The Austrian Professional Hotel Association at the Vienna Economic Chamber and the Vienna Tourist Board have joined forces to support accommodation partners, with the Safe Stay seal, a new accreditation developed specifically for Vienna.
The seal was launched after EU-affiliated tourism board portal, European Best Destinations, nominated Vienna as one of the ?20 safest travel destinations in the age of Covid-19?.
Major tourist attractions have been reopening since May 29, when Vienna?s Mayor turned the iconic ferris wheel back on, after it was switched off for the first time in its 75-year history. Sch?nbrunn Palace, the Tiergarten, the House of the Sea, the Spanish Riding School, the Belvedere museum and many others have opened their doors once again, with social distancing and increased sanitary regulations in place.
Hotels can display the Safe Stay seal at their entrance, to inform guests that they are complying with the seal?s criteria and meet the hygiene requirements, which is monitored regularly through inspections conducted by the Vienna Tourist Board and the Vienna Economic Chamber. All hotels in Vienna can apply to qualify for the seal. For more information, visit https://www.wko.at/branchen/w/tourismus-freizeitwirtschaft/hotellerie/safe-stay-vienna.html/
Vienna?s hotels are implementing specific measures across six categories, within the new Safe Stay seal regulations, including taking staff members? temperatures before they start their shift, appointing a dedicated safety officer to ensure measures are being followed correctly, introducing additional cleaning rounds and amenities for disinfection, digital visitor notifications and menus and others.
The city?s tourism sector is also participating in the WTTC?s Safe Travels initiative, the world?s first safety and hygiene stamp for the tourism sector, with the support of government experts, professional associations and the UN World Tourism Organisation. The stamp applies to tourism businesses such as hotels, restaurants, airlines and airports, tour operators, museums, attractions, retailers and car hire companies.
Vienna Tourist Board has drawn up a detailed set of guidelines for the hotel industry for a suspected COVID-19 cases. Should a visitor fall ill on holiday in Vienna, despite the safety precautions, they will be able to stay in allocated quarantine facilities that authorities in Vienna have arranged for 6,000 people. These facilities will have medical staff on hand.
It is important to note that under current Austrian government guidelines, visitors from the UK will have to quarantine on arrival for 14 days if they do not have a certificate to state they are COVID-19-negative or do not take a test when they enter Austria. Visitors can quarantine in their hotel unless otherwise instructed, and anyone who is required by the health authorities to quarantine in one of the city?s dedicated facilities will not have to bear the cost themselves. UK travellers will not need to quarantine when they return home.
Norbert Kettner, director of tourism at Vienna Tourist Board, said: ?Vienna?s response to the COVID-19 crisis is an international example of best practice. Our city is listed as one of the safest travel destinations, along with few other cities in the European Best Destinations ranking; so we are amplifying this status as a part of our reopening marketing activities. We are underlining the efforts of the Vienna visitor economy to offer the highest standards for visitors with the World Travel & Tourism Council?s internationally-recognised Safe Travels stamp, in which the Vienna Tourist Board is also participating, besides the Safe Stay seal for the hotel businesses.?
Dominic Schmid, chair of the Austrian Professional Hotel Association at the Vienna Economic Chamber, said: ?Booking rates at hotels in Vienna are currently around the 20% mark but Vienna?s hoteliers are confident of their ability to increase the number of domestic and international visitors. It is essential now that we win back the trust of our guests, which is why working on the development of the new Safe Stay seal was very close to my heart. Vienna?s hotels are creating a solid foundation for trust through the introduction of voluntary additional checks for hotels, rooms and the employees themselves? all of which go far beyond the statutory hygiene regulations. The new seal publicises this and communicates it to the outside world allowing our guests to enjoy their stay, assured of the additional measures that are being followed to ensure their safety.?
With 2020 as the 250th birthday ocomposer Ludwig van Beethoven, who premiered most of his works in Vienna) and the 120th anniversary of the publication of Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams (published in Vienna in August), Vienna has plenty to celebrate as it plans its recovery in the ?new normal?.
For more information on Vienna, go to: https://www.wien.info/en
