Marriott will offer on-site COVID-19 tests to try to bring back in-person conferences and business meetings
Advertisement
Brittany Chang
Dec 18, 2020, 20:55 IST
Meeting spaces at Marriott owned hotels.Marriott International
Marriot will be rolling out new optional coronavirus protocols to help safely bring back in person meetings and conferences.
These include mobile health screenings, temperature scans, and both on-site and pre-travel self-administered COVID-19 tests.
The new protocols will be available at the hospitality giant's Gaylord Hotels and Resorts in Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Colorado starting next month.
Advertisement
Marriot will be rolling out new optional coronavirus protocols next month to bring back in-person meetings and conferences.
The hotel chain already has a list of safety procedures that were rolled out for guests during the coronavirus pandemic, including mandatory face masks and decreased meeting seating capacities. However, the hospitality giant's newly announced suite of "health protocols" target a specific travel segment: "meeting professionals" for conferences and gatherings.
These protocols, which are optional, include mobile health screenings, temperature scans, and both on-site and pre-travel self-administered COVID-19 tests.
"We engaged industry-leading experts and through a thorough review process, identified third-party providers capable of offering the health protocols that meeting professionals want and need for future events," Marriott's senior vice president of global sales organization Tammy Routh said in a statement on the news release.
Marriott will roll out the new safety measures at Gaylord Hotels and Resorts in Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Colorado starting January 2021. The same protocols will be made available at other Marriott owned hotels across the US a few weeks later.
The newly announced optional protocols follow Marriott's recent list of offerings and requirements meant to facilitate in-person meetings and events during COVID-19 times.
Despite these new coronavirus-oriented offerings, several experts and analysts predict corporate travel will not return to normal for several years. According to Bank of America, the hotel industry could lose between $8 billion to $23 billion in 2020 alone from the loss of business trips, which makes up half of the hotel industry's revenue.
Advertisement
{{}}
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.