There is no sustainable life without hygiene and cleaning. As Diversey, we are passionate about cleaning and its impact on different sectors, including hospitality. For example, dirty bedsheets and towels and unkempt common areas in hotels can upset both leisure and business travelers and may make them think twice about booking another stay at your property.
There are valuable lessons that can be adapted to help you run a successful hotel operation. The most successful operations are those that are able to harness what others tend to overlook.
- Harness your passion: Hospitality is all about creating a home-away-from-home for guests. When you are passionate about what you do, you are more likely to be creative and innovative, which helps you exceed customers’ expectations. Passion also fosters a positive work environment that inspires your team to do their best, which is especially important in an industry with high turnover.
- Be mindful of the bigger picture: You may only oversee one or a few hotel properties, but your operation is part of a bigger picture. “Sustainability” is not a buzzword, but an essential business strategy for building a stronger organization that guests connect with and support. The hospitality industry has a unique opportunity to make an impact on water, food and textile waste, all growing global concerns. Set sustainability targets for your operation and take into consideration how much water, energy and chemical your laundry and kitchen operations use, how much food your property throws away and the volume of linen that is discarded once it is no longer usable. Then, look for innovations and processes that will help curb unnecessary waste and recruit guests to help you in your efforts, such as through towel re-use.
- Use innovation to your advantage: Today’s hospitality environments are far different from those of years past. Some examples of innovation include implementing mobile hotel keys and check-in kiosks and installing Internet of Things solutions, like Diversey’s IntelliDish™, in hotel kitchens to manage dishwashing temperatures and food safety compliance. Whether your innovation is customer-facing or focused on improving back-of-house operations, it should be easy to use, provide a return on investment and offer added benefits, like a better way to engage guests, improve service and manage hotel cleanliness.