More Hotels Competing on Cleanliness
2020-06-14
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1As the United States eases coronavirus restrictions and reopens for business, big hotel companies are competing on cleanliness.
2At the end of May, hotel stays in the U.S. were down 43 percent compared to May of 2019, reported market research business STR.
3As more people travel, hotels consider increased cleanliness measures in an effort to make visits more appealing to the public.
4The companies also see a chance to get back business from competitors, such as the home-sharing company Airbnb.
5Larry Yu is a professor at George Washington University's School of Business in Washington, D.C.
6He said some hotels are stricter about cleanliness than others.
7But stronger measures for cleaning operations are happening everywhere.
8"Everybody is doing it, because it is now expected by consumers," he said.
9David Whitesock recently moved from Colorado to New York. He stayed in hotels in Iowa and Ohio along the way.
10"I felt like it was a safe place to be, that they had done the best that they possibly could given the circumstances," he said.
11"A lot of it comes down to: do you trust the hotels and the people who you are going to come into contact with there?"
12Albert Ko says visiting hotels is still risky even if they have established more protective measures.
13Ko is a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Yale University's School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut.
14Hotels can bring together people from states and countries where disease rates are higher, for example, and many people may not show signs of infection.
15"That's the kind of thing that we're worried about in terms of public health," he said.
16"These settings can be the cause of outbreaks."
17Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky thinks guests will prefer separate homes to hotels filled with people.
18Airbnb will continue to expand and improve its cleaning measures, he said.
19"Health and cleanliness are going to be one of our biggest focuses," Chesky said.
20But Yu said hotel companies can make sure their sites are meeting cleanliness requirements through their normal auditing process.
21That could be more difficult for Airbnb.
22Yu noted that the company has rules on cleanliness in place, but might have more trouble than hotels in making individual Airbnb operators obey those rules.
23I'm John Russell.
1As the United States eases coronavirus restrictions and reopens for business, big hotel companies are competing on cleanliness. 2At the end of May, hotel stays in the U.S. were down 43 percent compared to May of 2019, reported market research business STR. 3As more people travel, hotels consider increased cleanliness measures in an effort to make visits more appealing to the public. The companies also see a chance to get back business from competitors, such as the home-sharing company Airbnb. 4Larry Yu is a professor at George Washington University's School of Business in Washington, D.C. He said some hotels are stricter about cleanliness than others. But stronger measures for cleaning operations are happening everywhere. 5"Everybody is doing it, because it is now expected by consumers," he said. 6David Whitesock recently moved from Colorado to New York. He stayed in hotels in Iowa and Ohio along the way. "I felt like it was a safe place to be, that they had done the best that they possibly could given the circumstances," he said. "A lot of it comes down to: do you trust the hotels and the people who you are going to come into contact with there?" 7Albert Ko says visiting hotels is still risky even if they have established more protective measures. Ko is a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Yale University's School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut. Hotels can bring together people from states and countries where disease rates are higher, for example, and many people may not show signs of infection. 8"That's the kind of thing that we're worried about in terms of public health," he said. "These settings can be the cause of outbreaks." 9Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky thinks guests will prefer separate homes to hotels filled with people. Airbnb will continue to expand and improve its cleaning measures, he said. 10"Health and cleanliness are going to be one of our biggest focuses," Chesky said. 11But Yu said hotel companies can make sure their sites are meeting cleanliness requirements through their normal auditing process. That could be more difficult for Airbnb. Yu noted that the company has rules on cleanliness in place, but might have more trouble than hotels in making individual Airbnb operators obey those rules. 12I'm John Russell. 13John Russell adapted this story for Learning English from the Associated Press news reports. Caty Weaver was the editor. 14________________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16strict - adj. complete or thorough 17consumer -- n. a person who buys goods and services 18circumstances - n. [plural] : the way something happens : the specific details of an event 19focus -- n. a main purpose or interest; a subject that is being discussed or studied 20audit -- v. to check the financial records of (a business or person) : to perform an audit on (a business or person)