The “Clean and Safe Protocol” introduced by the leading corporate lodging platform HRS and Société Générale de Surveillance SA (SGS) in June is quickly becoming an important factor for corporate travel programs and their travelers. With business travel beginning to return, HRS sees that hotels with a “Clean and Safe” label are 35 percent more likely to get booked by business travelers. This result ties neatly to a wider HRS survey of global corporations in May, when 86 percent of respondents said they would prefer hotels that had implemented or revised specific COVID-19 hygiene measures.
HRS works with leading hotel buyers from more than a third of the global Fortune 500. As they have a special focus on revised hygiene protocols in hotels, especially prior to the upcoming hotel RFP season, the world’s leading hotel chains and top independent properties have invested time and resources in the “Clean and Safe Protocol.” Eight weeks after the first promotion, more than 40,000 hotels worldwide have earned a “Clean and Safe” label. This also includes hotels that have already implemented their own hygiene protocols and had them certified by external partners. The three largest chains in the Forbes 2000 global list have embraced the Protocol, as well as more than one hundred regional chains and individual hotels across important corporate destinations.
The “Clean and Safe Protocol” labels from HRS and SGS have value beyond a hotel’s relationship with HRS. Information from the labels is also present in the shopping displays presented by the world’s leading corporate online booking engines (OBEs). Labels can be displayed on-site and on a hotel’s website. And with companies having recalibrated their hotel spending allocations during the COVID-19 downturn of recent months, procurement activities and hotel negotiations for 2021 are increasingly taking place. “HRS and the global hospitality industry are collaborating to enhance traveler confidence. Initial numbers clearly show this investment is paying off,” said Tobias Ragge, CEO of HRS. “With early signs of recovery and clear pent-up demand, hoteliers are motivated to showcase their hygiene enhancements and revised pricing + amenity packages as they seek to regain valuable recurring corporate room nights.”
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