27 Jul GSA webinar highlights key priorities for hospitality industry post Covid-19
As the hospitality industry begins to reopen after the Covid-19 lockdown, a key challenge for hotels and other venues is how to keep customers safe, particularly in an increasingly regulated environment.
Showcasing the industry issues
Earlier in July, GSA hosted a webinar for the hospitality industry focussing on some of the most important considerations for hotels in the challenging post-Covid environment. The panel included: Dr Simon Worrell, the Global Medical Director of Collinson – a company that specialises in travel assistance for corporates; Carol Fergus, the Corporate Travel Manager at Fidelity International; Danny Lawley, a former Corporate Security Director and GSA’s Founder and Director, Bob Quick.
A safe return to a different normal
As the hospitality industry prepares to reopen safely, the industry will also need to carefully consider the implications of the impending ISO 31030 travel risk management standard that is due to be implemented shortly.
The framework for the ISO 31030 standard would be contextual to industries and sectors, recognising that different companies operate with different objectives, constraints and risk appetites. The proposed standard introduces a system of widely accepted good practice disciplines into the management of travel risk and will have significant impact on the hospitality industry. Managing the dual responsibilities of reopening safely and seeking to comply with ISO 31030 will be important considerations for the industry.
Ensuring health security
The webinar outlined the importance of health security: ensuring travellers’ risk from Covid-19 is minimised in accordance with global best practice. This is a key Duty of Care issue for companies that are asking their employees to travel for business purposes. Furthermore, corporates have a responsibility to provide their travelling employees with the confidence that, when they do travel, they will be safe from harm. This extends beyond providing secure hotel accommodation into ensuring that, at every stage, employees are being provided with the best possible protection for their wellbeing and the most immediate intervention, should anything untoward happen.
The webinar enabled the panel to outline some of the key requirements in a post-Covid environment, supplemented with information about the forthcoming ISO standard for travel management and is a must watch for anyone involved in the corporate hotel or travel management industries.
