When people travel for work or pleasure, the path of least resistance is the most optimal.
For leisure travel, this means a journey that is often well earned and something that only happens once or twice a year. And, business travelers prefer to minimize any undue travel stress that may impact their ability to perform when they arrive for their meetings.
One often-overlooked stressor that could impact any traveler is foul odors. For example, the fire-disabled Carnival cruise ship, which made international headlines, became a floating cesspool of foul odors. In addition, Palm Beach International Airport also made it into the foul odor news cycle last week.
It’s not just cruise ships and airport being impacted by foul odors these days. Last year, a US Airways flight to Rome had to be grounded due to an unknown odor that actually sickened the airline crew. And, check out this TripAdvisor guest review of a Hilton Garden Inn that talks about a vomit and body odor smell that permeated through the halls and in the room.
The U.S. Travel Association projects moderate growth in the travel market for 2013, which means the marketplace is going to remain very competitive. On top of this, guests are no longer loyal to a particular travel brand, and can easily jump to a competitor if they are unhappy with the services rendered.
We live in an unpredictable world where foul odors happen. Some businesses can easily recover from one bad odor mistake. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the travel sector, where one bad TripAdvisor review will live on in cyberspace forever. In addition, unhappy travelers are also more apt to share their bad experience on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
Managing odors should not be a one-off consideration. The best way to manage foul odors is to develop a comprehensive odor management strategy, which is founded upon using a full-line of odor mitigation solutions in any location that can be impacted by odors. This includes solutions for laundry and carpets and upholstery, as well as more industrial-based products.
Losing revenue due to one foul odor instance should never happen. By developing the right odor management solution, travel providers will always be prepared to fight odors. More important, you will never find your organization in the foul odor news cycle.
