Guestcentric Launches Suite of Health & Safety Features for Hotels to Optimize the Guest Experience
Since the earliest stages of the COVID-19 crisis, Guestcentric has proactively developed and delivered a comprehensive suite of features to help hoteliers implement and communicate enhanced Health & Safety measures to guests – both during the heat of the pandemic and beyond.
“To optimize the guest experience in an era where enhanced Health & Safety is paramount to travel, our primary aim has been to proactively support hotel brands as they adjust their protocols, operations, and communication strategies to reassure guests in the current climate,” says Pedro Colaco, CEO at Guestcentric.
Enhanced Health & Safety Protocols & Streamlining Hotel Team Communication
As more hotels reopen or prepare to start accepting guests, Hoteliers across the globe are currently prioritizing the implementation of enhanced Health & Safety measures to optimize the guest experience in the post-COVID world.
Quarantining Rooms for Cleaning
Following the launch of the Rooms Against Covid initiative across Europe and South America, where hotels opened their doors to relocated healthcare professionals tackling the crisis head-on, the team at Guestcentric identified a significant demand for rooms to be quarantined over an allocated period for cleaning after check-out
“Anticipating that this demand would be reflected across the wider travel market in the post-Covid world, we rapidly built and delivered a new Room Quarantine feature for our hotels. The feature enables hotels to quarantine rooms over an allocated period to guarantee the utmost safety for guests,” Colaco continues.
Keeping Hotel Teams Efficient during the Hotel Reopen and Recovery Stages
“In addition to addressing the guest experience in the current climate, Guestcentric has also built and delivered a range of solutions to efficiently streamline communication, inventory management, and operations between teams as hotels reopen,” Colaco continues
The Guestcentric team has implemented mandatory fields across the brand’s reservations solutions. Guests are also required to inform hotels of their arrival date and time during the booking process. This gives Managers and their Teams advanced notice to adequately quarantine, sanitize, and clean rooms prior to a guest’s arrival.
In addition, each time a booking is completed, an email alert is distributed to all relevant hotel teams so staff can start preparing and cleaning rooms prior to the guest’s arrival.
“Managing hotel reservations and keeping inventory up-to-date has always been a time-consuming process for hotel teams, requiring a tremendous amount of smart communication and organization. This demand is amplified as hotels prepare for the ‘New Normal’,” Colaco adds.
These solutions not only increase communication and operational efficiency between teams but also ensures they deliver an optimal guest journey from the point of booking to check-out.
Reassuring Guests that Their Safety is a Top Priority & Communicating Compliance
According to a recent social media poll by Guestcentric, 75% of travelers value Enhanced & Clearly Communicated Health & Safety Measures over Complimentary Add-On Services and Free Nights Included in a booked stay. “This indicates that safety measures on their own aren’t sufficient. Hotels must also communicate these enhanced Health & Safety protocols to guests,” Colaco adds.
Reassuring & Informing Guests via Booking Engine and Pre-Stay Email
To help hotels communicate these protocols to guests, Guestcentric also launched a default Health & Safety Reassurance message that guests will see when they start the booking process via their desktop or mobile device.
Depending on the number of days a Hotel Owner or Manager may wish to quarantine their rooms after a guest has checked out, Hotel teams can customize the pop-up message to reassure new guests that the rooms they book have been fully cleaned and sanitized over an allocated period prior to check-in.
Furthermore, Health & Safety reassurance does not end when a booking is completed. Guestcentric’s automated email marketing feature has also been enhanced to enable Hoteliers to continuously reassure and inform guests of crucial hygiene protocols and other important details related to their booking or destination prior to check-in, including current Health & Safety regulations and entry requirements by destination.
Showcasing Compliance with Enhanced Health & Safety Regulations
Guestcentric also introduced a new website area for hotels to display their enhanced Health & Safety badges to highlight the property’s compliance with hygiene and cleaning requirements for the prevention and control of Covid-19 and other possible infections.
With this feature, Hoteliers can promote their properties as safe destinations in mitigating the spread of Covid-19 or any other infections going forward, reinforcing the confidence of guests who visit the hotel and increasing loyalty.
The Bottom Line
“While much is yet to be seen regarding travel behaviors when demand returns to 2019 levels, it’s safe to say that the pandemic has increased everyone’s focus on issues related to health and hygiene. With these features, hotels will not only resonate with the reassurance guests are seeking, but also remain competitive in the current climate,” Colaco concludes.
To find out more about Guestcentric’s suite of enhanced Health & Safety features, you can contact our teams here.