Hyatt Hotels' New Cleaning Protocol Includes Hiring a 'Hygiene Manager'

As states and countries around the world begin to lift lockdown orders put in place due to COVID-19, hotel companies are announcing new cleaning standards to assure guests of their safety when they start to travel again.

Hyatt joined the list of hotels implementing heightened hygiene protocols with the announcement of its “Global Care & Cleanliness Commitment” on Wednesday. The commitment implements new routines and auditing procedures to maintain the health and safety of guests and employees at all locations — complete with a "Hygiene Manager."

“The world as we knew it has been fundamentally changed by COVID-19 and when we are all ready to travel again, we want to make sure that every Hyatt colleague and guest feels confident that each aspect of our commitment is designed with their safety in mind, and that we’re putting their wellbeing first,” Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyatt, said in a statement. “To do this, we must critically examine the hotel experience from every vantage point – from our rooms and our lobbies to our spas and dining – bringing in the latest research, technology and innovation to make that happen.

The hotel company's 900 locations around the world will apply for accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) — the first hospitality brand to do so — which will include training at all locations to learn proper disinfection and infectious disease prevention techniques. By September, each Hyatt location will have at least one person trained as “Hygiene Manager,” in charge of these procedures.

Hyatt will also add internal and third-party hygiene auditing at all locations.

Professors of infectious diseases, doctors of food science, and travel industry experts have been enlisted in Hyatt's efforts to maintaining cleanliness at hotels in the wake of coronavirus. Guests will see staff wearing protective face masks, increased hand sanitizer stations, and social distancing guidelines posted in public locations.

The hotel joins a list of other hospitality brands implementing new hygiene standards post-COVID-19 including Hilton and Marriott to tackle safety issues. Even Airbnb introduced their own safety measures that hosts can opt into.

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