The health pass bug in France's hotel industry

It’s now been almost two months since the health pass was introduced in France, and while we can’t deny that it has had a more than encouraging effect on vaccinations, which we hope will prevent us from reliving certain painful episodes, our experience shows that its implementation may not have been designed for all tourism stakeholders.

A check that’s not easy but goes well

Let’s not be naive: health pass checks are not painless for tourism professionals.

While the multitude of checkpoints and the funnel-like logic of airports makes things fairly simple in the aviation industry (as long as the airlines play the game), it’s not the same everywhere.

In trains checks on TGVs are more than random. As long as they do not want to impose this task on the controllers, and a dedicated staff is therefore neededfor pass checking, the solution is not scalable. So, checks are carried out on a random basis. Is it ideal? Of course not. Is it possible to do otherwise? Unless stations are transformed into airports with the same constraints (and associated costs), I don’t think so. But from a health point of view, it’s all the more regrettable that trains aren’t fitted with HEPA filters like airplanes (which also take in outside air, contrary to what the SNCF CEO claimed, although we don’t know whether he was misinformed or trying to disinform).

In bars and restaurants, I won’t go into the thankless but necessary role that this requires of professionals, but I will dwell on the logistical dimension. While it’s “easy” to control everyone who turns up at the door of a property, it’s not so easy in summer, with terraces offering an infinite number of entry points, making it hard to keep track of who’s just moved in.

But the worst is yet to come: hotels.

The hotel industry: multiple cases of application of the pass

There are many applications of the health pass, linked to specific professions and contexts. The problem with the hotel business is that it accumulates several, which can make things hellish in the larger properties, but also in the smaller ones.

Hotels as such are not subject to the health pass. You can enter as you like, as long as you wear a mask and respect the barrier gestures.

So far, so good.

A hotel may have one or more bars and one or more restaurants. Here, the pass applies. Simple, you might say? Yes and no. There are so many points of entry for customers that need to be checked, which is more complicated than a simple restaurant with a single point of entry, or a one-off check at the entrance to the property. This logically requires more staff.

Sometimes the bar can be an open space in the lobby, and that’s when things get interesting. Anyone moving into the lobby is not subject to the pass. The one that sits 2 meters away from him at the bar, yes. Sometimes there are large “living spaces” where people who drink at the bar sit down to wait, work or chat. For some, pass and no mask; for others, no pass and mask?

I’ve witnessed ubiquitous situations where two people sitting side by side were not subject to the same rules. Should everyone sitting around the bar in the lobby have been checked to simplify things? I don’t think it’s possible from a legal point of view, as some customers could argue that they’re not in the bar and not customers of the bar, and imposing a single system would mean checking everyone entering the hotel, which is not provided for by law.

Anecdotal? Not, believe me, when you’ve got one or two people dealing with dozens of customers and don’t know how to handle each one.

Case in point: I take a drink from the bar and consume it at a table in the “lobby open space”. I’m talking to a hotel guest who isn’t drinking and therefore isn’t a customer of the bar. I am checked and take off my mask. Not him. Imagine this on a large scale, with customers who are not always cooperative, and you’ll understand.

And I don’t even mention the customer who leaves the bar, crosses the lobby and goes to the restaurant. Check, then unchecked zone, then check again. Again, with a little understanding, all is well. But with ifs…

Was it necessary to impose the health pass in hotels?

Having spoken to a number of professionals, this “in-between” situation is unpleasant for many of them, because of the complications and uncertainties it creates. Especially at the beginning.

Could it have been simpler? Apart from imposing the pass in hotels once and for all on entry, I don’t see how.

Was it possible? It’s not hard to imagine the fears this would generate in a sector that had already suffered a lot and couldn’t see itself turning away customers.

But wasn’t the same true for other players in the tourism industry? One might think that, while it’s obvious that settling down to consume creates a risk, a person who simply uses a room without going to the bar or restaurant presents a much lower risk, so “common sense” dictated that access to the hotel should be open to all, and that access to certain areas should be restricted to pass holders.

On the other hand, it’s hard for a traveler to get to his or her destination without a pass, and no one would dare stray far from home knowing that it would be virtually impossible to eat during the stay (although room service is available).

Even if this creates complications, it’s certainly the least bad solution that’s been chosen, even if we hope for the sake of the sector that, following the example of countries not so far from us (Denmark, Sweden…), restrictions will soon be a distant memory.

Image : sanitary measures in a hotel by Space_Cat via Shutterstock