How Bedbug Safety Is Becoming a Hotel Booking Advantage

0:00ZS is a global consulting and technology firm that partners with companies to improve life and how we live it. Working with the world's top hospitality brands, ZS brings together data, science, technology, and human ingenuity to transform ideas into customer loyalty. They're ready to help you elevate guest experiences, improve operations, and uncover preferences and motivations through their AI-powered solutions. With more than 1 ,700 clients in over 170 countries, ZS has built the expertise, fortitude, and vision to help you deliver impact right where it matters.

0:54Hi, everyone. This is Brandy from Good Morning Hospitality. I'm here with Martim, the founder and CEO of Valpass. And we are probably coming to the end of the day of day too at Skift Global Forum, which has been really fun. So how has the conference been going for you so far? Great to be here. Thank you for having. It's been great. First time at Skift. I've been enjoyed a lot. So tell us a little bit about Valpass and why you decided to start it. So it's funny because our industry, hospitality, every decade, a guest need jumps from a concern into a bookable attribute. In the 90s, we used to smoke in hotels until enough people got concerned and non-smoking rooms emerged as the response.

1:402000s, it was the Wi-Fi. 2010s, it was sustainability and certifications arrived. Now in the 2020s, there's a new guest need that has emerged. So according to a new study from this summer from a big travel industry media, the number one concern for guests when booking with a hotel. It's not cleanliness. It's not value. It's not staff. It's bed bugs. That's the number one. You're so gross. I know. I know. And this has happened kind of silently. Yeah. Because it's a topic that the industry hasn't really talked about. It's almost like a swear word. It's like the boogeyman. You don't want to say it out.

2:18Yeah, it's the Voldemort. Exactly. We know. They who must not be named. All those little bugs. Yes. There you go. and why would hospitality have spoken about this before because there's been no good way really to assure travelers before um so guests they've taken you know matters into their own hands and they're taking all sorts of precautions you know when they travel so according to the same study 70 of u.s travelers they're doing at least you know one action to avoid the risk of getting bed bugs you know scanning reviews for the hygiene and pest reputation checking beds when they arrive into the room.

2:54That's almost 50 % do that. Or then once they return home, they wash everything. Panic, looking at all their clothes. There you go. And so it's this shift in guests, anxieties, priorities, and needs that we built the company. So we allow hotels to reassure travelers worldwide. And what we do is we make bed bug safety. It's like an accreditation. kind of yeah we certify hotels as bed bug safe okay uh through our own proprietary technology that goes inside the rooms okay um that verifies the hotel in real time and whenever there's a traveler that carries bed bugs with them it prevents it on the first night before anything happens no infestations happen and then we put the proof of safety where it matters where people make bookends anything from you know the direct booking channel of the hotel to first otas and wholesalers that show it as a filter and as a badge on hotel profiles including you know ai searches.

3:54Yeah. It's like there's been a topic this week about trust and a lot of that has centered around AI and things like that. But there's also the trust in can I book this room and know that it's going to be clean and bug free and all of that. And depending on where you go, that might be a little up in the air. There you go. And reviews, you know, you can no longer trust reviews maybe as much as before. And they don't give also, you know, real time information about the hotel. Yeah, you could leave a review two weeks after you stay. Yeah, there you go. So this is actually something that is coming directly from the rooms.

4:32And the proof is shown in real time across over 60 ,000 beds. You know, some of our biggest brands that are already on board, Marriott, Accor. You got the big boys. As well as a lot of independent hotels, Michelin key ones. And is that in the US, Europe, where are your markets mainly? We have over 60 destinations live, mostly in Europe. You know, big US destinations like Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Florence, but also places like Tokyo, Kyoto. Okay. Wow. And when did you guys, when were you founded? When did you start this journey? The company, it's a longer story, but to put it short, it's the story of how one trip gone wrong with yours truly.

5:14Yeah. Has now become a new standard. That's how a lot of businesses start. I know. You're just like, I had this terrible, I had a horrible experience when I was in college. in Prague with bedbugs. Everyone has a story now. Everyone has a story. Yeah. I managed to not get bitten, but my friend who was in the bed with me was head to toe. And I was like, I don't know why they didn't like me. You had a buffer there. Yeah. She was like the buffet. And I was like, yeah. So, but yeah, exactly. It took like one bad experience and now you're on this journey, which is, isn't that interesting how that happens?

5:45I know. And you know, one thing that we hear a lot when we speak with hoteliers, no matter if they're operators or owners, is that the last wave of the sustainability, which I was mentioning, it was kind of a letdown or has been so far for hoteliers because travelers say in surveys that, hey, they're willing to choose a sustainable hotel more often than one that isn't. But then when it's actually time to put your money where your mouth is, they're not doing it. Yeah, travelers don't care. They don't care. And the thing with that attribute, sustainability, is that you're asking travelers to pay for the greater good.

6:17Yeah. But this attributes bed bug safety. I mean, even with the other concerns like cleanliness or staff not on their best day, the moment you check out, they stay in the hotel, those concerns. But bed bugs, they follow you home. Yeah. And that changes everything. Yeah. And that's why we've seen that hotels that get this verification, get bed bug safe, and then show it on the direct booking channel. It's basically lifting conversions between 8 % to 12.5%. Yeah, I think that's so interesting. I never would have thought of like this kind of certification or badge as something that would even be possible.

6:55But now that we're talking about it, I'm like, if I could guarantee that that wasn't going to be an issue, because it's funny, Will was saying before he, you know, because he like came up in hotels that he's always checking. And I was like, I don't know if I check all the time. But then as being an operator, whenever we had bedbugs or someone claimed there was bedbugs, it's like five alarm fire. You got to freak out, you know. I mean, that's the other part, you know, what you mentioned is kind of the suspicions or the claims. We're hearing a lot as well from operators, especially front offices, you know, the front lines that people book a hotel for seven nights.

7:30And then on the last morning. All of a sudden they have bedbugs. Yeah. And they want a refund or they go online and, you know, leave a review. Yep. and this is kind of a delicate situation there that kind of have severe consequences to your ADR because you can't go back and put that back the toothpaste back in the tube you know but this is great because you can be like actually no that's not the case you know we have some evidence yeah they just pull out the app from the front office and they can show you know the verified data that is of safety coming directly from the room not even the property which immediately you know reassures situations and provides a hard proof And then you're not getting that refund.

8:08There you go. Well, so we've been here for - Sorry, hustlers. Yeah, exactly. And people are getting crafty, I will say. Yeah. So we've been at Skiff now for almost a full day. We had the sessions last night. What are some of the things that you've taken away from the conference so far? I think the number one thing is that AI - Yeah, there it is. Is there on everyone's mind. Yeah. But really, people are dabbling with it, but not really fully integrating their companies, operations, ways of working their products into it yet. That's still a big unknown. But everyone's kind of trying to understand, hey, how can we start that journey?

8:50What makes sense? And I think for hotels and the industry, a lot of it has kind of the conversation has been around distribution. How can we be found in there? Which is a good starting point. Yeah. And, you know, things like all these sorts of, you know, accreditations or verifiable features that a hotel has certainly will help that. But there's so much, you know, beyond that that can be achieved. Yeah, I think, you know, last night, I forget if it was our Glenn Fogel said that, you know, to really integrate AI meaningfully in your business takes time, is expensive. And it's honestly kind of labor intensive to go through and rework your whole business.

9:28So it's going to, it's not this instant thing that everybody says it's going to be. All right. And now the most important question of the interview. Are you ready? Are you prepared? Yeah. Where do you want to go on vacation next? Japan. Yeah. I also want to go to Japan. Japan. Yeah. Do you want to go? What's your main driver for wanting to go to Japan? I mean, I'm a repeat. I'm a repeater. Okay. I'm a repeat Japan visitor. Okay. Do you, have you skied in Japan? I haven't. That's exactly what I want to do. I really want to go skiing in Japan. Hokkaido. Yeah. Get some of the powder. Yeah. And yeah, experience that side of Japan.

10:01Yeah, get some ramen slope side. Yeah. Love that. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining me. This is so fun. It was great to meet you. Enjoy the rest of the conference. It was a pleasure. You too. Thanks.

10:27ZS is a global consulting and technology firm that partners with companies to improve life and how we live it. Working with the world's top hospitality brands, ZS brings together data, science, technology, and human ingenuity to transform ideas into customer loyalty. They're ready to help you elevate guest experiences, improve operations, and uncover preferences and motivations through their AI-powered solutions. With more than 1 ,700 clients in over 170 countries, ZS has built the expertise, fortitude, and vision to help you deliver impact right where it matters.