Hotels prepare to reopen facilities in Abu Dhabi

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has issued detailed guidelines for properties in the emirate as they prepare to reopen the establishments’ restaurants, lounges, bars, beaches, pools and gyms.

The guidelines outline ‘readiness assurance requirements’ that cover general measurements, social distancing rules, crowd control measures and rules for returning employees.

Outlets can only be open from 0600 until 1900, facilities must be the sterilised on a regular basis, hand sanitisers must be at the facility entrance and there must be clear and separate entry and exit points. Also, properties must install thermal cameras, integrated with the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority system.

Also mandatory are an isolation room to isolate suspected coronavirus cases and a medical team that is on standby throughout operating hours. All visitors must also wear masks at all times and should be encouraged to use ‘smart’ payments as a preferred method to reduce contacts and contamination.

Ali Hassan Al Shaiba, executive director of Tourism and Marketing at DCT Abu Dhabi, “As per our mandate to support and guide the tourism sector in Abu Dhabi in all aspects, the set of measures we have shared with our hotel partners will ensure that not only will they be able to resume trading at the earliest opportunity, but that when they do they will be following guidelines which will keep all members of the community safe and secure.”

“The guidelines set out stringent criteria for the hotels to follow, which our inspectors will confirm with on-site visits. Once these high standards of health and safety are met, DCT Abu Dhabi will approve the reopening, and trading can resume. We are adamant that both hotel staff and visitors should be 100 per cent confident in their own safety, as we start the resumption of ‘normal’ activities since the pandemic situation arose.”

Apart from this, other guidelines include

• Follow strict social distancing and crowd control measures.
• Social distancing markings will be clearly defined on floors and escalators and elevators will be entirely dedicated to ‘people of determination;.
• Seating arrangements will stipulate that only four people will be allowed on each table, with 2.5 metres between each table.
• Capacity for each establishment will be ‘capped’ at 30 per cent only of the total capacity of the establishment, and restaurants and lounges will be required to hang signage at the entrance to indicate the maximum number of allowed customers are already inside.
• No entertainment activities of any kind will be allowed to begin with, and visitors will only be allowed to visit the facilities for a maximum of three hours.
• There will also be very strict rules for returning employees, with each employee having to undergo a Covid-19 test before being allowed back to work, with these being performed on a bi-weekly basis. Temperature checks will be carried out on all staff on a regular basis.

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