Meetings Industry Recovery Can Begin Now, Says Michael Dominguez

Hotels are ready to open in phases across parts of the country, according to the CEO of ALHI.

"I see a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not another train coming at us,” said Michael Dominguez, president and CEO of Associated Luxury Hotels International. How bright that light is depends on where you’re located. "What’s happening in New York, New Jersey and other states in that area is different than anywhere else in the country. That's not the reality outside of that corridor,” said Dominguez in an interview with Northstar Meetings Group earlier this week.

While working diligently on next steps for ALHI members, "we’re not going to get ahead of the government’s rules," noted Dominguez. "We need to understand what the expectation is, which we got last Thursday in the White House guidelines for 'Opening Up America Again.' If you read carefully, especially regarding large venues, there are three phases, each of which has to last a minimum of 14 days. That means, realistically, if there isn’t a spike in cases, you would see some normalcy in six weeks."

Following are highlights of the discussion.

Looking Towards Industry Recovery

Do you think meetings can come back soon, safely, in some parts of the country? Without a doubt. There were only 27 states that even had restrictions. The middle of the country has almost no outbreak, so they can start right away.

I'm not being Pollyanna, and I'm also not being Eeyore. I'm trying to hit something in the middle, because I do think we can start moving in certain areas. I also believe we have to have the right precautions in place and the right behaviors in place.

Are you worried we’ll have a spike in COVID-19 cases if we open too soon? You're going to have hotspots from time to time. The one thing I keep stressing to people is the shutdown, the shelter at home, the social distancing — is not to keep people from getting the virus. It is to make sure our health system can handle it. That’s what everybody's forgetting; this is going to be around. We're going to be out and about, and many of us are going to get the virus. The idea is not that we won't get it. The idea is, candidly, we all need to get it so that we can get on with things.

How quickly then do you expect to see in-person meetings? I would expect spikes in COVID-19 cases, which means it's not going to be a perfect six weeks. But as you get through that process, that means by mid-June or July we're starting to have meetings that look somewhat normal. You're still going to have some type of spacing for people. The government’s guidelines don't have specifics; they talk about social distancing as we are doing now, then more moderate and then very moderate. To me that means you're probably going to have one person per six feet to start. And after that first 14-day window, two people per six feet in the moderate phase, and you'll probably stay there for a while. It will be a while before we go back to three people per six feet, where we're all right next to each other, but that's where I'm seeing a path out of this.

Preparing for a Comeback

What needs to happen before we can get back to business? There are short-term solutions we really have to focus on, like how we can meet safely. And then there are all those other pieces we need: We do need testing. We do need antiviral treatments. And, you know, there there's good news that isn't being shared enough about treatments that are being proven effective as cures. One is in phase three clinical trials already with 2,400 people.

That's the stuff that should be really exciting for people, because it means if I get sick, there's a way to treat it while I'm waiting for the vaccine, and that's another piece of the gap that's missing from the news right now. We should talk about plasma and antibody treatments from people that have recovered. That's all good news.

How do you see the reopening of business and meetings progressing? We have to do this at the right pace. Our industry shut down in phases, and I think we're going to come out of it the same way. I think starting April 30th, 10 is no longer the maximum number of people, and we're looking at groups of 50 to 100, and we'll continue to ramp up to larger meetings at some point.

I can tell you right now you're going to have a sporting event, and you're going to have an arena that seats 20,000 people, and we’ll probably have 5,000 fans so that they can space it appropriately. And then they'll probably just have every other seat open, or something along those lines.

How difficult will it be to meet that way? We actually know how to produce a meeting like that already. I attended what was probably one of the last meetings in the country, right when we had the cutoff at 50 people. It was the week the CDC announced we're going to max it at 10, and we were already in the middle of our meeting. This was at the Broadmoor, and you saw how it could operate.

We had just under a hundred people, and they were split into two different conference rooms, so no more than 50 people were in any room. They had rounds of 10 with only four people on them. Food and beverage was all boxed breakfasts, boxed lunches, being handed to you.

Those are the things that are sticking with me — that they really had thought about this. They even had a trade show, but what they did was instead was have hosted-buyer appointments, rather than just opening up the room to everyone. And they staggered the schedule so that you had no more than 50 people at any given time in the room. There are ways to do this, we just have to be very thoughtful.

The "New Norm"

In terms of room capacity and distancing, will that type of meeting be the new normal? Everyone is asking about the new norm. I see this as an overreaction - and we do it during every crisis. After 2008, people were saying, “What's the new norm?” And after this, we’re saying, “What's the new norm?”

You and I have been doing this long enough. There's a new norm every month, every day, every year. So, can we not overdramatize this? There's going to be a short-term new norm, and then when we get a vaccine and we start to move out of this, we're going to get back to some of the old normalcy.

Is perception of the crisis the biggest challenge to overcome? I do think the news coverage needs to change -- and that's not a knock on the news coverage. It’s just that we need good stories. We need to know that things are moving. We need to see people traveling. We need to see people on beaches to know that some things are getting back to some type of normalcy.It's just hard when you're looking at the news every day and it’s all about the virus and the hospitals and the treatment and our curve. I do think there is this herd mentality, and we all have FOMO. When we see people out there and moving, we’ll all be saying, "Wow, I can get back to it." And I think there's going to be that opportunity.

Setting Standards

Is ALHI working on establishing health and safety measures for properties? Yes, we're working with Delos. I've got three hotels ready to go with a "COVID package" that will use, among other things, ultraviolet lighting, which actually kills the virus on surfaces - if it’s used correctly and for the right amount of time. I want to make sure we're not being gimmicky. It’s one thing to say we’re doing something just to make people feel better; it’s another thing to know that it’s effective.
 
I understand the Events Industry Council is working on standards for the safe operation of hotels and meeting facilities. Yeah, they're putting that together. Knowing how those go, it's going to be way too slow for what I need to get done for our hotels. We have clients asking right now about contracting for September, so that’s why we're moving faster. I do think those guidelines are going to come from hotels that actually have put it in place.

We’re already seeing standards released by brands like Marriott, Wynn, Langham and others. And that's my point. Let's all get it together, because this isn't the time to say I'm doing something better than someone else is. This is the time to make the general consumer know that, as an industry, no matter where I'm going, this is the new standard. I think that's going to be the missing piece and where EIC can help bring that together. This isn't the time to be worrying about that competitive advantage.

A Delicate Balance

As you know, the idea that we’re ready to open up is controversial. It is. You have the two views based on where you live in the country. And then you have people, regardless of where they live, saying, "No, no, no, we need to stay at home." But there are a bunch of people who can't work from home. Their establishments are closed, and they don't have an option to sit at home and Zoom call and do their jobs like we do. Those are the people who work in restaurants and hotels and retail. At some point, these workers are saying, "I'm willing to go back to work. I'm willing to figure this out because I need to have a livelihood." There has to be some understanding on both sides.

We see that staying at home is helping, though. Do you think we’re ready to venture out again? People get desperate when they don't see a light at the end of the tunnel, and that's why I'm trying to balance the conversation. I actually had a little bit of a debate with somebody in our industry because they were like, "You're just being so optimistic about this, and people aren't gonna listen."

What you want to be able to say is, "You're making a difference. It's working. The death count is lowering because of what you're doing."

I'm not telling people not to shelter in place. I'm not telling people to ignore the government. I am trying to say there are some positive signs that everything we're doing is working and we're flattening the curve. We're seeing a way out of this.

That is my message, and that has been a delicate balance.

Source: Northstarmeetingsgroup.com