Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Launches New “Count on Us” Initiative and Unveils Early Plans to Welcome Back Travelers

The world’s largest hotel franchising company, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, has launched their new long-term, multifaceted initiative called “Count on Us℠” in the wake of COVID-19 to build confidence among guests as they begin making first steps towards welcoming travelers back to its more than 6,000 hotels in the U.S.

The “Count on Us” initiative is a collaboration with Wyndham franchisees, members of its Franchise Advisory Councils, leading industry partners, and key trade organizations like the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).

The immediate focus of this new initiative is to even further enhance the health and safety protocols at all brand properties, introducing new standards, training, and guidelines in lines with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Wyndham will also partner with industry leader Ecolab on requiring consistent use of Ecolab’s EPA-approved disinfectants in hotel guestrooms and public spaces nationwide.

“We want the everyday traveler to know they can count on us to put their health and safety first,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “Over 90% of our hotels in the U.S. today are open and welcoming essential business, government, healthcare and emergency responders every night. We salute these everyday heroes who are keeping our nation running. We know that people will also travel again for leisure and to see family and friends. And when they do, Wyndham will be ready to welcome them back.”

Key components of “Count on Us” that will start rolling out within the next few weeks include:

• Enhanced Cleaning and Disinfection of Guestrooms and Public Spaces – Building on the already high standards of health and safety at Wyndham properties, consistent use of Ecolab’s EPA-approved disinfectants and their best-in-class training and resources will be required at every property. Ecolab also has a field team of over 2,000 on-the-ground experts ready to assist the hotels.
• Easy Access to COVID-19 Health Essentials – Wyndham will leverage its scale and relationships with world class distributors to begin drop-shipping critical products to its more than 6,000 hotels across the U.S. within the next 30 days. Items will include face masks for hotel team members, hand sanitizer for distribution in public areas and guestrooms, and disinfectant wipes for guests.
• Delivering on the Promise of a “Safe Stay” – Wyndham— already a member of The AHLA Safe Stay Advisory Council—has joined with other industry leaders and public health experts, scientists and medical leaders to develop a series of industry best practices and guidelines that focus on enhanced hotel cleaning practices, social interactions, and workplace protocols to meet the new health and safety challenges presented by COVID-19. In coordination with the rollout of these guidelines, Wyndham will be implementing a series of mandatory virtual trainings for all hotels while providing additional resources like housekeeping checklists, which hotels can use with team members to ensure consistency and accountability in execution.
• A Visible Commitment to Guests – Wyndham will physically show the efforts of their new imposed health and safety guidelines throughout all of their properties, in order to assure guests that proper actions are being made to ensure their safety while traveling. Once arriving at a Wyndham hotel or resort, guests will be offered sanitizing wipes along with their keycards at check in, notice social distancing enhancing measures in public spaces, observe increased frequent cleaning and disinfecting of high-touch areas, and can utilize complimentary travel-size hand sanitizer in each room.

For more information on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts or to read more about their COVID-19 updates, visit their official website.