Hospitality industry leaders are preparing for a reboot into a new world that will slowly be powered on. What new standards of operation and guest care will be in place for the time being, and what is yet to come, remains to be seen. New standards and symbols have the space to emerge to convey the highest degree of care and awareness for the needs of humanity.
The harmonious implementation of new health and safety measures will require balancing guests’ needs and creating a space where they feel nurtured. Force a hotel to become a hospital and the essence is lost; disregard hospitality standards and guests’ trust is lost. It will take time to hit the right chord. Hotels and brands that maintain safety while simultaneously showing compassionate communication, professionalism, calmness and leadership can gain the trust of their guests and allow this change to be a comfortable one.
Hotel leaders and their teams must rise to meet this. Hotel management and staff trainings that don’t adapt to a new mentality will likely not thrive in a new, more aware world.
Kelly Gardner is owner of Connected Travel & Hospitality, a boutique hotel consultancy in the Netherlands.
COVID-19 brings perception, mixed information and uncertainty. However, there are truths that hospitality has an important role in. Kindness, empathy, genuine concern for wellbeing and authentic connection give a true feeling of human safety. When a hotels team operates authentically from those pillars it will be felt and it will attract guests.
The core, and definition, of hospitality is friendly and generous reception of a guest, in goodwill. Now more than ever, returning to our own core is what matters. Yes, we need to keep the doors open, yes, we have tons of stress and things to sort out, and yes, this is devastating on so many fronts. Amidst all of this uncertainty and disruption, losing site of the core leads to an even bleaker place. Especially during a storm of uncertainty, being centered and grounded allows us to be less affected by the surrounding turmoil.
Hopefully this period has allowed brands to strengthen their values and pillars and they can shine a bigger message for humanity, in turn encouraging tourism to safely return. Tourism is a main artery to the heart of the economy, supporting one in ten jobs around the world. How to bring tourism back stronger, smarter, more conscious and more meaningful than before is crucial on so many levels.
The return of travel is bringing a volume of new expert guidelines, hygiene and guest care. All employees wearing a mask and gloves are likely the norm for a while. While for the most part we haven’t had staff with masks in the past, we have experienced gloves. White glove service has been a symbol of luxury, special attention and care.
In the evolution of a new world, a new symbol, new color and a deeper message can signify the evolution of guest care and love. Gloves with a new color, to symbolize the new measures of meticulous care, compassion, awareness and love a hotel or brand has for its guests, its team and the world. This new color could indicate that a hospitality brand is up to the times and has adapted to a new way of acting, with the guests’ best interest at heart.
The color pink, especially calming light pink, is said to exemplify kindness, compassion, nurturing and love. It’s said to promote tranquility and peace. All of these sentiments are what the world needs. In feng shui, it is believed that pink soothes surrounding energies in a room and its peacefulness promotes balance of energy. Light pink, close to the purity of white, works just like the “white glove test” that symbolizes perfect cleanliness and attention to detail.
Pink gloves can represent that a hotel not only checks all health and safety boxes but has a deeper care and a bigger message to send to the world – a message to convey the love and resilience that come from true hospitality. A hotel’s website and social presence can show they pass the pink glove test, communicating the level of care the hotel is putting in, for the anticipation of its’ guests.
It could be that future guests choose hotels with Pink Glove Service, as this symbol allows them to feel safe and secure on a deeper level while also resonating with the brands elevated values. Pink gloves can be a movement to symbolize compassionate care, resilience, conscious awareness and trusted leadership for the safe return of tourism.
Interested to bring this concept to life? Let’s create a collaborative movement for hospitality, tourism and for a more conscious compassionate world! Please reach out via www.pinkglovemovement.com. This webpage was created as a way to connect those interested and to develop this concept further, it’s meant for collaboration with compassionate leaders that resonate with this concept.