, faucets, paper towel dispensers, garbage can push panels, POS systems, hostess podiums, and check-out counters are just a few of many areas in a food and beverage facility that would benefit from cost-effective, germ-reducing technology.