COVID-19 vaccination warning for accommodation industry
Hoteliers are fearful that unvaccinated staff will signal an end to hotels as we know them.
As COVID-19 outbreaks continue to decimate Australia’s travel and tourism sectors, calls for vaccination are louder and more important than ever.
Dr Jerry Schwartz, owner of Paradise Resort Gold Coast, has warned that COVID-19 vaccination is the only way to save Australia’s accommodation industry.
“As both a medical doctor and a hotel owner, I believe that any face-to-face business, especially if it involves children, needs to have fully vaccinated staff,” said Dr Schwartz.
Paradise Resort Gold Coast will be the first non-quarantine hotel to introduce a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for staff, with hopes that all staff will be fully vaccinated by the end of November ahead of the peak Christmas holiday season.
According Dr Schwartz, this is an essential measure in ensuring the safety of guests.
“However, we know that children under 12 cannot be vaccinated, and so to ensure the welfare of both our guests and our staff, we need to insist on mandatory vaccination, with the priority being for any staff who interact with guests and then all staff working across the hotel.”
Dr Schwartz said that so far, responses to the Paradise Resort Gold Coast vaccination mandate have been positive, with most staff already partially vaccinated or in the process of getting vaccinated. Many employees are keen to do whatever it takes to improve stability of the industry.
“It’s a case of vaccinate staff or the hotel industry could perish,” said Dr Schwartz. “I am talking to all the management companies operating my other hotels so that we can ensure that vaccination is implemented as a matter of urgency, as it is essential we place the hotel industry on the best possible footing to recover.”
Hotel and accommodation COVID-19 vaccination mandates follow similar requirements introduced by other tourism businesses, with Qantas and Virgin Australia having already announced vaccination requirements for staff members.
Vaccination policies intend to protect staff and guests from the virus and to facilitate a return to work for accommodation businesses.
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