Americans are taking fewer vacation days than ever before, reaching a 40 year high of unused time according to a study performed by the researchers at Oxford Economics. This totals well over $50 billion in lost benefits, adding more evidence to the common perception of America’s overworked populace.
Yet, as a hotel manager, you realize these statistics don’t provide enough context. You know full well that this summer thousands of families will come in droves through your building’s revolving door. Pest control may get buried under the myriad of tasks this summer, so we will attempt to make your life easier by outlining three pests to emphasize focus with more hotel traffic.
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Bed Bugs
An article discussing high-volume hotels wouldn’t be complete without a section mentioning bed bugs. We’ve extensively covered the need for heightened monitoring of these creatures throughout the blog and website, but it’s still worth noting that bed bug incident reports will certainly increase with more visitors. The most extreme cases have resulted in expensive lawsuits and severe image degradation, so it’s prudent to actively follow our bed bug action plan.
Of consideration in your plan to combat these insects is hiring a bed bug detecting canine. Providing your staff with training and encasing mattresses in a protective cover are great preventative measures, but only a bed bug sensing dog can provide instant verification of an infestation. Indeed, scientists have shown a well-trained canine can be 97% effective in correctly identifying the insect.
Ants
Ants are much like humans in that their attention is immediately diverted when presented with a sweet-tasting food. The ant colony is trained to scour the earth in search of luscious sustenance, ordering its scouts to find and deliver this food. Both your hotel patrons and outdoor dining areas can be responsible for leaving food residues in their wake that attract ants.
Although the presence of ants is often-times looked at as a part of summer, it isn’t in a hospitality environment. Their presence will leave customers uneasy, wondering what other bugs are wandering around. Ants are also very hard to control, so do-it-yourself measures can not only be ineffective, but also make some problems worse if you don’t know what kind of ant you are dealing with.
Flies
Flies aren’t only a nuisance; they’re also very difficult to control. A study conducted in late 2014 discovered the typical housefly’s genome has astonishing capabilities, demonstrating that adult house flies had certain immunities to insecticide. This is particularly troublesome considering the diseases these insects can spread. The housefly’s harmful reputation shouldn’t be taken lightly and should be given your full attention when evaluating pest elimination topics. There are many pest control practices that can be implemented to beat flies at their tricky game; you just need a professional to show you the way.
Most fly deterring methods focus on proper waste management and food storage, and, while these areas will certainly attract flies and should be your focal point, there are other areas of your building that can act as breeding grounds. For example, your HVAC unit. Inspecting your building’s air conditioner should be a priority regardless with summer approaching, but you should continually examine this area through those months. Flies typically breed in moist environments and a clogged or leaking condensate drain line could offer a home to their larvae. This can act as an entry way into your building, so be sure to examine the entire machine as well as hose draining areas.
Contact Wil-Kil to learn how we can help control pests in hotels.