Author Archives: master

by | March 10, 2016 · 5:40 pm

Lawsuit Alert – Hotels Renting to Minors

minor

CH&LA alerted its members last year that legal claims were being asserted against numerous lodging properties for refusing to rent to unaccompanied minors. The person at the center of most of those claims (Jonathan Asselin-Normand) is continuing his long-running campaign against California lodging properties raising such claims.

As CH&LA has repeatedly advised its members, both the California Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibit blanket policies denying accommodations to people solely because they are unaccompanied minors.  The minimum damages for violating the Unruh Act is $4,000, plus attorney’s fees.

However, where a minor unaccompanied by an adult seeks accommodations, hotel staff may require a parent or guardian of the minor, or another responsible adult, to assume, in writing, full liability for any and all proper charges and other obligations incurred by the minor for accommodations, food and beverages, and other services provided by or through the innkeeper, as well as for any and all injuries or damage caused by the minor to any person or property. California Code 1865(d)(1).

What Members Should Do ASAP:

  • Review your policies, and if you have a blanket policy against accommodating unaccompanied minors, change that policy to comply with the law.
  • If your policy is on your web site or otherwise in your marketing materials, delete all reference to it.
  • Make sure all staff members know that your hotel does not have a blanket prohibition against accepting unaccompanied minors.  Be sure to constantly remind them of this fact.
  • Check with your third-party booking entities to see what, if anything, they say about your hotel’s policies involving minors and children.  Be sure that they comply with the law.
  • Consider utilizing a written form with a responsible party acknowledging their liability for the minor.  Please click here for a sample.

If you have questions about this, feel free to contact CH&LA’s Member Legal Advisor, Jim Abrams, at jim@calodging.com.

For more information: http://bit.ly/1QPre4h

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by | March 7, 2016 · 5:54 pm

Insurance Helps Protect Against Data Breach Fallout

data

Joshua Gold of Anderson Kill speaks about the different types of insurance coverage to protect against data breaches at the Hospitality Law Conference. (Photo: Bryan Wroten)

The past year was a big year for data breaches in the hotel industry, and industry experts say there’s no sign of it stopping any time soon. That means hoteliers not only need to work on prevention, but they also need protection in case an attack does occur.

Panelists in the session “Nailing down responsive cyber coverage that responds to hospitality industry risks” at February’s Hospitality Law Conference told attendees that everything about the current digital age that makes it great, such as connectability and massive data storage, also makes it a risk.

Attempting to list all of the data breaches in the past 12 months would overwhelm the presentation screen, said Joshua Gold, a cyber-insurance attorney at Anderson Kill, and the problem continues to grow.

“It’s getting worse, not better,” he said.

Insuring for different scenarios
Darin McMullen, an attorney at Anderson Kill, said there are four overlapping causes of data breaches at a company:

  • Accidental internal, a common cause of breaches, occurs when an employee loses a device with company business data on it, and it might fall into someone else’s benign or malicious possession.
  • Accidental external breaches occur through third-party vendors or subcontractors who have access to a company’s system or network. While they’re not trying to compromise their client’s security, they may cause harm through their own negligence.
  • Intentional internal breaches happen when a disgruntled employee creates the breach. This can be a common problem in hospitality where turnover can be high. Employees don’t necessarily have to be high-level to access sensitive data.
  • Intentional external breaches are the more traditional hacking events caused by criminal organizations or hacker activists, or hacktivists.

“Some you have control over; some you have virtually no control over,” McMullen said, who added that hoteliers should review their insurance options to protect against different risk exposures.

Gold said he’s working on an insurance claim for a client who had a former employee introduce malicious code into the company’s system. The code fried every controller, he said, causing physical damage to real pieces of hardware. For a networking company, this was a huge loss.

“The insurance company is saying electronic commands can’t cause real property damage,” he said. “It is covered under the literal language, but they don’t want to set that precedent. We will have to sue them.”

When looking for different cyber-insurance policies, Gold said, it’s important to keep in mind all the potential scenarios as some have provisions that exclude what hoteliers might need and think would be included, such as the physical damage in his client’s case. He said hoteliers should work with a savvy broker who specializes in cyber-insurance packages. There are so many different primary forms out there, he said, which can change every three to four months based on what clients face.

For more: http://bit.ly/1TZLnue

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by | March 4, 2016 · 5:53 pm

What Should Your Hotel Brand Know About Generation Z?

Brand

Time waits for no man, and just as soon as we think we’re getting a handle on what millennials want, a new buzzword starts to crop up in conversation: “Generation Z.”

Trying to define an entire generation’s attitude and purchasing habits can seem tedious (and a hard target to hit), but it makes smart business sense to have a plan in place for the next wave of travelers. While the inclination may be to think of Generation Z as merely an extension of millennials, odds are they will be their own distinct group. And how you prepare your destination, and brand, to receive this group could have a profound impact on your company’s future.

So, who is Generation Z?

Always Connected

Exact ranges for generations have been hard to define since the baby boomers, but Generation Z is roughly considered to be defined as those born in the mid- to late-1990s through the 2010s. In other words, babies being born today (and potentially up to around 2025), up to early 20-somethings.

This group makes up about 25 percent of the population, according to Forbes, making it more populous than boomers or millennials.

For some perspective, the oldest members of Generation Z were 7 or 8 years old when the Sept. 11 attacks took place. Many have pointed out significant aspects of this generation are its widespread use of the Internet (even from a very young age), a high comfort level with technology, reliance on social media for a large portion of their socializing, and possibly feelings of unsettlement and insecurity from growing up in the Great Recession.

And in less than five years, they will make up almost 10 percent of the workforce.

Not Millennials

The dividing line is a bit murky, but members of Generation Z are (and will likely continue to be) different than their millennial predecessors. According to a survey of young people conducted by Adecco, more members of Generation Z aspire to lofty career goals, while millennials crave financial stability.

Generation Z is more entrepreneurial, and more prefer in-person communication than millennials.

Already Influential

It may be several years before enough members of Generation Z are booking hotel rooms to be noticeable, but they already influence their parents—when polled, 93 percent of parents believe their children have influence over their family spending and purchases; 55 percent say their opinion is “extremely or very influential.”

Planning Ahead

So if Generation Z’s tastes are already becoming an influence, what should your hotel do to get ready for the day when it’s their names on the credit card? Making sure your brand and marketing adjust accordingly will be of paramount importance.

In its report examining the trends of Generation Z, global firm Ernst & Young suggests three strategies to gaining the generation’s interest and loyalty in your brand: Intuitively deliver on their constantly evolving needs; make them part of the solution; and demonstrate respect and loyalty before asking for it.

Evolving Needs

For starters, members of Generation Z are in a constant search for information and new platforms of delivery—one in four try out at least seven new apps a month, and the list of social media platforms they favor could be longer than this article.

With that in mind, they have no patience for a brand that doesn’t already get it, or even worse, complicate their lives. Your messaging needs to find them wherever they may be searching—and that might be different than last week.

Part of the Solution

Generation Z also has more do-it-yourselfers than the previous generation (when you grow up with a how-to for anything on YouTube, it makes it easier). Ideally they want their brand to be a tool that empowers them—they may even want to create your offering for you, particularly where, when, and how they buy from you.

Respect and Loyalty

Once it’s earned, Generation Z’s brand loyalty is impressively strong. But getting it could be the challenge, and the best way to show that you respect them is to speak to them individually.

Whether this means personal interactions between customers and your brand on social media, or visibly accommodating what they’ve asked out of your brand, the last thing Generation Z wants is a form letter. Your brand will need to foster a reputation of responsiveness and collaboration to earn their respect.

“Gen Z is used to feasting on content regularly and this is the age group that has given rise to (multi-channel networks),” Matt Smith of the TV platform Anvanto told Digiday. “Brands like Marriott that are creating specialized content already are the ones that will resonate with them.”

Through a combination of tech savviness and a greater need for self-reliance, Generation Z could shape up to be one of the most productive and influential generations our country has ever seen. Whether they choose to bring their business to your hotel will depend on how hard you work to get to know them. And you’d best not wait—there’ll be another generation on the horizon before we know it.

For more: http://bit.ly/1oVoqLF

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by | February 29, 2016 · 5:02 pm

Congress Cracks Down on Hotel Scams

congress

Imagine you’ve been planning all year for your family vacation at the beach. You find the perfect hotel—a spacious room with a view of the ocean and a big pool for the kids—and book the room using an online travel site. The whole family is excited for a week of surf, sand, and relaxation.

Everything is going great until you arrive at the hotel. After a few minutes of clicking around on the computer, the front desk woman asks you to spell your name again. Her brow furrows, and you start to worry. You are exhausted and just want to crawl into a clean bed and get some sleep. What is going on with this hotel room?

Now the manager arrives to help. “When did you make this reservation?” she asks. You tell her and you hear her typing some more. “Could it be under another name?” You feel a sense of panic as you shake your head no. What could be happening?

Finally, the bad news: There is no reservation. The website where you made your booking was a fraud, and now your dream vacation has become a nightmare. Many vacationers, and hoteliers, find themselves in this exact situation. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, millions of fraudulent bookings are made every year as these deceptive websites and call centers mislead vacationers by giving the appearance of being connected to a hotel, but actually have no legal relation to the brand or lodging property.

For consumers, the fraud takes several different forms. Unassuming guests could be charged additional hidden fees when they arrive, fail to get the accommodations they requested, lose expected loyalty points, or worse, they could learn that their reservation was never actually made. In the last year alone, close to 15 million reservations were made on such deceptive sites, resulting in hotel guests finding themselves out hundreds of dollars for either a worthless reservation or one that delivered much less than promised. It is estimated that these scams have cost upward of $1.3 billion per year in lost reservations, extra fees or charges, lost rooms, and costly inconveniences.

As you know, hotels are often mistakenly blamed for these fake reservations. Though they do all they can to assist swindled travelers, their reputation suffers as these stories are shared online or by word of mouth.

For these reasons, I have introduced bipartisan legislation with U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) in Congress to help crack down on call center and online hotel scams. First, our legislation would require all third-party hotel booking websites to disclose, clearly and conspicuously, that they are not affiliated with the hotel for which the traveler is ultimately making the reservation. This new requirement would help consumers tell the difference between name-brand hotel websites and fraudulent ones masquerading as name-brand sites.

Second, our legislation would give state Attorneys General the ability to go after perpetrators in federal court with the same remedies available to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Today, only federal authorities can fully penalize individuals who commit online hotel booking fraud. If the offense is small, federal authorities may forgo prosecution to go after more expansive crimes. Giving state Attorneys General the ability to pursue damages and restitution for victims will leverage the power of all 50 states to hold fraudsters of all levels accountable and deter criminals.

Our bill would also require two provisions to help illuminate the true extent of these crimes. It requires the FTC to produce a report on the impact of these fraudulent sites on consumers and it encourages the FTC to simplify its online complaint procedure for reporting hotel booking scams, a request we have recently made in a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez.

My colleagues and I understand that online fraud is a serious problem for not only consumers, but also the entire lodging industry. It is also an especially significant issue for Florida, which is the top travel destination in the United States. With that said, I look forward to continuing to work with the AH&LA to move this important legislation forward to Congress, and tackle these scams. This way, travelers can get back to their vacations and hotels can focus on providing the world-class services that the American hotel industry is known for.

 

For more: http://bit.ly/1Qgrg7k

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by | February 26, 2016 · 6:57 pm

Couple From CA Describes Bedbugs ‘Nightmare’ at NYC Hotel

bedbugs

A couple from California thought they were on a dream vacation to New York City, but they found a massive bedbug infestation under the mattress at the Astor on the Park Hotel on the Upper West Side.

Now, they’re speaking out only to Eyewitness News.

The trip was a gift from Elgin Ozlen’s mother, and the couple was supposed to take in the sights and sounds of the city, and see the ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square. However, because of the bedbugs, Ozlen says it will be a trip that he and his girlfriend will remember for all the wrong reasons.

“We were expecting a vacation to remember the rest of our lives, and we will definitely remember it for the rest of our lives, but it won’t be a pleasant memory,” says Ozlen.

After staying in a hotel room infested with bedbugs, the dream vacation immediately turned into a nightmare.

Ozlen says he shot video of the infestation, while staying at Astor on the Park on Central Park West. The couple arrived on Wednesday, and by Thursday, there was an infestation of bedbugs where Ozlen’s girlfriend slept. Ozlen then goes on to say that the room was the third room the couple had been in, after the first two did not have heaters.

The California man says they had planned to be in Times Square to see the ball drop, but that never happened. Also, on New Year’s Day, his birthday, they had tickets to see the Rockettes, but instead there was a change of plans.

“On my birthday, I’m in the hospital, and I’m washing the best clothes that I brought that I own for this vacation, and during that process many of the clothes became damaged, because they’re not meant to be dried,” Ozlen says.

It cost hundreds of dollars to have the couple’s belongings cleaned. Meanwhile Ozlen says his girlfriend’s body is still inflamed, saying she is furious that the bites and scratches may lead to permanent scarring.

He also says she can’t eat because she is nauseous, but she is not the only one.

“It’s disgusting. I don’t really feel like sleeping here,” said one hotel guest.

Katie Phillips, a tourist from Australia has been staying at Astor on the Park for a week, and says her stay has been ‘near perfect’ – a clean room with no complaints. After seeing the bedbugs video, she says it was ‘pretty disturbing’.

For more: http://abc13.co/21019nM

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by | February 24, 2016 · 9:15 pm

Millennials and the Art of the Bizcation

millennials
There has been a lot of talk about ‘bleisure travel’ and ‘bizcations’ recently, which happen when a guest combines business travel with leisure and nearly every article I found on the topic highlights the opportunity for business travelers (often millennials) to extend their stay for a few days so they can bring their family along for a mini vacation.

 

This is great, and certainly a trend that should not be ignored, but what about the Millennials who don’t have families?

When you ask a 20 or 30 something what they like to do in their spare time, chances are you are going to hear “travel” somewhere in their answer. Millennials love to explore and many are obsessed with the romantic notion of seeing the world. Yet, with so much to see in the world, it is nearly impossible to get to it to all, especially while holding down a full-time job.

Enter the bizcation. Opportunities for Millennials to turn a business trip into a vacation are more obvious in bigger cities and international destinations– New York, Las Vegas, London, Barcelona etc., but that doesn’t mean your property in the Midwest or a small town on the East Coast shouldn’t target bleisure travelers.

I think it is important to point out that while Millennials want to see the world and visit many countries, they are just as curious about destinations close to home. What they are ultimately seeking is adventure, a good story to tell, and an experience they can share with friends. As a hotel marketer, it is your job to pick out these opportunities for adventure near your hotel and share these ideas with your guests. Give them a reason to want to explore your city or town, and they will come.

By now, you know the typical tactics to turn a business traveler into a bleisure traveler: Offer them a special rate for the weekend, throw in perks such as free wi-fi or free breakfast, highlight fun & interesting activities near your hotel, etc. What you may not realize is that you are more likely to entice Millennials with a few small tweaks to your typical messaging.

Most hotels & resorts list nearby attractions on their website, but how can you re-think this section to target the Millennial audience? The trick is making sure you highlight UNIQUE attractions & activities that are hard to come by in any other place.

Below, I show you how to look for alternate activities to list on your website and in your marketing message that may better attract Millennials.

For more: http://bit.ly/1Qdt4f3

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by | February 22, 2016 · 6:17 pm

Spending Money Where the Guest Perceives It

guest

When it comes to renovations, savvy owners are investing their money in design aspects that matter most to the guest. Nunzio DeSantis, executive vice president and director of HKS Hospitality Group, shares his perspective on where hotels can get the biggest bang for their buck.

Emphasize guest public spaces.

“The lobby has the opportunity to create an interesting and engaging space. We see every type of guest—business, leisure, group—enjoying and entering this space. Everyone must enter and check-in and everyone must exit and check out through this space. If you take a look at the lobby, it can also be an extension of the bar, coffee shop, or restaurant. The quality of seats and materials will bring business travelers down to conduct work and entice group visitors to congregate in this space.”

Lighting is key.

“Look at how each room plays off of the other. How are the indoors and outdoors connected? What is the lighting like? Is it natural or synthetic lighting? The best way to make your guests happy they have chosen your hotel as their home away from home is a great view. Location and views change the entire experience.”

Design a navigable guestroom.

“There are two functionalities we are finding more and more hotels could be benefiting from: Mobility within the room and creating a square room. Most rooms are entered from a corridor. The guest then enters their room by walking into yet another corridor, thus elongating the anticipation of the satisfaction of their room. What I suggest is to create a 22-by-22-square-foot room instead of the typical 15-by-32-square-foot room. You do this by pushing the closet, typically to your right, and the wet room, typically to your left, to the back of the room. You not only create more space within the room, you also have now made the wet room less or a confined closet and more of an enhanced experience with a window. You have also created space for mobility.”

Create a clean bathroom space.

“The lavatory is what is going to set one brand apart from the rest. Customer service is always going to vary from brand to brand and is part of the interaction aspect of hotels, but everyone utilizes the lavatory, and everyone prefers it clean and functional. My suggestion is to get rid of the bathtub altogether and have a shower with a ledge. Really think about the guest—not everyone is the same height, so adjustability of the shower head is very important. Think about the firmness of the water, how it hits you, the temperature controls and what really should be the universal way to turn the shower on and off. And lastly, the drain should be slanted—this way everyone’s filth isn’t circling—and the doors should be an opaque glass. It’s clean, elegant, and private.”

Craft an all-encompassing fitness experience.

“Fifteen to 20 years ago, fitness rooms had no windows and were a small room with a few pieces of equipment. Today, people want fitness with a view, great outdoor patios for a cool down, innovative lighting, larger open spaces to move around, and equipment that is functional.”

Whenever DeSantis travels and stays in a new hotel, his architect side always emerges. As a guest, he constantly looks at what the properties are doing right or wrong, and whether things are working as intended. DeSantis says hotel design is all about making the right mistakes. “You try until it works, and when it does, you watch your guests’ experiences come to life.”

For more: http://bit.ly/1SNBvU2

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by | February 17, 2016 · 6:54 pm

How to Ramp Up Employee Cybersecurity Training

employee

In 2015, the hotel industry suffered unprecedented cyberattacks. In one month alone, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Hilton Worldwide Holdings all fell prey to savvy cyber thievery.

Hyatt confirmed hackers used malware to collect cardholder names, card numbers, expiration dates and verification codes from at least 250 hotels globally. Just a few days after the company announced its planned merger with Marriott International, Starwood Hotels also stated malware had been used to steal credit and debit card data that was found on point-of-sale cash registers.

Hilton also began investigating credit card breaches at several of its properties, including its Hilton, Embassy Suites, DoubleTree, Hampton Inn and Suites, and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brands. Hilton confirmed the breach and, much like Hyatt and Starwood, cited unauthorized malware that targeted payment card information in point-of-sale systems as the cause of the breach. Additional hotels targeted by hackers in 2015 included The Trump Hotel Collection, Mandarin Oriental and White Lodging Services Corporation.

To help prevent breaches, management should take steps to clearly define employee policies and procedures, which include:

Create protocols for access and transfer of sensitive information

Once a hotel has its IT network secure, only certain individuals should have access to the data. Further, user activity should be monitored using insider threat detection solutions that notify management of suspicious activities, both externally and internally. This includes monitoring applications for phones or computers that have access to sensitive data.

Hoteliers should tighten all network security. Simple ways to help accomplish that include:

  • ensure logins expire after short periods of inactivity;
  • require strong passwords that are never written down in public or unsecured locations; and
  • scan devices for malware every time they are plugged in.

Confirm that off-site technology is secure

Data housed off-site should be routinely backed up, and hoteliers should ensure that Web application firewalls are cloud-based solutions that are secure and encrypted. Hoteliers also should use top-notch anti-malware software and update it routinely.

Securing paper files that might include personal information

Employee files are a major target area for data breaches by way of paper files. They are typically easy to access (particularly in smaller hotels) and provide a significant source of data for a low-tech inside job.

Employee files also might include medical information protected by HIPAA. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, hacking has been involved in the HIPAA breaches of nearly 3 million patient records since 2009. Employees across all industries, including hospitality, should be aware that this highly sensitive information needs to be protected.

For more: http://bit.ly/1mHKrMn

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by | February 12, 2016 · 8:01 pm

Enhancing Check-in and Loyalty with ID Verification Solutions

Loyalty

There’s no weariness quite like the fatigue and impatience that sets in at the end of a long day of travel. You’ve made it through security gauntlets, cramped seats, noisy kids, and traffic to arrive at your destination. What’s next, a long line of your fellow crabby travelers, or a quick trip straight to your comfy room and minibar? As an hotelier, you know which of these customer experiences translates into greater loyalty, advocacy, and revenue.

 

When it comes to business and personal travel, customer expectations have always been high; customers increasingly expect more convenience, personalization, and flexibility from hospitality brands. Online booking options, mobile technology, and social media reviews have made the market intensely competitive. Customer loyalty is a key driver for revenue growth and competitive advantage. In fact, a recent Forrester study commissioned by Sabre Hospitality found that a 1-point score increase on their Customer Experience Index provides $6.52 in annual incremental revenue per customer—a significant cumulative impact, especially for larger brands.

The same study found that two-thirds of leisure travelers and more than half of business travelers claim they are not loyal to any hotel brand. The study’s findings point to intelligent applications of technology and data as primary avenues for improving customer experience and loyalty, with an emphasis on integrated enterprise solutions. Feel-good experiences engender loyalty more surely than cost or convenience, and loyalty translates directly to good news for the bottom line. How can we begin to incorporate technology that leaves customers raving about their experience and returning for more the next time they travel?

One of the big pain points for customers—the dreaded check-in process—presents a huge opportunity for hotels that extends well past what happens at the front desk. Solutions for scanning and verifying IDs and passports, including mobile scanning and self-service kiosks, are transforming the check-in process and providing a key link between customers and data-driven, integrated hospitality platforms. With mobile scanning, check-in can begin anywhere (even remotely) and be completed in less time with fewer errors. Advanced scanning solutions quickly and accurately read all data off drivers’ licenses, passports, and other official identity cards, automatically populate data records and store a digital replica of the ID for regulatory and security purposes.

Once a guest’s ID data has been scanned into records, it can then be cross-checked with other databases (DMV, credit bureaus, etc.) to verify the customer’s identity. The data can also be connected with the hotel’s enterprise systems for security, billing, and customer service management, as well as personalization and loyalty programs. The ability to quickly and accurately gather this data at the point of entry eases and enriches all the subsequent processes and interactions that rely on such data. These days, customers expect that you have their information and will use it to provide them with a more polished and personal experience. The information scanned at check-in can also be used for seamless sign-up to loyalty programs. Hotels and casinos have found that insights and information gleaned from this data allow them to tailor rewards to guests’ preferences and analyze guest spending patterns in response to various promotions.

A recent Software Advice study of hotel guest preferences found that 60 percent of respondents would be more likely to choose a hotel that allows check-in and keyless entry via smartphone, and 37 percent are more likely to choose a hotel with lobby technology such as self-service kiosks. This follows the general preference of Millennials for automated customer service options. It’s also reassuringly good news for hotels striving to deliver better customer service while controlling staffing costs. Front desk agents can spend more time on personal greetings, solving exceptions, and addressing complaints when they are freed from manual data entry tasks. A serene, smoothly run lobby makes for a more welcoming space than one crammed with guests waiting to check-in.

For more: http://bit.ly/1QcmxGI

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by | February 8, 2016 · 5:33 pm

How the Zika Virus Is Affecting Travel

Zika

The travel industry is beginning to react as vacationers rethink their trips amid growing concern over the Zika virus, the mosquito-borne disease that experts say is possibly linked to microcephaly in babies. The spread of the virus has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to warn pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant against travel to affected areas, including popular Caribbean tourist destinations like Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands and Barbados, as well as Mexico, Brazil and Panama.

United Airlines said that customers who hold tickets to regions that the C.D.C. says are affected by the virus can postpone their trips or receive full refunds.

American Airlines said that pregnant women with tickets to Panama City, Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula in Honduras, and San Salvador in El Salvador will receive a refund if they provide a doctor’s note stating that they are unable to travel because of their pregnancy.

JetBlue will allow customers who have concerns about traveling to Zika-affected areas a refund or rebooking, a spokeswoman said.

Virgin America will let travelers who have tickets to any Mexican destinations — Cancún, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos — get a refund or change their flight free of charge, a spokesman said.

Cruise lines are also working with travelers who want to change their plans. A spokeswoman for Princess Cruises said that pregnant women who are on itineraries visiting Zika-affected countries can cancel their cruises and get a credit for future cruises.

A spokesman for Royal Caribbean said that pregnant women who do not feel comfortable sailing to countries affected by the Zika virus can choose an alternative itinerary or get a credit for a future cruise, valid for two years.

Norwegian Cruise Lines is also making accommodations for pregnant women by allowing them to reschedule their cruise for a future date or change their itinerary to nonaffected destinations, a spokeswoman said.

Hotels in the affected regions are largely not offering refunds. While some are taking precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease, they have not implemented specific cancellation policies for guests who want to change their plans.

Hilton Worldwide, with 109 properties across its 13 brands in the affected areas, as well as Hyatt hotels and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, are considering waivers for cancellations on a case-by-case basis.

Some tour providers, meanwhile, especially in Brazil, where it is peak tourist season, report that they are fielding inquiries from concerned clients who have vacations planned in the country in the coming weeks.

For more: http://nyti.ms/1T0bcse

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