Palladium protecting its guests from ‘check-in’ to ‘check-out’
IAN STALKER
The Palladium Hotel Group has begun reopening its Mexican and Caribbean properties and at the same time taken what it says is a highly unusual step to reassure potential guests that they can feel comfortable at Palladium properties during these days of coronavirus.
Sergio Zertuche, Palladium’s chief sales and marketing officer, told a Tuesday webinar that the Spanish company has reopened properties in Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and Jamaica, and plans to reopen others in the Riviera Maya and the Dominican Republic in October.
Palladium has taken a number of steps to ensure a sanitary environment for guests, such as making sanitizer easily available, leaving rooms unoccupied for at least 24 hours after guests check out, implementing social distancing and having staff wear masks and gloves.
But Zertuche added coronavirus has also prompted Palladium to create Stay Safe Plus, a free insurance program that provides a host of benefits for guests who become sick during their stay. Those benefits include medical transfers and extended stays for companions of those receiving medical treatment in the area.
From the moment “they check in to the moment they check out, they will be protected,” Pilar Arizmendi, Palladium’s vice president of sales & marketing – the Americas, said of the free offering.
The insurance was praised as an “unbelievable” offer by moderator Scott Eddy.
Palladium also has what it says are “very flexible” booking policies as it works to attract visitors to its hotels.
“We’re waiting for them and we’re ready for them,” Arizmendi said.
Lizzie Cole of the Quintana Roo Tourism Board, which promotes a state that includes Cancun and the Riviera Maya, noted Cancun was among the first five destinations to get the WTTC’s Safe Travels stamp, something she said reflects the efforts it’s made to ensure visitors have a safe vacation.
Many Quintana Roo hotels and attractions are now open and the state’s many Maya archeological sites are expected to reopen this month.
Updates can be found at mexicancaribbean.travel.
“We are all aligned to make this the safest environment,” Cole said of the different aspects of Quintana Roo tourism.
Foreign tourists who have visited Quintana Roo since it began welcoming their return frequently say they feel safer there than they do in their home countries because of safety protocols state officials have implemented in response to coronavirus, she continued.
