#Bodrum Hoteliers Association

Pandemic rules are removed, hotels are returning to their old days

The safe tourism certification brought to tourism facilities due to Kovid-19 has ended and tourism facilities have begun to return to their old days. Following the spread of the Kovid-19 virus in Turkey, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism mandated safe tourism certification to hotels in 2020. It obliged hotels to comply with certain criteria such as masks, distance and hygiene rules for domestic and foreign tourists. Open buffets were turned into closed buffets, table and chair distances, hygiene sprays and many similar rules were put into effect. The previous day, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism informed tourism professionals that the safe tourism certification program has ended. Tourism facilities began to return to their old days. Making statements on the subject, Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED) Board Member Bodrum Hoteliers Association (BODER) President Ömer Faruk Dengiz heralded the removal of safe tourism certification to tourism professionals and said, “During the pandemic, the 'safe tourism' certification program was put into practice by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This program was actually a program for the health of tourism workers and guests coming to tourism facilities. After a long break, with the new normalization in the pandemic process, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has removed the 'safe tourism' certification. In the safe tourism program, some rules such as the obligation to wear masks, not exceeding the capacity in closed areas, approach distance, table, chair distance, open buffet rules had to be followed. The program is now closed due to the normalization process. Our facilities will not be subject to the safe tourism certificate. Pay attention to the sustainable tourism certification Expressing that the sustainable tourism certification has come into effect, Chairman Dengiz said, “From now on, there is a program called sustainable tourism. Until 2030, there is an obligation to implement it in all hotels. It is a well-known program in the world. This program, which we call sustainable, is a certificate program that aims to be an environmentally friendly facility suitable for the region it is located in. We hope that those above a certain room capacity in the sustainable tourism certification program will be included in this program. In other words, hotels over 30 or 50 rooms can be subject to a sustainable hotel certificate. Referring to the rule of lifeguards at the beach facilities located next to each other, Mayor Dengiz said, “It is obligatory to have a lifeguard at the beach facilities affiliated to the Ministry. There are 10 facilities on the shore, each of which has to hire lifeguards. In addition, it is mandatory to have a lifeguard hut. There should be 10 side-by-side lifeguard huts. We are saying that this situation should be made easier. We hope that the authorities will give us justice on this issue."