Turkey’s Ministry of Health announces tourism certification program with 129 items

The Ministry of culture and Tourism has announced protocols to be implemented with the start of operations in hotels. Accordingly, following are observed to be the most important instructions shared for implementation by administrations of hospitality establishments in the country.

– A competent staff will be assigned to each hotel to verify contamination measures and hygiene standards. Periodic monitoring forms and checklists will be prepared at the facilities, so as to support all procedures and protocols.

– Social distance plan will be implemented in the facilities and signs will be made available at places likely to be crowded. The personnel working in the enterprise will be trained on the rules and protocols to be applied.

– The body temperature of the employees will be measured at entry and exit and they will be recorded and monitored by biometric facial scanning system. The hotels will decide for themselves whether to employ bellboys but will inform guests about the matter.

– Facility managers will conducts meetings by teleconference and staff training will be conducted in the form of e-training. Employees will be required to have a MEB certified hygiene certificate. The facilities will have protective equipment to be provided to guests who do not have protective clothing.

– The removal of open buffets will not be mandatory. If the “open buffet” application is continued, a glass visor will be provided to ensure that the food in the buffet is not taken by the guests and that they do not have contact with the food, and the food will be given to the guest by stewards.

– Facilities such as SPA, hammam and fitness rooms will be open. But the maximum time will be 30 min. After every 30 minutes, these centers will be cleaned and disinfected for 15 minutes.

– The facilities will be obliged to provide all the protective equipment that the staff will use.

On the other hand the practice of “leaving rooms empty for 12 hours” in the draft arrangement was not included in the official draft. All devices in the rooms will be disinfected after the customer leaves and disposable boucle material will be kept in the rooms.

While it was determined how much chlorine levels would be in swimming pools, the social distance associated with sunbeds was not included within the certification rules. In the earlier draft, there was supposed to be a social distance between deckchairs.

A social distance of 1.5 meters between the dining tables and 60 cm between the chairs will be found. The criteria for kitchens generally consist of standard general hygiene protocols.