Visit Scotland | Alba

Moment for Change | Get Tourism Ready

How you prepare to reopen and continue to provide a safe environment for your customers and staff once open, is crucially important. There’s a lot to consider and we’ve worked with the Scottish Government and industry sector groups to bring you key requirements that need to be undertaken.

On this page:

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a devastating impact on the tourism and events industry. But it does give us the opportunity to review how we rebuild our visitor economy together, working with the tourism and events industry, stakeholders and the communities we operate in. This really is a moment for change.

Checklist

We know there’s a lot of information out there, so here’s a high-level checklist of the main things you should consider in getting your business ready for reopening.

Checklist for micro - small tourism businesses

Published September 2020

Download (694Kb)

Checklist for medium - large tourism businesses

Published September 2020

Download (790Kb)

Other useful links

Read the full list of really useful frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to the tourism and hospitality guidance.

Read more on Scotland’s protection levels and / or England's local restriction tiers. Check Scotland’s protection level via the Postcode checker. 

Read Scottish Government guidance on travel and transport. And guidance on international travel and quarantine

Read the hospitality and tourism customer guidance. The Scottish Government has created resources for you to use to make your customers aware of their duty to provide contact details, and to make them aware of how their data will be used. View the resources.

Check In Scotland is a way to collect the contact details of people who visit hospitality businesses, designed to work with NHS Scotland's Test and Protect.

Guidance from your sector

Guidance has been produced across sector groups to provide you with best practice advice for your business in order to be ready to welcome visitors safely. These guidelines should help you to understand what you need to do.

Separate guidance for event organisers can be found on our events preparation page.

We're good to go

In order to give confidence to your visitors, we’ve worked with VisitEngland, Visit Wales and Tourism Northern Ireland to create a UK-wide industry standard and consumer mark.

Once you’ve completed the self-assessment, you’ll be given a link to a toolkit with logos and guidelines for the We’re Good to Go mark that can be used across your marketing channels and signage, plus a downloadable certificate for display on the premises. You can also download a Gaelic version of the mark as part of the process.

A call-handling service will provide support and assessors will also carry-out random spot-checks to ensure businesses are adhering to the guidance.

Get Tourism Ready | Preparing for reopening

Get Tourism Ready | case studies

There has been lots of work going on behind the scenes to 'Get Tourism Ready', as businesses put new measures in place to help protect staff, customers and communities. 

Here are some examples:

  • Real Food Café, Tyndrum

    The Real Food Café in Tyndrum has been investing in new measures to get the business ready to open safely and responsibly on Thursday 23 July. Included in these measures, is a new Click and Collect system, new uniforms and PPE for staff and newly installed hard plastic screens at service points. Cafe staff have also received training in the new protocols and new signage will make both staff and customers aware of new safety measures.

  • Garleton Lodge, East Lothian

    Garleton Lodge, a five-star luxury B&B/small hotel, restaurant and spa in East Lothian has put several measures in place to plan for reopening on 15 July, in line with Scottish Government guidance. Set out in their 'Commitment to Guests' these include the introduction of flexible terms of booking made directly with the hotel, giving guests confidence and protection in the event that circumstances change. 

  • Ness Walk Hotel, Inverness

    The Ness Walk Hotel, a five-star property located on the banks of the River Ness have implemented a series of new initiatives under the 'Safely Sound' banner so guests can enjoy their stay, whilst feeling reassured that the appropriate procedures are being followed. This includes contactless check in and enhanced and developed rigorous cleaning protocols.

  • Craufurdland Estate, Ayrshire

    Craufurdland Castle and Estate is preparing to reopen on 15 July. The estate which offers restaurant, accommodation and outdoor activities will see visitors enjoy the new Tree Top Trails high wire experience with reduced numbers, additional physical distancing and PPE for both customers and staff. During lockdown the estate has offered a takeaway and grocery service and has recently reopened an outdoor seating area. The next phase will see the reopening of the restaurant and self-catering accommodation following distancing measures and new cleaning protocols.

Further resources

Posters for hospitality businesses

www.gov.scot

A range of resources which can be downloaded and displayed in premises to make customers aware of the need to provide contact details, and of steps to take to safely enjoy hospitality

Guidance for your customers

www.gov.scot

Scottish Government guidance for tourism and hospitality customers, who have a strong role to play in ensuring that you are able to provide a service while also protecting your employees and customers.

Retail assets

www.gov.scot

Posters and stickers developed for retailers that can be found under “supporting files” on this page

Scotland’s Route Map

www.gov.scot

Scotland’s Route Map through and out of the crisis was published on 21 May and provides an indication of the order in which restrictions will be carefully lifted across four phases.

Related links