New app, nano coating in hotels, vaccination programme for staff, Deutsche Hospitality takes a new step towards safe travel.

To allow safe travel, guest registration using the Luca app will be introduced, and special nano coatings will be applied to surfaces. The hotel group is also planing to vaccinate all its staff as quickly as possible in order to minimise risk.

The health and safety of our guests and employees are our number one priority at all times.

Marcus Bernhardt, CEO of Deutsche Hospitality

We are seeking to deliver our performance commitments, even during the coronavirus crisis. Our aim is to offer an outstanding hospitality experience. For this reason, we have had a holistic safety concept in place since the onset of the pandemic. This is scrutinised and further improved on an ongoing basis.

The Luca app will be used in Deutsche Hospitality hotels in Germany. Luca facilitates the digital entry of contact details and permits health authorities to carry out a tracing process. This backtracking of contacts enables chains of infection to be interrupted rapidly. Guests visiting hotels and restaurants use their smart phones to check in and check out via a single click. Their visit is documented anonymously, because data is uploaded to the Luca app system in encrypted form and can only be subsequently decoded by the relevant local health authorities. The hotel or restaurant provides an individual QR code via which guests can register their presence. There is no need for the app to be installed for this check-in procedure to take place. The QR code can simply be scanned, and guests are then directed to a web interface where they enter their own details.

Special nano coatings applied to common “touch points” is expected to be rolled out during May. These include surfaces such as the Front Office counter, door handles, lift buttons, coffee machines, tables, and chairs. The anti-microbial nano coating eliminates viruses and bacteria and will also boost Deutsche Hospitality’s hygiene standards yet further.

Deutsche Hospitality will offer vaccinations to its employees. Staff will be able to receive their jabs once works doctors are able to take part in vaccinations and as soon as vaccines are available. The company has registered for this scheme and has already reserved the doses which will be needed. The vaccinations themselves will be carried out by a team of company physicians.

In March, Deutsche Hospitality instigated free rapid testing for all its front-line staff. The tests used are certified by the Paul Ehrlich Institute and may also be purchased by guests staying at the hotels.