Business Traveller (Middle East)
What to expect from hotel groups, from tech to safety
What to expect from the major hotel groups, from new concepts to safety procedures
While most meetings and events are on hold for the time being, the rollout of vaccines means we may soon see a return of business gatherings, though they will look a little different to before. Here, we round-up the programmes in place to keep delegates safe – from hybrid events, which combine in-person attendance and virtual participation, to the necessary safety measures such as temperature checks and testing procedures.
Accor
Last year Accor introduced its All Meet Well initiative at 135 hotels in its brand portfolio in Northern Europe. The meetings and events are run according to the group’s ALLSAFE cleanliness programme, with features including:
• Daily cleaning during evenings and lunch breaks, including disinfecting light switches, door handles, chairs, tables, hangers and consoles
• Vacuum cleaners equipped with HEPA filters
• Cleaning checklists for event organisers prior to meetings taking place
This month (April 2021), the group will launch ‘All Connect’, a new hybrid meetings concept powered by Microsoft Teams technology. The initiative will allow corporate customers and meeting planners around the world to combine “physical in-hotel meetings with virtual interactions across multiple locations”.
The concept focuses primarily on smaller meetings of eight to 50 participants, which will take place on the Microsoft Teams platform.
Today, 55 per cent of Accor hotels with meeting rooms provide hybrid meetings solutions to their clients. The goal is that 100 per cent of its hotels with meeting rooms comply with the new hybrid meetings standard by 2022 across all brands, from economy to ultra-luxury worldwide.
Research by Accor reveals 50 per cent of physical meetings planned by the company’s meeting and events customers in 2021 will switch to virtual formats. More than 70 per cent view hybrid meetings as an important service in the future.
Hilton
The group has extended its cleaning protocols to event experiences, calling it Hilton Eventready with Cleanstay. The key features include:
• Room seals, sanitising stations and a room checklist
• Flexible pricing, space options and contract terms
• Simplified agreements for small meetings
• A playbook offering guidance and resources to plan meetings
• Physical distancing meal service • Dedicated team members to provide assistance to event planners The group also recently introduced a set of solutions to help event planners organise hybrid meetings at participating hotels around the world. The “hybrid ready” hotels include seamless connectivity, a playbook offering advice on planning this kind of event, and expertise from dedicated team members.
Select hotels will also have Presentation Stages: re-built stages which are equipped with broadcast technology and staging equipment to record and/or broadcast a high-quality online event. This currently only applies to Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach, Hilton Atlanta, Hilton Anatole, Hilton Denver and The Beverly Hilton, but is set to be rolled out across Europe, Middle East and Africa by the end of the year. Properties equipped with such event technology will accommodate between two to six on-site presenters and up to 50 in-person attendees.
Hyatt
Hyatt is allowing meetings to simultaneously take place across various properties in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East through a hybrid format. Content can be broadcast to meeting rooms across multiple hotels, allowing attendees around the world to safely connect and engage.
Each location can house 15 attendees and features include wireless internet, a dynamic device with multiple built-in cameras and microphones, a video monitor, and two flipcharts.
The meetings and events abide by Hyatt’s Global Care and Cleanliness Commitment, with features including:
• Sanitisation of meeting rooms before and after use
• Hand sanitiser stations and ‘care stations’ with PPE
• Signage to remind guests of social distancing
• Increased usage of linen-less tables where possible
• Sanitisation and disinfection of AV equipment between uses • Pre-packaged food items, and buffets with plexiglass coverings and staff to serve hot dishes
IHG Hotels and Resorts
In 2020, IHG Hotels & Resorts introduced its Meet with Confidence programme to support the changing needs of meeting planners. Last month (March) the programme was expanded to include resources, technology and tools for hybrid events. These hybrid capabilities can simultaneously connect multiple hotel locations to regional and global business and leisure events through live streaming, creating more shared experiences for virtual and in-person attendees. The hotel group has formed partnerships in the U.S. with Wellness 4 Humanity, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and weframe providing solutions spanning rapid onsite COVID-19 testing; customised food and beverage experiences; and technology to enable digital collaboration. Bookers and planners can choose from two hybrid events solutions – Smart and Expert – to plan the right experience for in-person and virtual attendees across one or multiple locations. New options include:
Smart Solution: The Smart Solution is available at participating IHG Hotels & Resorts globally, except in Greater China.
IHG Way of Clean: At the core of the programme, with enhanced cleanliness, social distancing and safety measures implemented at all hotels. Onsite rapid COVID-19 testing: Provided by Wellness 4 Humanity, testing solutions are available as an option for meeting planners.
Digital collaboration technology: Provided by weframe to increase collaboration amongst meeting attendees, weframe One, an interactive 86-inch touch screen is a cloud-based technology allowing onsite and remote participants to work collaboratively.
Expert Solution: Initially available at nearly 100 hotels in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia, planners can choose to upweight the Smart Solution with additional services, including: • Virtual technology experiences, with planners able to utilise a full suite of hybrid meeting capabilities allowing in-person and virtual attendees to connect, in addition to advanced audio-visual production and multi-venue linking.
• Curated food and beverage experiences, with Williams Sonoma offering an exclusive catalogue of specialty food, drinks and dessert experiences delivered to offsite attendees. It gives all participants a shared meeting experience with opportunities for personalisation.
Marriott
Marriott launched a ‘Connect with Confidence’ programme last year, which includes enhanced sanitation guidelines, new operational training for associates, and increased use of conference technologies. Hotel teams will consult with clients to review new practices including:
• More frequent cleaning in high traffic areas and during breaks
• Hand sanitiser stations
• Social distancing of attendees
• Contactless registration
• Touchless payment options via Marriott’s Meeting Services app
• Removal of non-essential items such as linens, pre-set plates and glassware
• Pre-packaged, grab-and-go or plated meals, and modified buffets
• Sanitised AV equipment
• Live streaming support to facilitate hybrid meetings with virtual attendees The Marriott Bonvoy Events team has also created a series of physically distant floor plans to help event planners visualise room configurations.
As part of the group’s ‘Connect with Confidence’ programme, Marriott is also offering COVID-19 tests to meetings customers at selected properties in the US. This can either be self-administered by the guest prior to travel or by a third-party testing provider on site at the hotel.
Additionally, there will be daily and/or pre-arrival health screening questions via a dedicated mobile app, and daily temperature checks to enter the event area. The initiative is currently active at Marriott’s Gaylord Hotels in Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Colorado, with plans to roll it out to certain other Marriott branded hotels in the US.
In January 2021, Marriott held an event at Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center for 100 in-person attendees and 800 virtual attendees. Survey results from the event revealed that 51 per cent of meeting and event professionals plan to host a hybrid event within the next six to 12 months, and 95 per cent of attendees said that they would attend another event if it were to be designed with the same principles.
The group will also provide new resources for hybrid meetings and events, including providers and pricing, from March 2021 at Marriott Hotels across the US and Canada. This will be available globally “in the near future”.
Marriott has also released a ‘Hybrid Meetings Insights Report’, available to download atmarriottbonvoyevents. com