On Aug. 27, the Events Industry Council issued the Health and Safety for Hotels Accepted Practices Guide, the second release from the APEX Covid-19 Business Recovery Task Force.

The task force's hotel work group used various guides issued by hotel companies as well as resources such as the AHLA Safe Stay program to develop a baseline. This guide offers insights beyond those guidelines, focusing on four key areas:

• Transmission barriers
• Enhanced sanitisation
• Health screening
• Food and beverage guidelines

It also includes baseline and enhanced protocols, a curation of hotel practices via a video library, and well as links to a repository of resources by EIC members and key sector-specific guidance.

Understanding the essential element of rebuilding and regaining trust, the developers behind this guide included other elements available as stand-alone documents, such as:

• Events Industry Council Principles for Recovery, which correspond with U.N. Sustainable Development goals, and how this guide supports those principles
• Guide to Opening Dialogue, featuring key questions for hotels and event organizers to ask 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 Hotels Work Group Chair Mike Dominguez, CEO, Associated Luxury Hotels International. “The response from the lodging community has been rapid, fluid and most importantly, a collaborative endeavor. This work is based on what we know today. And, we will update as we continue to learn more.”

Dominguez joined other task force members on Aug. 28 for a webinar, hosted by EIC, to discuss the resource and the group’s approach to the content curation. (Go here for updates on future webinars.)

“One of the primary missions of the APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force is to provide a centralized source of accepted practices, insights and pathways that leverage the collective body of resources available to inspire confidence that responsible measures have been taken as the industry reopens for business,” said Amy Calvert, CEO, EIC.

Dominguez co-chairs the APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force with Kristin Horstman, senior director, strategic events, Salesforce. With representation from across the many sectors and regions of the global events ecosystem, the task force provides a voice in planning, preparing and participating in our recovery and our future as well as helping to amplify our story of economic and social impact as advocates for our industry. Read more about the task force here.