Preparing new review management strategies

We know that there is pent-up demand for leisure travel. People are dying to leave their homes and stretch their legs. But the truth is that there is also a great deal of fear among travelers around their health and safety. 

To help curb the public’s fears, the AHLA introduced ‘Safe Stay’  standards that set a minimum guideline for hotels to follow. According to the press release, the standards “were developed under the guidance of an industry advisory council in conjunction with public health experts and recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The largest 16 brands have adopted the standards and AHLA urges the entire industry to abide and use Safe Stay as a way to bring guests back.

A heightened focus on cleanliness means that your reputation will be a critical factor in your ability to secure bookings over the coming months. To ensure you have some control over this, consider the way in which reviews will play a role in how your hotel is represented. 

In this new market, your guests will be more inclined to provide public feedback on the quality of your Covid-19 precautions, and those searching for a hotel to book will leverage reviews to evaluate whether or not you are exceeding cleanliness and safety standards. 

Guests will look to reviews to tell the truth about how safe they can expect to feel at your property. 

Rather than wait until the reviews start flowing in, get proactive by preparing the following: 

1. Set up alerts now to be notified when cleanliness is mentioned. 
2. Put SOPs in place to ensure you respond as soon as humanly possible if there are complaints or concerns.
3. Develop new response templates that follow these guidelines to ensure your responses are thoughtfully crafted and drive home the idea that your hotel is a safe bet and that all of your staff has been trained properly to ensure cleanliness guidelines are met.

For more recovery strategies, download our latest guide.