The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board has announced an initiative powered by digital health company Sharecare and Forbes Travel Guide to verify the health security of all hotels in Los Angeles with 50 or more rooms. By making health security verification a universal standard across this category of hotels, Los Angeles has set the goal of becoming the first Sharecare Verified destination in the U.S.
Sharecare Verified is a comprehensive verification process and designation that assures guests and travel planners that hotels with this distinction have appropriate safety procedures in place. All L.A.-area hotels must comply with public health guidelines; however, specific protocols and programs vary across hotel brands and product categories. Sharecare Verified hotels are making the additional commitment to promoting transparency and creating confidence for guests, travel planners and team members by achieving and maintaining this designation. By doing so, each property is also ensuring that their protocols will continue to comply with evolving, expert-validated standards.
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The verification process for each hotel covers more than 360 standards across health and hygiene protocols, cleaning products and procedures, ventilation, physical distancing, the guest experience and health safety communication with guests and employees. Hotels also are required to verify their health protocols on an ongoing basis to ensure continued compliance with the most up-to-date health standards.
This news arrives at a critical moment for tourism in the city. Los Angeles is starting its comeback, having moved to the state’s less restrictive orange tier, which allows the safe reopening of museums, indoor dining, theme parks and live outdoor events, including spectator sports, with appropriate capacity controls and safety protocols.
This verification comes with an identifiable “seal of approval” that qualifying hotels can use on their websites and other communications to let guests know that they’ve completed the verification process. Hotels are expected to complete the verification by April 30.
For a complete list of hotels and resorts that are Sharecare Health Security Verified with Forbes Travel Guide, visit www.forbestravelguide.com.
A version of this story originally appeared on Hotel Management's sister site Travel Agent Central.