Guidelines for a safe and secure holiday
3 February 2021
We hope that 2021 will be a year where people can once again enjoy holidays and experiences, immerse themselves in new cultures and communities and explore the world. However we do understand that there will have to be some changes in the way people travel and equally some changes in the way we as destination management companies operate in order to provide safety and security to our clients.
With this in mind, Pan Lanka Travels has put together a set of policies and procedures that will be followed by our team to ensure our clients have a safe and secure holiday in Sri Lanka. In recognition of these policies, we have received a ‘Safe and Secure’ certificate issued by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), following an independent review conducted by KPMG Sri Lanka.
Below is a summary of our new health and safety guidelines
Pre tour – 30 days prior to arrival
- We will request for Covid Vaccination and Insurance details of all clients
- Check the final itinerary to ensure that all hotels and all tourist sites are SLTDA “Safe and Secure” certified. In case confirmed hotels or tourist sites are not on the SLTDA “Safe and Secure” list inform agent/client and advice alternate hotel or tourist site.
- Ensure entrance tickets are pre-purchased where possible to avoid queueing at tourist sights
Pre tour – 5 days prior to arrival
- Ensure client insurance and vaccination details are on file
- Ensure guide assigned for the tour has obtained “safe and secure” certification
- Guide to report to office 2-3 days prior to tour start date for briefing and should bring a negative PCR test report taken no longer that 72 hrs prior.
- Ensure all items in the guides pre-tour check list are confirmed and signed off by transport manager
- After pre tour briefing, guide should self-isolate himself until the tour starts.
On arrival & Customer Care
- Airport Rep to provide face masks and sanitizer to clients on arrival and advice clients on the latest H&S regulations
- Customer Care team will be available 24/7 to provide advice and assistance as required
- All pre and post-trip documentation for clients will be sent electronically
On tour
- Guide and tour staff to ensure that they maintain a safe physical distance of 1.5 meters from the clients at all times.
- Guide to educate clients to greet in the traditional manner with Ayubowan
- Where sight guides or specialist guides are used during the tour, ensure that they practice appropriate H&S practices eg. Wear a mask, Ayubowan greeting, social distancing
- Avoid using pens at places that require clients to fill in information and ensure clients use their own pens for this purpose
- Encourage clients to use credit cards or contactless payment methods for items purchased while on tour.
- Visit ‘Safe & Secure’ certified attraction sites and activity places as much as possible.
- For experiences such as walking tours, routes may be altered to avoid crowded places. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis and agreed with the client before the experience begins.
- After visiting a place, the tourists should disinfectant their footwear and wash/sanitize hands prior to boarding the vehicle.
- Take necessary measures to avoid tourists gathering at visiting places or outside tour attractions.
- Guides should not have their meals with clients while on tour.
- On tour checklist to be filled daily following daily sanitization procedures and temperature checks and handed over to the office at the end of the tour.
- Used disposable gloves and masks should be disposed of safely at the end of each days touring at the overnight hotel.
- Prior to departure, if airline requires PCR test, ensure client takes the test well in time for result to be available before their flight.
We also have in place policies and procedure to be followed in case clients or the guide experience Covid-19 symptoms and appropriate steps to be followed.
The above policies will be reviewed on a continual basis and updated where necessary.
