Encouraging Tourism with the Safe Travels Stamp
When businesses open up again it’ll take time to return to normal. To encourage visitors to explore your community and support local business, educating people about safety precautions will be important.
I plan to take some road trips this summer or fall, when the pandemic is on its way out in Ontario and after I am vaccinated. But I am unsure of what safety measures individual businesses are taking. I could research and read reviews of recent customers (well, I’ll probably do that anyway because I love planning trips!), but having a standard set of measures and reporting would be very helpful and make it more likely that I support a business.
WTTC Safe Travels Stamp
Recently I learned about the WTTC Safe Travels Stamp and global protocols for various industries. These protocols and standards are defined by the WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council), following WHO and CDC guidelines, and are continually updated. Businesses following these protocols can apply for a global safety stamp which recognizes they have implemented the safe travels protocols.
Approved businesses can display the logo on their websites to give visitors confidence that safety measures have been implemented and go a long way to restoring trust.
Approved #safetravels local businesses
Destination tourism organizations, such as the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO), can help smaller local companies get the Safe Travels Stamp. The TIAO website lists approved applicants, and Explore Waterloo Region has a recently-updated list of local businesses with the stamp. The image below is only an example. The official stamp will include the logo of the destination tourism organization.
On the road again…
My travelling days are still a few months away, and I’ll stick to day or weekend trips for a while. The Safe Travels Stamp and #Safetravels tag on social media will help me feel safer when venturing farther afield for the first time in over a year.
How is your community or business letting people know about your safety protocols? Perhaps your local destination marketing organization will create lists (like TIAO and Explore Waterloo Region) or maps to help people find you.
Contact me
If you’d like help creating a map to show people at a glance about #safetravels approved businesses in your area, contact me for a free consultation.
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