Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec;8(12):e12177.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12177. Epub 2022 Dec 8.

Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in hospitality employees in a highly frequented tourist area

H Thiessen  1 , N Käding  1 , B Gebel  1 , M Borsche  2 , S Graspeuntner  1 , L Kirchhoff  1 , M Ehlers  3 , J Rahmöller  4 , S Taube  5 , J Kramer  6 , C Klein  2 , A Katalinic  7 , J Rupp  1
Affiliations

Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in hospitality employees in a highly frequented tourist area

H Thiessen et al. Heliyon. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Right from the start of the COVID pandemic in January 2020, the entire tourism sector was put under immense pressure because of its assumed role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission and infection dynamics. Based on reports of single superspreading events in the early days of the pandemic, the hotel industry appeared in a bad light that impaired a strategic risk-assessment of existing transmission risks between tourists and employees. We prospectively analysed samples of 679 employees of 21 hotels and restaurants from July 2020 to December 2020, a time during which more than 1.5 million tourists visited the Lübeck/Ostholstein Baltic Sea vacation area in Northern Germany. Employees were tested up to three times for an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection (PCR from nasopharyngeal swabs) and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies, and were asked to complete a short questionnaire. Despite the massive increase in tourist influx, no significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 cases was observed amongst employees of the tourism sector from July to September 2020. In a cluster-outbreak analysis of 104 study participants of one single hotel in the Lübeck/Ostholstein region in October 2020 being employed in the low-wage sector "housekeeping" could be determined as major risk factor for becoming infected. In conclusion, in a low incidence setting, touristic activities are safe under COVID-related hygiene measures for both the local population and employees of the tourism sector. Whereas, the field of work is a potential risk factor for increased infection dynamics.

Keywords: Hospitality employees; Infection risk; SARS-CoV-2.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SARS-CoV-2 incidences in Schleswig-Holstein, specifically in the City of Lübeck and the district of Ostholstein, including lockdowns, dates of testing. Data modified from Robert Koch-Institute COVID-19 Dashboard (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/478220a4c454480e823b17327b2bf1d4; 21.06.2021).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Countries of origin classified by continents (A; ∗ Europe except Poland and Germany) and field of work (B) of the overall study cohort (n, total numbers; %).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Countries of origin classified by continents (A; ∗ Europe except Poland and Germany) and field of work (B) of the SARS-CoV-2 positive employees of the outbreak group (n, total numbers; %).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of different field of work in SARS-CoV-2 infected and non-infected employees of the outbreak group. Housekeeping as significant factor level of the binary logistic regression compared to management as reference with the lowest number of positivity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kreidl P., Schmid D., Maritschnik S., et al. Emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Austria. Wien Klin. Wochenschr. 2020;132(21-22):645–652. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chang S., Pierson E., Koh P.W., et al. Mobility network models of COVID-19 explain inequities and inform reopening. Nature. 2021;589(7840):82–87. - PubMed
    1. UNWTO . World Tourism Organization; 2020. Supporting Jobs and Economies through Travel and Tourism – A Call for Action to Mitigate the Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Accelerate Recovery.
    1. Kreiner N.C., Ram Y. National tourism strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ann. Tourism Res. 2020:103076. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tse S., Tung V.W.S. Residents' discrimination against tourists. Ann. Tourism Res. 2020:103060. - PMC - PubMed