The Palladium Hotel Group, the Quintana Roo Tourism Board and Delta Vacations joined forces to provide information on health and safety protocols, destinations and booking policies.
"We know that the most important thing for our travelers right now is to ensure the safety and security of the travel experience," said Sergio Zertuche, chief sales & marketing officer for The Palladium Group during a press conference with the Quintana Roo Tourism Board and Delta Vacations.
With that in mind, he noted that Palladium resorts have instituted rigorous health and safety protocols across its portfolio of resorts, including temperature checks at check-in and at such areas as restaurants, bars, gyms, spa and more.
Accommodations remain unoccupied for at least 24 to 48 hours before new guests check into them, hand sanitizers have been added throughout all areas of resorts and guestrooms and social distancing measures are in place.
An ozone mist disinfection system has been implemented throughout the resorts, which now feature five isolation rooms each.
Perhaps most impressive is that Palladium is offering travelers complimentary Stay Safe Plus insurance, which covers medical expenses of up to 3,000 euros for any illness arising during guests' stays to up100,000 euros for COVID illnesses. The insurance protects guests from "the moment they check until the moment they check out," Zertuche said.
He also provided a timeline of resort openings. Mexico properties that have reopened in July include Grand Palladium Vallarta Resort & Spa in Puerto Vallarta, Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres Spa and TRS Coral Hotel in Costa Mujeres.
Riviera Maya resorts scheduled to reopen on Oct. 30, 2020, include Grand Palladium White Sand Resort & Spa, Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort & Spa, Grand Palladium Colonial Resort & Spa and TRS Yucatan Hotel.
In Jamaica, the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort & Spa reopened on July 10.
Resorts scheduled to reopen in the Dominican Republic on Oct. 9, 2020, include Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa, Grand Palladium Punta Bavaro Suites Resort & Spa, Grand Palladium Palace Resort, Spa & Casino and the TRS Turquesa Hotel. The TRS Cap Cana Hotel is slated to reopen on Oct. 30, 2020.
In other developments, Quintana Roo Tourism Board Executive Director Lizzie Cole noted that Cancun was one of the first destinations to receive the World Travel & Tourism Council Safe Travels Global Security Stamp.
In May, the Secretary of Tourism launched the Mexican Caribbean Clean & Safe Check Certification Program in conjunction with the State Health Department, which includes more than 250 health and safety guidelines that companies are required to meet, she said.
The Mexican-Caribbean is in the "orange" stage of its reopening, which means that hotels, parks, shopping centers, restaurants and attractions can open and welcome visitors at 30 percent capacity.
At Delta Vacations, flexibility is key. "Given this ever-changing environment, flexible booking policies are super, super important," said the company's president, Jenny Ho. "We don't want our customers to be scared to book a vacation. They can make changes at any given time as necessary."
"We worked with our technology group to ensure that refunds are not coming to the customer aren't coming in terms of pieces of paper …. so we turned everything into electronic," she said.
Ho added that it is equally as important for travel advisors to have access to their customers' future travel credit information "Through their booking tool with Delta Vacations, the travel advisor community has real-time access at any time to see the volume of credits their clients have," she said
Ho noted that customer service has always first with the tour operator. "Service - and the ability to help our customers as needed - is truly a point of pride for us," she said.
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