As I peruse different travel journals that I subscribe to, I have noticed several things that I want to share with you:
- More and more people are turning to travel agents, now better referred to as travel consultants or travel advisors. Travel has become quite complex and these professionals can sort through the various changes and provide the best arrangements (convenience, cost, and removal of surprises).
- Nations are in a constant state of flux as they modify their entry and departure requirements for proof of vaccination and negative recent Covid tests (even to the situation where some nations will not accept the results of rapid tests). Your travel advisor stays abreast of all the changes.
- Services that we had grown accustomed to in hotels have been scaled back for a variety of reasons (lack of good help, reduction of cost as the hotels that survived the almost one year shut-down need to show profits, guests do not want hotel staff in their rooms potentially spreading Covid, and other reasons)
- Even at relatively high-end American hotels like Marriott, such amenities as small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and other “goodies” have been replaced with “no waste, no theft” bulk dispensers.
- Twice-daily maid service (morning cleaning and change of linens and late afternoon turn-down service with a chocolate on the pillow) has ended. Guests must request change of towels (that may in the very near future be delivered by robots).
- Hotels will feature room service take-out, with guests carrying their food back to their rooms.
- Bathtubs will gradually disappear as they take too much time to clean.
- Hotel lobbies will feature retail rather than “conversation: space as strangers do not want to mingle.
- Any guest service must be ordered via an app that each guest has downloaded.
- And this will not reduce the room rates as they will increase as pent-up demand increases.
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