GIVEN THE RECENT popularity of vampire books and films, blood-sucking bed bugs are a perfect metaphor for our times.
that in the past year only 0.2 per cent of all complaints received from clients about hotel rooms “have been linked to bed bugs, and each time they seem to be an isolated case”. On wider hygiene-related concerns, she says the percentage of incidents reported in 2012 was just 1.5 per cent.
Other TMCs and anecdotal reports from travel buyers echo this view, suggesting that the hotel hygiene issue perhaps is not being treated as a major concern by corporates
“Hotels that repeatedly present a serious duty of care issue are often removed from company hotel programmes”
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when determining their ‘duty of care’ responsibilities. But despite the low-level of complaints, duty of care in this area is probably being taken more seriously than the data suggests. “While price is obviously a key issue for clients when buying hotels, they don’t want to compromise on health and safety issues as part of corporate responsibility to their travellers,” says Tracey Boreham, head of groups and hotel services at HRG UK. “Therefore, we and our clients are not prepared to allow cases of poor hygiene to persist in hotels we use.” A travel buyer for a large advertising
agency echoes this view: “Making sure there’s a consistent and reliable standard of cleanliness in the bedrooms is one of my biggest priorities when I’m sourcing hotels,” he says. Other TMCs are also unwilling to compromise on this issue: “If we
Having virtually disappeared as a nuisance in the second half of the 20th century – driven out by aggressive pesticides – they have staged a revival in the last decade to such an extent that some environmental and health authorities now talk of a potential ‘global pandemic’. The rise in infestations has not only been caused by the move away from environmentally-unfriendly pesticides but also the increase in global travel – and hotels, not surprisingly, are a home away from home for bugs as well as business travellers. Bed bugs are also
experts at hiding – preferring to lay dormant during the day, with their small, reddish-brown and wingless bodies (up to seven millimetres in length) able to hide in the smallest of spaces, such as the seams of mattresses, bed frames, headboards, behind wallpaper and under any clutter or objects around a bed. Generally, they tend to live within eight feet or
ever hear of a problem with a particular hotel – and we have about 18,000 hotels in our global hotel programme – then we remove them immediately while the issue is resolved,” says Ryan Johnson, land product manager for FCM Travel Solutions and Corporate Traveller. CWT’s Moring adds: “Hotels that repeatedly receive poor feedback or present a serious duty of care issue are
so of where people sleep – ready for their nocturnal feasting, attracted by body heat and carbon dioxide. When the bugs bite,
they inject an anaesthetic and an anticoagulant that prevents a person from feeling the bite and waking up. The bite marks are similar to those of a mosquito or a flea – a slightly swollen and red area that may itch and be irritating – but while mosquito bites are usually random in pattern, bed bugs apparently bite in a straight line. Allergic reactions to
a bite can vary from no reaction at all to just a small mark, although in rare cases anaphylaxis occurs – a severe, whole body reaction that can in certain circumstances
become life-threatening. But this is very unusual and most people do not develop any serious skin reaction. According to the NHS, bed bugs do not transmit any human diseases and their main impact for many is the psychological distaste of being bitten. Treatment, if needed, is usually a mild steroid cream, although antihistamine tablets can also help relieve itching. More serious cases involve fluid-filled blisters which can become infected if scratched and will need antibiotics to control. But all the health
experts agree: if bitten, take action by telling hotel housekeeping rather than keeping it to yourself.
often removed from company hotel programmes, with CWT following up on the complaint to seek remedial action and a guarantee for improved future performance.”
So, a clear warning to hoteliers to act on the bugs and hygiene issues before they start moving up the travel buyers’ agenda – or else the suffering road warrior perhaps may start to bite back. ■