A health and safety guide for hotels is now available from the Events Industry Council (EIC).

The Health and Safety for Hotels Accepted Practices Guide is the second release of the EIC’s APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force.

The task force’s hotel workgroup used the various guides issued by hotel companies as well as resources such as the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) Stay Safe program, and other global resources, as a starting point to develop a baseline.

The guide offers insights beyond those guidelines focusing on four key areas: transmission barriers, enhanced sanitization, health screening, and food and beverage guidelines.

It covers baseline and enhanced protocols and a curated selection of hotel practices via a video library, as well as links to a repository of resources by EIC members and key sector-specific guidelines.

Other elements of the health and safety guide, available as standalone documents, include:

• Events Industry Council Principles for Recovery, which correspond with U.N. Sustainable Development goals, and how the guide supports those principles.
• Guide to Opening Dialogue – Key Questions for hotel and event organizers to ask each other to build trust and dialogue on health, safety and sustainability.

“The pandemic has prompted a renewed commitment in the travel industry to the health and wellness of guests, employees and other visitors,” said Mike Dominguez, CEO, Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI), and chair of the committee’s hotel workgroup. “The response from the lodging community has been rapid, fluid and most importantly, a collaborative endeavour. This work is based on what we know today. And, we will update as we continue to learn more.”

In July, EIC released the Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide. Deliverables in the coming months will cover workforce and wellness, transportation, destinations, venues, advocacy and risk management, and business continuity. The guides are meant to be used in tandem and to complement one another as part of evolving and living workstreams.