NATIONAL REPORT—At this time of crisis, those associated with the hotel industry make every effort to take care of their own, as well as others in the areas that they serve. Here are some organizations that are helping any way they can during the coronavirus pandemic:
HANYC Foundation Donates 5,000 Masks
HANYC Foundation, the charitable arm of the Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC), has donated 5,000 N95 masks to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.
The donation was facilitated by Hermann Elger, HANYC Foundation’s chairman and managing director of Baccarat New York; Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of HANYC; and local hotel owner representatives Raymond Sun and Zhujia Hong, who personally presented the masks to Mount Sinai’s 101st Street COVID-19 donation center.
HANYC and individual hotel owners have been working around the clock with city and state government to make entire hotels available to frontline healthcare workers and as makeshift medical facilities to relieve New York City’s overburdened hospitals. HANYC Foundation is committed to bringing together donations from hotels, their partners and suppliers to assist New York City and its first responders who are working so diligently to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
FAU Offers Free Online Hospitality Courses
In an effort to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Hospitality and Tourism Management program is offering its Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism Management for free.
Beginning April 9, the program will offer five online sessions to teach participants about hospitality law; career competencies; marketing and revenue management; finance fundamentals; and service excellence. In addition to keeping people positively engaged while they are not at work, the certificate program will help hourly associates, as well as supervisors and executives who work in hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, or any other service-oriented business, be better prepared when they do get back to work.
The Hospitality and Tourism Management program has offered the certificate for more than 10 years at a cost of $900 per participant, but FAU is waiving all fees to help workers weather this unprecedented period. More than 4,000 people from 79 countries on every continent excluding Antarctica have already registered for the certificate program.
“I want to commend Peter Ricci, director of FAU’s Hospitality and Tourism Management program, for his leadership in this wonderful initiative, as well as the faculty and staff, who will make these classes possible, for their hard work and dedication,” said John W. Kelly, FAU president. “This effort to help our global hospitality industry–for free–embodies the true spirit of community engagement that we value so highly here at FAU.”
