Turkey unveils plan to revive tourism with health and hygiene certificates
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Turkey has unveiled a plan to revive tourism by giving travellers, resorts and employees seals of approval in a programme meant to jumpstart a crucial industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Turkey’s tourism minister on Sunday announced a certification scheme that will grant resorts and workers the right to operate in the coming summer season.
The certificates, to hotels, restaurants, transport firms, and other facilities, will be granted by “international certification institutions” to mark “a high level of health and hygiene requirements”, Turkey’s ministry of tourism and culture announced.
“Our certification program shall ensure that our guests in Turkey are going to make their holidays safely and hygienically and feel comfortable during their visit,” Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Turkey’s minister of Culture and Tourism said in a press release.
“Our programme covers preventive and protective steps including air, marine and land transportation, arrival ports, all facilities providing a holiday experience, health condition of employees in the industry, and tourists themselves,” he said.
Turkey has recorded at least 137,000 coronavirus cases, putting it among the 10 worst-affected countries worldwide, and more than 3,700 COVID-19 deaths, which is among the worst 15.
Eager to restart an economy that was already suffering from inflation and unemployment before the pandemic, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has begun to ease lockdown restrictions — with shopping malls and hair salons set to re-open on Monday, and the elderly and youth who were confined to their homes for weeks allowed out for short spells.
But international and domestic travel remains under severe restriction, strangling a key industry in a country with no oil but a Mediterranean climate, golden beaches, snow-capped mountains, and archaeological treasures.
Under the programme, passengers must wear masks to enter airports “from the time of check-in until their check-out”, and be screened for fevers before they board planes.
Travel industry employees will be given hygiene training and equipment, and be subject to regular screening with thermal cameras and thermometers.
Hotels and restaurants will be required to implement hygiene social distancing measures inside facilities, while planes, buses, and boats will be required to frequently sterilise vehicles and implement social-distancing measures.
Facilities must apply for, and obtain, certificates using the tourism ministry’s website, in order to reopen by 1 June, said the announcement.
