As stay-at-home orders are lifted and businesses begin reopening in parts of the country, cleanliness will be top of mind for consumers. In fact, according to research by P&G Professional, the away-from-home division of Procter & Gamble, more than 70 percent of hotel guests and 80 percent of diners believe COVID-19 will have a medium to large impact on their expectations.
Here’s what you need to know: As nearly 50 percent of each group (travelers and diners) plans to return to their routines within the next three months, for businesses, communicating that their space is cleaned and disinfected by brands consumers know and trust will help reassure customers that it is safe to return. To note, 70 percent of travelers say they would be more likely to pick a hotel room, and one in three diners would be willing to pay more for a meal if they knew the business was using a personally recognizable and trusted brand of cleaning products.
Overall cleanliness and housekeeping procedures were ranked as the most important attributes for hotel guests, surpassing both the price of the room and the location. Further, 55 percent of travelers would be willing to pay more for a hotel room if they knew the business was using a personally recognizable and trusted brand of cleaning products. Bathroom cleanliness, odors, visible hair and the condition of linens are top signals that a guest room is clean or not, according to the survey.
As for diners, 58 percent would be more likely to pick a restaurant if they knew the business was using a brand of cleaning products they personally knew and trusted. Seventy percent expect more thorough and frequent cleaning, saying bathrooms, buffets, tables, chairs and counters are the most important areas to clean.
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