The Great Expense of Bed Bugs and How to Avoid It
The dreaded budgeting season is upon us. As many hoteliers take a step back to evaluate the previous year they may be surprised to see how an unexpected guest may have negatively impacted their room revenue: Bed bugs! It’s true, bed bugs can have a quite a negative impact on your bottom line. Some hoteliers are surprised to find that it’s not just the roadside motel feeling these effects. Bed bugs do not discriminate and will infest a five-star luxury resort as easily as they will a low-budget motel.
Bed bug expenses hit a hotel in more ways than one. Let’s take a look… The obvious impact is the high cost of treatment and having to take room(s) off of rental status during the treatment process. And yes…rooms! It is quite common that the affected AND surrounding rooms are treated and left vacant for days until determined to be ‘clear for re-entry’. However, it is often overlooked how a bed bug infestation impacts a hotel through negative online reviews from customer(s) affected by bed bugs.
Consider this:
- A single report of beg bugs in recent traveler reviews lowers the value of a hotel room by $38 a night for business travelers and $23 for leisure travelers – according to a University of Kentucky study “Bed Bugs ‘Bite’ the Wallet of Hotel Owners.”
- And the expense doesn’t stop there. A recent 2017 Orkin/Bantam Group Study shows that almost 50% of all hotels are subject to bed bug litigation. Costs for treatment and litigation can be as high as $23,650!
With so much at stake for a hotel it pays to plan for this unavoidable guest. You may be wondering if you can really plan for a bed bug outbreak in your hotel. The answer is: yes! But, perhaps, not in the same reactive way you have done in the past.
Bed bug prevention is a new movement being embraced by hoteliers and their pest management professionals alike. The concept is: rather than spending an inordinate amount of money treating bed bug infestations in a reactive manner, wisely budget for prevention of bed bugs and nip their introductions at the outset. As Jeffrey Lipman – Attorney-at-Law and Polk County Magistrate Judge, Consumer Class Action Bed Bug Litigator said, “Reactive-based measures alone, however implemented, for effective bed bug management and control is an ancient and ineffective way of dealing with bed bugs in hotels and will assuredly create legal peril for hotel property owners.”
With 80% of all hotels being treated for bed bugs last year according to the ‘2017 Orkin/Bantam Group Study: Bed Bug Infestations Cost Hotel Thousands’, it pays to prevent. With relatively few strategies available for early control there is ONLY one product labeled for bed bug prevention: ActiveGuard Mattress Liners.
ActiveGuard Mattress Liners:
- Prevent new bed bug infestations before they establish for two years
- Start killing bed bugs in just 10 minutes of contact
- Kill bed bugs in bedding (mattress, air mattress, box spring, sofa bed)
- Stop bed bug re-infestations
- Are useful as a long-term control of adult bed bugs and their juvenile forms
- Work as a bed bug monitor where bed bugs are most likely to infest…the bed
Hoteliers concerned with their property’s reputation and guest satisfaction are embracing this tried-and-tested bed bug prevention product. A preventive program centered around ActiveGuard kills bed bugs introduced into a room and prevents the establishment of a full-blown infestation. Compare how your hotel can benefit from switching from a reactive to a proactive approach to bed bugs with this Savings Calculator.
Take the pro-active step and install ActiveGuard Mattress Liners on every bed in your hotel. You’ll enjoy lower bed bug treatment costs, increase guest confidence, and maintain brand reputation while reducing hotel liability.
What are you waiting for? Get started with a Bed Bug Prevention Program today! Click here to learn more.