Hygienically Clean in Spotlight at International Housekeepers Summit
With more than 1,000 delegates from 50 countries representing hotel linen and laundry operations logging on, the International Housekeeping Summit (IHS 2020) transitioned to a virtual event in December, delighting the Asian Housekeepers Association (organizer) and providing a forum for the premiere of TRSA’s Middle East Chapter.
The chapter was a Gold Sponsor of the event, billed as Asia’s largest gathering of hospitality professionals. With COVID-19 related subjects dominating the agenda, TRSA shared details of its Hygienically Clean Hospitality certification program, available to outsourced and on-premises laundries from the Dubai-based chapter. Delegates learned that across North America, Hygienically Clean has changed how hotel laundry hygiene is verified and how laundered textile cleanliness is measured. The certification represents a great opportunity for hotels to prove their laundry operations meet quality assurance standards and linens are among the cleanest in the world.
TRSA was featured in a panel discussion, “Smart Analysis of Laundry Management,” moderated by Anil Shah, senior manager, business support, Linencraft, Dubai. That company processes 280 tons daily from four laundries, delivering around the clock from more than 70 vehicles. Shah, previously laundry operations director for Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts, expressed confidence in the growth of linen service in the region, even if it costs hotels more.
Panelists were Anshul Gupta, director, Quick Clean, New Delhi, provider of equipment to commercial laundry industry segments including industrial and healthcare; Akash Dharamsey, director, ADD Laundry Concepts, Mumbai, which services and maintains laundry equipment; and Ken Koepper, director, membership, TRSA, United States.
TRSA IHS promotion focused on Middle East attendees, noting the importance of tourism as a highly viable alternative for diversifying the economy of oil-producing nations. While hospitality grows rapidly, the linen and uniform service industry lacks consensus on best management practices and lacks local certification bodies available to ensure service quality. This may be the most important role to be played by the new TRSA chapter, managed by Rent-A-Towel of Dubai.
While linen and uniform services currently take advantage of Hygienically Clean certification most, on-premises hotel laundries can get certified and start providing textile services to smaller properties. This enables the use of their infrastructure investment and staff to convert laundries from cost centers to profit centers.
