Hotels are scrambling to upgrade their hygiene practices in a bid to boost consumer confidence and bring back travelers.
Large hotel chains have already announced partnerships with hygiene specialists as well as detailed how they will be ensuring the health of guests.
Hilton, for example, partnered with Lysol as well as the Mayo Clinic for its new procedures, Marriott formed a cleanliness council that includes the introduction new technology and Accor launched its ALLSAFE label and partnered with insurance provider AXA.
Hotel operations platform Optii Solutions estimates that hotels need to set aside $130,000 each year per hotel, based on a 250-room U.S. leisure property running at 60% occupancy, for the new cleaning protocols.
The company, which calculated the cost in conjunction with hotel partners, says the figure could be higher in some countries such as the U.K. and Australia where labor costs tend to be higher.
Optii uses data to predict how long housekeeping duties take and says that, prior to the pandemic, a standard leisure room took just over 39 minutes to clean, at a cost of $9.42 in staff time.
By incorporating new protocols, the time taken will likely rise to just over 42 minutes and cost $10.12.
Optii estimates that the additional cleaning time will mean a hit of $62,000 to a properties payroll but the delivery of amenities such as pillows and hairdryers will also add to costs as hotels consider removing them from rooms.
The company adds that some of the cost will be offset through a reduction in how often rooms are cleaned, saving up to $110,000. Introducing ancillary charges could bring in additional income.
Soenke Weiss, chief strategy officer of Optii, says that hygiene factors are critical to encouraging guests to come back.
He says: “There is no doubt that running a hotel post-pandemic is going to be more expensive in order to deliver these reassurances. Added to this, hotels are currently facing revenue battles on many fronts including very low consumer numbers, capped occupancy rates and restrictions on banqueting revenues.”