What are the consequences of an infestation?
Identifying bed bugs
Bed bugs can cause large economic losses for a hotel. Since bed bugs breed quickly, it is not uncommon for them to spread into a whole floor or wing. The more infested rooms there are, the higher the economic loss is.
In the short term..
- Bed bug infestations result in lost room revenue for multiple nights across multiple rooms.
- You have to pay treatment fees related to the extermination like inspections and heat treatment.
- There are costs related to room refurbishing for unusable furniture.
In the long term..
- According to a 2015 study by the University of Kentucky, even a single online report of bed bugs in a hotel can lower the room value by up to $38.
- Reviews that mention bed bugs are very likely to make travelers pick another hotel instead, which reduces the hotel’s overall occupancy and revenue.
Bed bug infestations can cause permanent damage to the reputation of a hotel with the rise of social media, OTAs and online review sites. The revenue loss of a negative bed bug review can be in the tens of thousands of euros.