January/February 2021

SAE
cuss how safety protocols
aspects of their operations
A AND AMY BOSTOCK
an essential service — and they weren’t
in all parts of the world — but after
seeing the role hotels have played,
that’s never going to be questioned.
It should never be questioned — our
hotels have been so supportive of their
communities across the country and
that built a stronger relationship with
those communities. That’s something
that will serve us all well in the future.
Laura Pallotta: Travel, for us, will
always remain focused on the overall
guest experience — a new city, great
service, a comfortable bed, exciting
food and beverage. But, right now,
the focus is mainly on cleanliness and
abiding by government regulations and
mandates. Back in April, when all of
this started, we created the Marriott
Global Cleanliness Council, which
benefi ts from the in-house knowledge
we had, but also leaned on outside
experts. From there we launched our
Commitment-to-Clean program and
that’s where the enhanced cleaning
standards were put in place, [such as]
higher frequency, disinfection protocols,
special focus on high-touch areas.
Cleanliness, and all of these standards,
are the new amenities and will be here
forever. And, that’s a very positive step
because it creates confidence for our
guests — that will be what brings our
guests back to us in due time.
Ally Wesson: As an industry and as
a hotel, we’ve always been clean, but
now cleanliness is next to safety and
never have those two really been so
linked together in the public eye. It’s
top of mind for all of our operators,
regardless of the brand — whether it’s
them making sure they have proper
PPE for all of their staff that need it
or ensuring they’re following the local
municipal, provincial and national
health guidelines. Cleanliness and
safety have never been more important
than [they are] today.
Andrea Torrance: We’ve always
maintained high standards of hygiene
and cleanliness, however, the pandemic
demands we elevate these standards
even further. We never pretended we
were scientists or hygiene experts, so
we partnered with a team of expert
advisors to develop these new healthand-safety
measures — not just in
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