The Azerbaijani Tourism Board began preparing for the post-travel restrictions phase, as it launched, in cooperation with the National Tourism Authority and the Food Safety Agency, an innovative program to enhance cleaning and sterilization methods.
The campaign aims to further raise health, safety and hygiene standards, which are already considered tourism features in Azerbaijan, to confirm the country's commitment to providing a world-class tourist destination for tourists in the post-epidemic phase.
The Azerbaijan Tourism Board accredits an international company to audit and certify the campaign's standards.
The launch of the campaign comes within the framework of the measures taken by the state to contain the Corona epidemic, and it is based on the basic principles of safety, transparency, social responsibility and inclusiveness, as the public and private sectors participate in it, and its first results will be a plan for domestic tourism that will be implemented this summer.
"The global pandemic has prompted us to focus on re-evaluating and strengthening our standards, and this campaign ensures the adoption of best practices in the field of protecting public health and restoring the growth of the tourism sector," said Florian Sengst Schmid, CEO of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board.
The list of participants in the campaign also includes the Hotel Owners Syndicate, local and regional municipalities, and other government sectors, and will focus on 3 main aspects of the value chain of the tourism sector: hotel accommodation, food and beverages, and tourist transportation services. Among the precautionary measures that will witness special attention are the safe distance ratio, sterilization efficiency, and the safety of quarantine areas and cleaning methods.
The Tourism Authority will fund basic campaign support programs that include training, amenities and promotion. As for the implementation, it includes 4 stages, from registration in the program to training courses and obtaining certificates via the Internet, up to the evaluation stage and then final verification.
For his part, the managing partner of the company in charge of auditing and certifying campaign standards in Azerbaijan, Movlan Pashayev, said: “This crisis posed unprecedented challenges for the whole world, but at the same time it provided a good opportunity to accelerate transformation in many sectors. From here, we look forward to supporting the Azerbaijani Tourism Board by playing a pivotal role in launching the new campaign and contributing to the recovery of the tourism sector.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia represents the largest share of visitors to Azerbaijan among the Gulf countries over the past 3 years.
Okaz (Baku)
