Sixth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

With the advent of COVID-19, hospitality and leisure industry has been identified as the most economically impacted industry. Although there is variation across chain scales (from luxury to economy), the authors found the strongest relationship between changes in revenue per available room (RevPAR) and the unemployment rate. Other studies reported that the concerns about disease infection itself and related consumer sentiment contraction accounts majority of the damage of hotel industry by COVID-19. Thus, technical and practical assurance made by credible institution that the hotel is safe from the risk of infection must be made for consumers to visit the hotel again; therefore, a new “pandemic-free certified hotel” concept is introduced. Pandemic-free hotel certification is awarded by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) when hotels fulfill the standards made by the institutions. Standards for the certification and tenets that certificated hotel should follow are both presented in this study after scrupulously examining on guidelines of CDC, considering hotel guest’s psychology, and regarding basic principles of hospitality service to give convenience and assurance of health to consumers at the same time. This certification is not only estimated to help hotels restore up to 30% of total revenue of hotel during pandemics but also would give rise on positive permanent effects such as improved service quality and expanded facilities. Taken in total, this study is intended to propose contingency strategies in response to COVID-19.