Deep-cleaned rooms, no football tournaments and buffets ‘reduced to a minimum’: Tui reveals its 10-point plan for post-lockdown holidays
- The plan says that restaurants will have fewer tables but longer opening hours
- Guests will also be encouraged to check into their hotel room via their phones
- Food and drinks will be served to guests by staff wearing protective masks
Holiday giant Tui has set out a 10-point plan that outlines how it will operate post-lockdown holidays.
It reveals that buffets will be ‘reduced to a minimum’, football tournaments banned and rooms will undergo extensive cleaning every time there are new guests.
Holidaymakers can make check-in contactless at many Tui hotels by checking in online via the hotel’s website or via their smartphone. And once at the destination, social-distancing measures will be in force.
Holiday giant Tui has set out a 10-point plan that outlines how it will operate post-lockdown holidays
In public areas such as restaurants, corridors or gyms, all employees will be required to keep a distance of 1.5 to two metres between them and the guests, Tui said.
What’s more, tables in restaurants will only be cleaned when guests have vacated them and to limit the number of guests in restaurants capacities will be significantly reduced.
In addition, tables will be set up at a minimum distance of 1.5 metres apart.
However, to make-up for a reduced restaurant size, opening hours will be extended.
In addition to self-service buffets being pared back, food and beverages will be served by staff wearing protective masks, wherever possible.
Other hygiene measures include the number of disinfection dispensers around hotels increasing – and they will always be available at ‘important contact points’.
During the cleaning of rooms, special attention will be paid to areas such as the bathroom and the TV remote control.
Entertainment at Tui hotels will also be modified, with ‘only events, sports and entertainments involving a small number of participants and without close contact being made available’. This includes tennis and golf, but not football.
Spas will also have to be adapted while childcare ‘will be organised according to new standards in line with the requirements of the destinations and guests’ countries of origin’.
In addition, staff ‘work together in fixed teams to reconstruct possible infection chains’.
The holiday giant says training on these points will be given to all staff by independent auditors with the first training documents available later this week.
Tui’s plan reveals that buffets will be reduced to a minimum and there will be fewer tables in restaurants
Tui, the UK’s biggest tour operator, says the new standards will be implemented at its Tui Blu, Robinson and Tui Magic Life resorts as well as its joint venture and partner hotels.
It says that the 10-point plan is ‘part of a more comprehensive package of measures that cover all of the tour operator’s service components, from retail, flights and transfers to hotel stays, local excursions and cruises’.
Sebastian Ebel, the member of Tui’s group executive board responsible for holiday experiences, said: ‘Customer surveys clearly indicate that safety and hygiene will be of paramount importance for holidaymakers after the lockdown.
‘With our group-wide, integrated health and safety management system, we can ensure that our hotels meet guests’ high expectations and offer the best possible protection against infections during these unusual times.
‘We are laying the foundations for an agile and safe return to business so we can be ready to offer our unique holiday experiences again as soon as possible.’