How stays with Marriott will be in the future
Marriott has announced new measures for its hotels which may give us a glimpse of what travel will be like until we have a vaccine or treatment. Marriott already has well-established cleaning processes and training in place, but has now created the Marriott Global Cleanliness Council to tackle the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic in hotels and further advance the company’s efforts in this area. The Marriott Global Cleanliness Council is focused on developing the next level of global hospitality cleanliness standards and behaviours designed to minimize risk and enhance safety for travellers and Marriott staff alike.
The Council will benefit from knowledge and input from both in-house and outside experts including senior leaders from across Marriott disciplines like housekeeping, engineering, food safety, occupational health and associate wellbeing. The Council also includes advisory members Dr. Ruth L. Petran, Senior Corporate Scientist, Food Safety & Public Health for Ecolab, a global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services; Dr. Michael A. Sauri, Infectious Disease Specialist at Adventist Healthcare; Dr. Richard Ghiselli, Head of the School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Purdue University; and Dr. Randy Worobo, Professor of Food Microbiology in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University.
Marriott is rolling out enhanced technologies over the next few months, including electrostatic sprayers with hospital-grade disinfectant to sanitize surfaces throughout the hotel. Electrostatic spraying technology uses the highest grade of disinfectants recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat known pathogens. The sprayers rapidly clean and disinfect entire areas and can be used in hotels to clean and disinfect guest rooms, lobbies, gyms and other public areas. In addition, the company is testing ultraviolet light technology for sanitizing keys for guests and devices shared by staff.
“Safety for our guests and associates has always been a top priority for Marriott and today that discussion of safety is in the context of COVID-19,” said Bennett. “We want our guests to know that we are doing everything we can to welcome them back to a safe and clean hotel environment when they start traveling again.”
I suspect that many hotels will follow suit, not just in an effort to protect customers, but also to persuade them that it is safe to come back.
Airlines
Thanks to my friend John at Wheelchair Travel, I saw that companies are developing solutions to airline travel social distancing problems. Even with the middle seat free, you are still within the recommended 2m exclusion zone of several other people. The solutions being proposed are not full proof either, but still better than nothing. These are designed for economy seats. Obviously, in business class, you have less of an issue although the 1-2-1 layouts are far better than some of the older 2-3-2 or 2-4-2 designs.
Whether airlines will be able to afford the cost of introducing these options is hard to say. Like hotels, they will have an uphill battle to convince the public that it is safe to travel again. Sadly some options like the ones below, will affect the accessibility of the seats for some, in the process of protecting people.
Avio Interiors have developed two options to help with social distancing. The first is a simple glass screen called GLASSAFE that is fitted to an existing seat. These are designed for economy but it could be fitted in any cabin potentially.
The second option I can see being less successful, as it is an entirely new seat concept. The Janus seat is distinguished by the rear-facing position of the middle seat to ensure the maximum isolation between passengers seated next to each other.
The seat allows all three passengers in a row to be separated with a shield made of transparent material that isolates them from each other, creating a protective barrier for everyone. Each passenger has their own space isolated from others, even from people who walk down the aisle. Different variations of colour and transparency can be designed for the shields.
What do you think of the concepts? Would you feel safer travelling with them? Let us know in the comments below or on social media.
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9 comments
Like anything new, it would feel kind of weird at first ! This would work in economy as long as the plastic can be retracted at any time and is not fixed into position as when the pandemic goes away we can remove them altogether. The reconfigaration of the seats will be a waste of time and money IMO
I see the travelling backwards seat but how would the passenger in that seat be protected if someone facing him were to sneeze?
I do wonder whether it will be a question of puff rather than substance and that travel will pretty much go back to the way it was, albeit fewer business travellers as companies would have cottoned on that they can reduce costs substantially if you use videoconferencing?
Think everyone will return to using planes and travelling as before although there’ll be much less business travelling for meetings. Meetings can be done effectively by Zoom etc although format, meeting duration, accomodation of time zones all need to be taken into account.
On the plus side, much less business travelling may mean that when you do have to travel, then business class may be the norm as budgets will be covering less trips and travellers could argue it’s safer for their health. Better than being in Economy or Economy Plus previously when travel budgets were running out.
My concern is safety, the Perspex would certainly restrict passengers from leaving the aircraft in a quick and safe manner. This system cannot be fitted in the middle exit rows, again it would not allow people to escape onto the wing without being slowed down by the panels. The only temporary solution is to take out some of the seats to give more space between rows and then leave the middle seat empty. The other solution is to design a new air system that deliver the normal mix of uncontaminated air with an added user friendly soap spray solution that is delivered every 30 minutes, throughout the aircraft. Thus whist this solution is not perfect it will destroy, the virus, because washing our hands with soap also breaks down the viruses own protective shields. I feel a similar formula could be used in hotel environments in the room etc, however lounges and buffet food may be another challenge.
Although being seated on board a plane is part of the isolation challenge it seems that the bigger challenge will be boarding and leaving the plane. Airports are not big enough for 2 metre distancing. In a line of 160 passengers that is around 0.5 kilometre line. Leaving the plane will be row by row with all other passengers remaining seated. Can you see that happening?
The LCCs will go from 25 minute turn round to 1 hour + turn round so bigger airports and more stands needed. Of course the resulting increase in fares will help to reduce demand.
I don’t think screens or reconfigured seats will persuade to return to flying anytime soon. They can give some protection against direct coughs and sneezes but not the spray flume ejected into the cabin air. And we don’t yet know what level of transmission takes place through normal breathing.
I’ve written off flying until a vaccine is available.
I & my wife are both over 70 & I have underlying health conditions. If I were to catch Covid 19 there is a good possibility it would kill me. Therefore my attude to flying will be completely to a 20 year old. I think its going to be quite a while before I fly again.
Maybe this should lead to descent Business class seats and configuration as happens in USA, Australia and other countries instead of the pathetic coach seats with the middle blocked that can be endured for significant number of hours. Look at Qantas and American domestic Business and look at ours
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