SITE
Helping hospitality hands
SITE GLOBAL CEO DIDIER SCAILLET DISCUSSES HOW THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
HAS COME TOGETHER AMID THE COVID-19 CRISIS
t the Society for Incentive
Travel Excellence (SITE),
we have heard countless
heartbreaking stories
affecting our membership throughout
the 90 countries our association serves.
We’ve also heard many uplifting
stories about how the hospitality
industry has come together to recognise
the doctors and nurses on the front
lines, of hotels housing healthcare
workers, restaurants making food for
furloughed and laid off service industry
employees and convention centres
transforming into medical centres and
testing stations.
All of these examples are a testament
to the human spirit during this difficult
time. We’re also filled with hope that the
hospitality industry will come back
stronger than ever.
Hotels
The Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin has
set aside over a thousand overnight stays
for the city’s healthcare workers to use
as soon as the crisis abates. Through
March 2021, the hotel will host
healthcare workers for one night free of
charge in this iconic hotel. The
programme ‘Heroes in Health’ is
dedicated to the relaxation and
pampering of these selfless workers.
In New York, following a plea by its
Governor Andrew Cuomo for area
hotels to house medical personnel, The
Four Seasons New York was the first to
respond. With the help of International
SOS, a medical and travel security
services firm, the hotel has been
transformed from a luxury hotel into a
CDC (Centers for Disease
Control)-compliant facility for those
who were commuting long distances to
and service workers, restaurateurs and
undocumented immigrants who were
left out of a relief package the DC
Council approved earlier this week.
Events DC, which oversees the District’s
convention centre and tourism
marketing, said the money would be
available before the end of April to
expedite the recovery process for
District residents unable to work.
Many convention and visitors bureaus
are promoting take-out and delivery in
their areas to keep restaurants afloat
including: Visit Sarasota (FL) with
#SuncoastCurbside, Discover Los
Angeles’ ‘dine LA’ and Visit Orlando’s
‘Orlando to Go’, and Visit TampaBay is
uniting in the fight against hunger with
FeedingTampa
Bay by giving 100% of the proceeds
from sales of its culinary journals
– Tampa’s Table and Tampa With A
Twist – to assist local families in need of
food aid.
Visit TampaBay
is uniting in the
fight against
hunger with
FeedingTampa
Bay by giving
100% of the
proceeds from sales
of its culinary
journals to assist
local families in
need of food aid.”
Right: Didier
Scaillet
Airlines
Lufthansa airlines is releasing its
employees in Germany who have
completed medical training to work in
medical facilities while receiving their
full salary and United Airlines is
offering free flights for medical
volunteers to get to New York and
California to assist in the wake of
Covid-19.
While this is just a small sampling of
the many stories of
the hospitality
industry’s helping
nature, it is a sure
sign that we’re
resilient and we will
get through this
together.
work, or who did not want to risk
bringing Covid-19 into their own homes
and to family members. The Four
Seasons is providing rooms free of
charge.
Caesars Entertainment, with hotels in
Las Vegas and Atlantic City, has aready
donated more than 250,000 pounds of
food to local food banks and charities
and thousands of personal protection
supplies (PPEs) across the United States.
Convention and visitors bureaus
In Washington, DC, the District’s
tourism arm announced that it will
distribute US$15m to help hospitality
ISSUE 106
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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23