Johanna Jainchill
The idea of putting hand-sanitizer stations in public areas of places like hotels and airports may be new, but on cruise ships it's old hat.
Many of the protocols that public venues worldwide are now putting in place are ones that the cruise industry has long employed, after more than a decade of battling norovirus and keeping other viruses like SARS and MERS off its ships. But despite having strict cleaning protocols in place, cruise lines haven't previously brought these practices to the fore from a publicity perspective.
Robert Kwortnik, associate professor of services marketing for Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, said that instead, the lines want potential guests "thinking about food, entertainment, shore excursions."
"Discussions about [cleaning protocols] was not the kind of thing any cruise line wanted to be the first thing people saw on a landing page," he said. "The industry has always been subtle about it."
But the lines have been very proactive with features likes handwashing stations right outside the buffet restaurants, he said, even though "that's not exactly the sexiest design attribute.
"But the industry's gotten it," he added. "They know norovirus happens, it's rare, and people think about it. So the amount of effort that's gone into [sanitizing] recently has been pretty extraordinary. And cruisers know it, but it's not like the industry promotes it."
All of that is going to change, Kwortnik said.
The lines, he said, will say: "'Look at what we do to protect you and makes sure you are going to be safe.' Maybe it's now a key part of the marketing message for the foreseeable future. And that's really different. It probably makes the marketing team sweat."
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Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corp., also wants travelers to know that the cruise industry has long had these protocols, and he said travel advisors are among the best people to convey the message to travelers.
"There have been protocols in place on cruise ships that were a higher standard than you found in other social gathering venues that you went to," he said. "People are talking about hand sanitizer; we've had them throughout the ships for how long? We've had medical screenings and services onboard. We've had to do that, because this isn't the first virus or public health risk we've had to deal with."
Donald said that cruisers understand it. As the industry reopens, he said that sharing the facts about cruise ships and having medical experts weigh in will help communicate the industry's proactive approach, and that is where travel advisors will play a role: in helping those who have never cruised understand it.
"The biggest thing in the end, in today's world especially, is word of mouth," he said. "The reality is people trust the people they know well."