The Government has now published dedicated guidance for the visitor economy to support reopening of businesses and venues in line with the roadmap. We have provided a summary of the relevant guidance and quick links as practical tools and information released by other national industry bodies which you may find useful while preparing to open.
Before re-opening all businesses must make sure that the risk assessment for your business addresses the risks of COVID-19, using this guidance to inform your decisions and control measures. You must share the results of your risk assessment with your workforce. If possible, you should consider publishing the results on your website (it is expected that all businesses with over 50 workers to do so). You will also need this risk assessment to apply for the We’re Good To Go industry standard.
The opening up of the economy following the COVID-19 outbreak is being supported by NHS Test and Trace. You should assist this service by keeping a temporary record of your customers and visitors for 21 days, in a way that is manageable for your business, and assist NHS Test and Trace with requests for that data if needed. The government will work with industry and relevant bodies to design this system in line with data protection legislation and will set out more details shortly.
As and when we receive more details, we will continue to update this page.
VISITOR ECONOMY GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE
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Visitor Economy Guidance
This guidance is relevant for:
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- Indoor and outdoor attractions (e.g. arcades, walking tours, theme parks, family entertainment centres, static funfairs, zoos, and aquariums). The events and entertainment guidance may also be useful for attractions that move around (e.g. roving funfairs) which is to be published shortly.
- Although not included in announcement of businesses that can reopen on 4th July, the guidance also covers business events and consumer shows (e.g. events taking place in meetings, conference, convention and exhibition centres),
- Indoor and outdoor attractions (e.g. arcades, walking tours, theme parks, family entertainment centres, static funfairs, zoos, and aquariums). The events and entertainment guidance may also be useful for attractions that move around (e.g. roving funfairs) which is to be published shortly.
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Revised Restaurant and Pub Guidance
The Restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services guidance has been updated under section 2.3.2 with information on managing customer payment at the venue:
- At venues serving alcohol, customers are required to order, be served and eat/drink while seated (even if no alcohol is ordered).
- As a last resort, venues that serve alcohol can take payment indoors. Venues should take payment at the table or at another outdoor location. If it’s not possible to take payment outdoors, for example due to a technical issue, you can take payment indoors.
- If you need to take payment indoors the customer should wear a face covering unless exempt, you should ensure only one customer is indoors at any time for the purpose of making payment, and you should operate a tab system to ensure that customers do not need to make multiple indoor payments during their time at the venue.
For further information please click here
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Heritage Locations
This guidance provides additional detail relating to sites that have historic buildings, monuments, sites (including wrecks), parks, gardens or landscapes that have some form of public access (including, for example by volunteers onto private land).
The Visitor Economy Guidance can also support these businesses.
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Hotels and Guest Accommodation Guidance
This guidance is relevant for hotels and guest accommodation (including self-catering accommodation, B&Bs, hostels, camping, holiday homes, caravan parks, boats and other types of accommodation including short-term letting).
The Visitor Economy guidance will also be useful for hotels and guest accommodation services.
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Data Collection Requirements
Guidance on collecting customer details and maintaining records of staff, customers and visitors to businesses that are opening from 4th July has now been released. The requirement to collect this data applies to:
- hospitality, including pubs, bars and restaurants (it does not apply to businesses operating a takeaway/delivery only basis
- tourism and leisure, including hotels, museums, cinemas, zoos, theme parks and close contact services
- facilities provided by local authorities, including town halls and civic centres for events, community centres, libraries and children’s centres
- places of worship, including use for events and other community activities
This guidance applies to any establishment that provides an on-site service and to any events that take place on its premises. It does not apply where services are taken off-site immediately, for example, a food or drink outlet which only provides takeaways. If a business offers a mixture of a sit-in and takeaway service, contact information only needs to be collected for customers who are dining in. It does not apply to drop-off deliveries made by suppliers.
The data that needs to be collected is:
Staff- The names of staff who work at the premises.
- A contact phone number for each member of staff.
- The dates and times that staff are at work.
Customers and visitors
- The name of the customer or visitor. If there is more than one person, then you can record the name of the ‘lead member’ of the group and the number of people in the group.
- A contact phone number for each customer or visitor, or for the lead member of a group of people.
- Date of visit and arrival and, where possible, departure time.
If a customer interacts with only one member of staff, the name of the assigned staff member should be recorded alongside the name of the customer If you have a large booking, for example, at a restaurant, you only need to collect the name and contact phone number of the lead member of the party. This data needs to be kept for 21 days.
Read more information in the:
- Full guidance document
- FAQ on the Guidance
- Powerpoint toolkit for businesses which includes messaging to use with consumers and a template privacy notice for organisations to personalise and use.
The ICO has also published a statement and a short data protection A,B,C checklist on customer logs:
- Checklist
- Statement
READ MORE HERE
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BEIS Recovery Advice Scheme
BEIS has launched the Recovery Advice for Business scheme, supported by the government and hosted on the Enterprise Nation website, gives small firms access to free, one-to-one advice with an expert adviser to help them through the coronavirus pandemic and to prepare for long-term recovery. Thousands of expert professional and business services advisers are on hand to offer free advice, until 31st December. Small and medium sized businesses can sign up, take the diagnostic tool and access support. Advice will focus on key areas:
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- accounting and finance
- people and building a team
- planning, strategy and pivoting
- marketing, PR and social media
- technology and digital tools
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- Safer Travel Guidance
OTHER USEFUL GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE
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Managing beaches, countryside and coastal areas
With the reopening of rural and seaside areas for tourism, the Government has pulled together all the relevant existing government advice and policy to support the owners and operators of beach, countryside and coastal areas to meet the challenges that come with managing these areas.
The page covers issues such as carparks, public facilities, overcrowding and dealing with antisocial behaviour.
It also provides links to a range of external organisations that have produced guidance related to public safety in these areas. - Accessing and managing green spaces
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Safer public spaces - urban centres and green spaces
Guidance relevant for:
- Town Centres/High streets
- Transport hubs
- Retail spaces
- Community Gardens
- Parkland
- Nature reserves
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Safe use of multi-purpose community facilities
Guidance relevant for:
- Community centres
- Village halls
- Other community facilities
The guidance on the use of community facilities has been updated to say that while these facilities can be used by groups of over 30 people subject to social distancing capacities, they should not be used for indoor performances in front of a live audience and should not facilitate large gatherings or celebrations.
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Providers of outdoor facilities
Guidance relevant for businesses with outdoor facilities including:
- Outdoor sports courts
- Golf courses
- Playing fields
- Water sports
- Outdoor Gyms
- Playgrounds
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Managing playgrounds and gym
Guidance relevant for outdoor playgrounds and gyms.
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Performing arts
Along with the reopening, guidance has been produced to help performing arts organisations, venue operators and participants including those who are employers, employees and self-employed, volunteers and non-professionals in the UK understand how to work and take part in the performing arts safely, and keep their audiences safe. This includes a five stage reopening plan:
- Stage One - Rehearsal and training (no audiences)
- Stage Two - Performances for broadcast and recording purposes
- Stage Three - Performances outdoors with an audience and pilots for indoor performances with a limited socially-distanced audience
- Stage Four - Performances allowed indoors and outdoors (but with a limited socially-distanced audience indoors)
- Stage Five - Performances allowed indoors / outdoors (with a fuller audience indoors)
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Places of worship
Guidance has been produced for the safe operation of visiting places of worship. In addition to advice of staging services and events such as weddings, there is advice for opening for visitors stating that venues should work with local authorities, neighbouring businesses and travel operators to assess this risk and applying additional actions to reduce the risk of transmission . These could include:
- Further lowering capacity - even if it is possible to safely seat a number of people inside a venue, it may not be safe for them all to travel to and from,or enter and exit the venue.
- Staggering entry times with other local venues and taking steps to avoid queues building up in surrounding areas.
- Arranging one-way travel routes between transport hubs and venues.
- Advising visitors to avoid particular forms of transport or routes and to avoid crowded areas when in transit to the venue.
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Sport, gym and leisure facilities
The government announced that outdoor pools will reopen on 11 July and indoor gyms, swimming pools and sports facilities will reopen from 25 July provide that these facilities comply with new guidance. This guidance includes measures aimed at:
- Limiting the number of people using the facility at any one time, for example by using a timed booking system;
- Reducing class sizes and allowing sufficient time between each class to avoid groups waiting outside during changeover;
- Ensuring an appropriate number of people are in a swimming pool at any one time;
- Spacing out equipment or taking some out of service to maintain social distancing;
- Enhanced cleaning and providing hand sanitizer throughout venues;
- Considering how the way people walk through their venue could be adjusted to reduce contact, with queue management or one-way systems;
- Ensuring adequate ventilation;
- Encouraging the use of outdoor spaces for individual, team or group activities, making sure to comply with the latest restrictions on public gatherings;
- Exercise or dance studios should have temporary floor markings where possible to help people stay distanced during classes;
- Customers and staff should be encouraged to shower and change at home wherever possible, although changing rooms will be available.
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Updated transport guidance for operators
Guidance relevant for all transport providers including businesses such as:
- Bus Tours
- Boat Tours
- Railway services
The Prime Minister announced that the government will now advise people they may use public transport. The Department of Transport (DfT) has now updated both it’s passenger and operator guidance to reflect this. DfT continues to work with public transport operators to remove the “avoid public transport” and “essential travel only” messages from their passenger communications activity.
If an area is in or goes into local lockdown, DfT advice is that operators and stakeholders should revert to communicating the “essential travel only” message and that people should stay at home as much as possible.
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Small marriages and civil partnerships
Guidance is relevant for any business offering facilities to accommodate marriages and civil partnerships.
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Spas and close contact services
While spas will be able to reopen from Saturday 15th August, the updated guidance from Government for Close Contact Services says that Saunas and Steam Rooms should remain closed until further notice and that the use of changing rooms should still be discouraged wherever possible with customers advised to change and shower in their rooms or at home.
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BEIS Recovery Advice Scheme
BEIS has launched the Recovery Advice for Business scheme, supported by the government and hosted on the Enterprise Nation website, gives small firms access to free, one-to-one advice with an expert adviser to help them through the coronavirus pandemic and to prepare for long-term recovery. Thousands of expert professional and business services advisers are on hand to offer free advice, until 31st December. Small and medium sized businesses can sign up, take the diagnostic tool and access support. Advice will focus on key areas:
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- accounting and finance
- people and building a team
- planning, strategy and pivoting
- marketing, PR and social media
- technology and digital tools
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Guidance on Self Hire Boats
The Environment Agency has issued guidance on self-hire boats. From Monday 29th March, boat hire premises can open and people can hire a boat for the day under the following rules:
- An enclosed boat can only be hired by a single household or bubble
- An open boat can be hired by people conforming to the Rule of Six or two households provided social distancing can be maintained between people / different households
INDUSTRY BODY GUIDANCE
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Events Industry Forum - Outdoor Events
This document is to help employers, employees, volunteers and the self-employed, and their customers and attendees, in the outdoor event industry in England understand how to work safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping as many people as possible socially distanced from outside of their household or support bubble, in line with the latest government regulations.
This document has been prepared by the Events Industry Forum with input from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and in consultation with Public Health England (PHE) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Public health is devolved in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This guidance should be considered alongside local public health and safety requirements and legislation in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For advice to businesses in other parts of the UK please see guidance set by the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Government.
We expect that this document will be updated over time. This version is up to date as of 10th July 2020 (to clarify effective date from 11th July 2020). You can check for updates at www.eventsindustryforum.co.uk.
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Reopening guidance from IAPPA
Reopening Guidance - Considerations for the
Global Attractions Industry -
Tour Guides
The Institute of Tourist Guiding, the British Guild of Tourist Guides, the Association of Professional Tourist Guides and the Driver-Guides Association have created the Covid-19 Guidance for Tour Guiding. Guides who are members of these organisations are expected to abide by this guidance during the Covid-19 crisis.
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UK Hospitality
COVID19 Secure Guidelines for hospitality businesses
UK Hospitality and partners have consolidated guidance and advice from many parts of the hospitality and visitor sector into one document to support businesses to create a Covid secure environment in line with Government guidelines.
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Venues
Guidance relevant for any venue offering event space.
Guidance relevant for any venue offering event space.
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Zoos and Aquariums
Advice from BIAZA for Zoos and aquariums
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Guidance from the Association of Event Organisers
The AEO has published it’s All Secure Standard guidance. The guidance sets out to achieve common standards of health, safety and operational planning, management and on-site conduct for the events industry. It will be continually reviewed in line with the latest advice.
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Event Safety Alliance Guidance for Reopening
The Event Safety Alliance has created a guide in partnership with industry professionals across the US to support the safe reopening of worldwide events both large and small.
PLANNING AND LICENCING GUIDANCE
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Pavement Licence
Guidance relevant for any businesses offering outdoor seating facilities:
- Pubs
- Restaurants
- Cafe
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Takeaway Licence
Planning rules will be relaxed so pubs and restaurants can operate as hot food takeaways during the coronavirus outbreak.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR RECOVERY PLANS
If you are intending to re-open all or part of your site, please do keep us updated on your plans along with any specific restrictions. We’re tracking all of the businesses that are looking to open their doors in order to help amplify your messaging on our B2C channels. We will of course always advise people to check your website ahead of visiting for the latest information.
It would also be useful if you could share and information, images or video showing the measures that you put in place to maintain social distancing or extra hygiene measures. This will help us to build consumer confidence and put them at ease by showing them what they can expect when they visit.