Tourism and hospitality guidance published ahead of planned reopening

Guidance for the tourism and hospitality sector in Scotland has been published as business owners prepare for the planned reopening on July 15.

The Scottish Government has issued the documents with key public health measures that will need to be followed by industry bodies - with the date only being met if sufficient progress is made to move to phase three of the route-map'' out of lockdown.

Physical distancing measures for the sector range for the size of premises but include proper signage and markings, limiting capacity where necessary, reviewing layouts for employees and customers, queue management and adapting services such as considering the use of screens.

It comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon moved Scotland into phase two on Friday, which will allow zoos, garden attractions and shops to open again from June 29.

Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing said: We want a strong tourism and hospitality sector to help drive Scotland's economic recovery and future prosperity.

Industry is telling us what it needs and we are listening.

Last week, we provided clarity on a potential reopening date and announced a specialist task force to look at the recovery process we face.

Now we have published guidance to help get the sector up and running again safely.

We have also pushed the UK Government for more support, including a VAT reduction and an extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

The coming months will be extremely challenging but the Scottish Government is doing everything in its power to ensure this vital sector bounces back.''

Hygiene also plays a part in the guidance across the board, with contactless or cashless payments encouraged, careful consideration given to using toilets, and self-service/buffet-type food and drink not possible at this time''.

Frequent cleaning is also advised to be implemented, with hand sanitiser and ventilation increased where possible among the other methods of reducing transmission.

Additional measures for staff safety include avoiding in-person meetings, staggered break times and considering contingency and risk plans for future events such as reimposing lockdown measures.

Visit Scotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: We are delighted to start seeing real clarity for the tourism industry - both through the proposed date and these new guidelines which we will help to promote across Scotland.

It is understandable that people will be anxious about travelling and crucial that they are reassured that the tourism industry is doing everything it can to restart the holiday season as safely as possible.

Everyone is excited about being able to get tourism up and running again and these guidelines will give the industry the insight they need to reopen.''