Travel Industry Automates Pandemic Response With New Digital Tools

In the months since the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic, companies have been searching for ways to bring back people to airports and hotels to create a sense of normalcy. Some companies such as Athena Security have developed a solution to help ease the minds of potential travelers. The technology firm has redesigned their security cameras to detected passengers with a fever over 100.5 Fahrenheit. This technology will allow the passenger to be screened twice if a fever is registered. If a fever is detected twice, then the airline will decide if the passenger possess as a health risk for the flight.

Other than detecting fevers, some technology companies have been performing different tasks from detecting viruses and bacteria to performing refunds for major airlines. The software maker, Automation Anywhere Inc. has redesigned their software to process refunds to passengers who scheduled flights with American Airlines, Lufthansa and Air France. This software can process roughly 4,000 refund requests daily rather than only 500 through employees. In addition, robotic systems have been deployed to multiple hotels in the Texas Medical Center to detect viruses and bacteria. The machine goes into each hotel room that can scan the room for germs and can reach places that most individuals do not clean. 

This is related to marketing because technology firms such as Athena Security are creating a sense of security for travelers to spot individuals with a fever and prevent them from boarding flights. This is a step in the right direction to rebuild the trust of the people and venture out into public settings. If hotels and airports can create small 30 second ads displaying the effect of these scanners, then it is possible for both industries to bounce back after this crisis is over.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/travel-industry-automates-pandemic-response-with-new-digital-tools-11588361276?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1