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moved to the fourth quarter and beyond , says Jeff Doane , senior vice president , sales and marketing , at Accor North and Central America .
Almost all business meetings will be hybrids of streamed and recorded content to reach people unable or unwilling to travel . “ This is uncharted territory ,” Breslin says . “ You ’ re staging the event locally and then
bringing in people virtually .”
Whether business or social , logistics will look different . Attendees likely will be seated right away — no free-form milling around . And room capacities are greatly reduced . “ Where a room could
Getty Images host 200 people before , now it ’ s 60 or 75 ,” says Raymond Vermolen , GM of the Intercontinental San Francisco .
The hotel will use software to configure tables , which can be long farm tables , rounds or hightops , and assign a concierge to make sure guests mind safety rules , and keep bathrooms and stairways from getting too crowded , Vermolen says . “ We ’ ll have markers on the floor , but we ’ re only as strong as the weakest link ,” he says .
Guests can be served drinks at their tables and be delivered hors d ’ oeuvres in small containers such as Chinese-food style takeout boxes . They would remain in their seat for the duration of the event — whether it ’ s a wedding ceremony or a corporate planning session . Glasses will be covered with plastic and guests will pour their own beverages from individual bottles of water , juice , wine or Champagne , Breslin says .
Buffets and food stations will be retired for the time being in favor of plated entrees or box lunches . But the service still can be elegant : Wait staff can offer main courses and side dishes tableside ; plates can be delivered to guests covered by a clear glass cloche for dramatic effect , Breslin says . At a wedding , individual cakes can stand in for a tiered confection .
Unfortunately , an increase in the use of single-use plastics is likely to set back sustainability initiatives . Accor Americas had planned to phase out single-use
WE ’ RE GOING TO EAT , GET CONTENT AND GO HOME . IT ’ S UNFORTUNATE . BUT THAT ’ S WHERE WE ARE .
JODI WOLF , EVENT PLANNER
plastics by year-end but extended the deadline to June 2021 , Doane says .
The pandemic will force hotels to forego some of their usual polish and glitz , Vermolen says . “ Our amenity gift isn ’ t a fruit basket — it ’ s wipes and sanitizer .”
SECURITY , PRIVACY , LIABILITY
How do you manage an event guest list to ensure staff and attendees are safe ? “ You don ’ t want people to feel like they ’ re in a hospital ,” says Jamie Breslin , director of catering at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago . Four Seasons and other hotels plan to take the temperature of people who enter the lobby .
Urban Resort Concepts in Shanghai takes temperatures and asks guests to provide certain documentation , says CEO Markus Engel . In Beijing residents fill out a health survey online , and software issues them a colored health code that specifies where they can go . They are required to present a green code on their phone in order to attend an event at the company ’ s PuXuan Hotel and Spa .
Accor hotels in North America and South America send questions in advance to guests who book a reservation . “ If guests belong to a risk group for COVID-19 ( indicated by a positive response to any of the questions asked ), we ask that they postpone their travels until the risk period has passed ,” says Jeff Doane , senior vice president , sales and marketing for Accor North and Central America .
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