by admin 
With the beginning of the spread of Coronavirus in Turkey, the country took all precautionary measures, such as social distancing, curfews for the elderly and youngsters, finding shelters for the homeless and continuous disinfection of all public places and transportation and many other precautions, allowing citizens and residents to go on with their lives normally while staying safe, qualifying it to be at the top of the list of countries that were able to control the spread of the pandemic and register the lowest number of injuries and deaths compared to the numbers indicated at the height of the spread of Covid-19. Turkey’s great strength in controlling the spread of the coronavirus became of interest to foreigners that want to travel to Turkey as soon as flights start operating normally since they feel safe.
The Turkish government allocated a program, first of its kind in the world, based on ensuring safe tourism for its tourists.
The Safe Tourism Program in Turkey changed the standards, in touristic spots such as hotels restaurants coffee shops and so on ensuring the safety of tourists by taking a series of preventive measures to prevent the transmission of the virus.
All touristic facilities must have a safe tourism certificate. This updated certificate enabled Turkey to outperform many European countries in terms of applying health safety rules that allow tourists to roam in the various approved facilities with all comfort and reassurance and to ensure that they are completely free of infection. Logos of the health certificate issued by accreditation companies identified by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism appear after completing registration procedures through the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency and pass the accreditation check with health certificates as soon as they are acquired.
The safe tourism program in Turkey is targeted at touristic facilities and tourists at the same time, and it depends on several conditions that take into account the conditions imposed by the spread of the Corona pandemic, including:
· Redesigning spaces by the conditions of hygiene and respect for social distancing.
· Daily reassurance of the health status of both workers and visitors to touristic places in Turkey.
· Regular monitoring and inspection of accommodation, food and drink facilities, and hiking and transport vehicles that tourists use daily.
· Monthly examination of health safety certificates through a field inspection of tourist establishments with a warning if any defect is detected during the inspection and cancellation of the certificate if it continues.
· Submit posters to the tourist establishments after the end of the inspection process, with it obligatory to affix them to the entrances and visible points.
· Hotels obtaining safe tourism certificates will not be until after meeting 132 special measures from the moment the customer enters the hotel to the state of emergency and health isolation, as well as 120 standards for eating, food and drink spaces, and 44 standards for transport and touring vehicles and respect for social distance and cleanliness within the rooms and elevators.
· The necessity for health facility personnel to receive Covid-19 pandemic training as a prerequisite for obtaining a health-safe tourism certificate while continuing to provide periodic basic training to staff explaining to them theirs and the tourist safety plans and standards.
· The necessity of the touristic establishments having mural plans in at least three languages explaining the precautionary measures against the pandemic and enabling tourists from all countries to read them easily without the need for a translation service every time.
· The necessity of the touristic facilities to have clothes, equipment, and masks to prevent the spread of the virus.
· Permanent measurement of body temperature of the staff using a thermal sensor or thermal cameras when entering and exiting while recording biometric facial definitions.
· The necessity for all tourist establishments to draw up a plan to deal with emergency or suspicious cases or guests who show symptoms.
· Allocating rooms for isolation inside hotels in the event of an emergency being discovered, and taking all necessary measures to clean them up after use by patients.
· The necessity of putting blankets, mattresses, and used clothes on the part of the tourist affected by the Coronavirus in plastic bags and sending them to a laundry outside the hotel.
· The necessity of providing all touristic establishments with antiseptic, alcoholic, and protective equipment in reception halls and restaurant tables with a preference for electronic payment instead of cash payment.
· Continuous disinfection after each use of frequently used equipment such as the hotel room card, towel, reception bell, elevator buttons, restaurant chairs, etc.
· Leave a distance of at least one and a half meters between tables in restaurants and 60 cm between chairs.
· All water heaters, televisions, controllers, and air conditioners are sterilized after any tourists leave the hotel room.
· Removing buffets, tea and coffee machines, self-use drinks and water spills, and replacing them with the direct service of a property employee.
With safe tourism, Turkey is ready to great all its guests again safely. All the beautiful touristic sights and bazaars will welcome you with arms wide open. Just remember to do your part in staying safe and all else will be fine.
