Marriott CEO Embraces Safety Measures to Boost Guest Comfort Levels
Photo Credit: Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson doesn't expect the U.S. to go into another round of coronavirus lockdowns, even if there is another surge of cases. Wikimedia / Kgbo
Skift Take
It's unlikely economic lockdowns are in the cards for preventing future coronavirus case surges in the U.S., and Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson's defense of "hygiene theater" shows what the business community sees as a viable alternative safety measure.
The United States continues to hold the highest number of new coronavirus cases in the world, but it is not quite at the surge levels seen in July across much of the Sun Belt.
But even if the U.S. experiences a repeat surge in winter months, when social distancing measures and outdoor dining aren’t as possible across the country, Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson thinks it would be difficult to enter into a second iteration of lockdown.
https://youtu.be/gr7uNAJ3QD0“If you bring it to the American context, I think, politically, we’re not going to go back to a hard shutdown,” Sorenson said Tuesday during Skift Global Forum. “It’s just not feasible the American society would accept that.”
The line of thinking matches with what analysts around the world have argued in recent months: It simply costs too much economically to keep an entire country under lockdown. While the U.S. was never entirely under lockdown, many of its largest economic hubs like New York City and Los Angeles were.
China continues to be the strongest region for recovery at Marriott, the world’s largest hotel company.
The coronavirus outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan initially sprea
