10 Jun 2020

The return to normal situation leads us to a change of habits.

Application of sanitary measures and access protocols to work centers or recreational spaces.

Little by little, facilities, companies and services are beginning to recover a certain normality. The return to business activity requires each company to draw up a general health and safety protocol to adapt to the characteristics of each work centre or activity. The protection of workers, customers and suppliers must be guaranteed. Compliance with the provisions, resolutions or instructions issued by the competent authorities, both health and labour, will lead to changes in behaviour. In the different facilities, enclosures, common spaces, work offices, etc., preventive and organizational measures are prepared to plan a return to the activity that guarantees safety.

In open spaces and traditional assistance of tourists and visitors in a destination like the sea coast will be a little more complex. #Barcelona is already working to limit capacity and control on the beaches. Barcelona City Council will incorporate video sensors and security cameras to detect occupancy on the beaches and close the accesses when the maximum capacity is reached to ensure that a certain distance can be maintained between users.

Lloret de Mar is another example and has already launched a plan of measures so that this summer it can receive tourism safely. Dividing the beaches by sectors to accommodate the elderly, families with children or adults without children are some of the proposals included in this plan to return to normalcy. The beach area will also have a capacity limitation and access control will be carried out to ensure that safety measures are respected both in the sand and in the bathing area. These are two examples that reflect the changes that a return to a different normality will entail.

The same situation applies to companies in the tourism sector, whether they are lodgings, restaurants or complementary services, which must adapt their venues to social distancing measures and health safety protocols for regular customers, tourists or visitors.

#Mobility will also be affected. In the different spaces or enclosures where there is the option of being able to carry out different activities, whether they are sports, leisure, recreation or events of any kind, they will also have to adapt their protocols. Flexible entrance and exit times to avoid crowding, application of hygienic measures such as the use of face-masks or hydroalcoholic gel are some of the rules that must be complied with and, in some cases, such as in sports events when returning to the activity of football or basketball leagues, these may have a total restriction on public access.

In the work areas or in closed places, habits will also have to change. Generating adequate ventilation of the premises, whether natural or forced, reducing interpersonal contact with physical separation barriers or redistributing tables and other furniture are some of the measures that should be applied in their environment.

For the use of public transport, the latest ministerial order removes occupancy restrictions and all available seats may be used. However, air renewal, the use of masks and hydroalcoholic gel are mandatory measures for the use of the service. The passenger #transport coach company Avant Grup has already updated these protocols and at the same time informs through its website of all the sanitary measures that are applicable.

All market segments have similar and, in some cases, complementary measures. There are hygienic, cleaning and disinfection measures that are common, since, individually, each one must maintain hygienic habits to avoid the dispersion and infection of the virus. One of the most efficient measures is frequent hand washing with soap and water. Companies should have water-alcohol gel dispensers available for use by workers as well as by customers or visitors they may receive. In some companies, however, this situation may also involve the implementation of organizational measures such as distance working (teleworking) or flexible hours to avoid crowding of staff inside the workplaces.

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The situation experienced in recent weeks has also led to awareness not only of hygiene and health measures, but also of the aspects of solidarity, sustainability and environmental measures that should contribute to improving our future. In the tourism sector, both demand and supply are already being adapted to a much more sustainable and environmentally friendly proposal. Sustainable tourism is not a specific type of tourism. It is a way of travelling with a view to taking care of the planet and the tourist destination we visit. Precisely in the sector it is believed that this pandemic has meant an acceleration in the demand for a more sustainable tourism that had already proposed a change of model in recent years. In this sense, #Catalunya, as a tourist destination, has been working for some time on a commitment to responsible tourism, and models of tourist development with a minimum impact on the territory are being promoted to make the destination a reference point for responsible and sustainable tourism. A sustainable tourism model is one that makes the development of the sector compatible with respect for and preservation of natural, cultural and social spaces. The proposal of sustainable tourism considers the tourist activity as an opportunity to revalue the territory and preserve its resources. The success of the proposal is based on the joint participation of all the public and private agents involved in the tourist activity.

There is no tourism proposal or experience without tourists being able to appreciate the environment they visit. For a return to normality, one of the objectives of some tourist destinations is to attract responsible and sustainable tourism in order to promote local economies while respecting their cultural and natural values. The local tourist is the one who will begin to enjoy these proposals