Covid accreditation scheme launched for golf clubs

The AA has launched a ‘Covid Confident assessment scheme’ so that hospitality businesses such as golf clubs can give confidence to consumers that they are safe.

This comes less than a month after Scottish golf club managers including Neil Hampton from Royal Dornoch, Stuart McColm from Castle Stuart, David Roy from Crail, Gordon Simpson from Gullane and Colin Sinclair from Nairn called for the introduction of a Covid-19 quality assurance scheme so golf venues can assure visitors, particularly tourists, that they will be safe.

The ‘COVID CONFIDENT’ accreditation will indicate to customers that an establishment has in place the necessary risk assessments, safety measures and staff training, in line with the government and UKHospitality’s published guidelines, to reopen safely when permitted to do so by the government.

Hospitality ratings provider The AA says the scheme is open to all hospitality establishments including golf courses, hotels, restaurants, pubs, holiday parks, self-catering accommodation and; attractions.

It is also free to establishments, with applicants encouraged to make a donation to Hospitality Action.

Mark Lewis, chief executive at Hospitality Action, said: “Hospitality Action is UK hospitality’s benevolent charity, and exists to offer lifelines to hospitality people who find themselves in difficulty or crisis. As restaurants, pubs and bars prepare to open their doors again in the coming weeks, there will inevitably be uncertainty, both among staff members and customers guests, around the levels of safety in hospitality environments. We therefore applaud AA Hospitality for creating an industry-standard accreditation scheme that offers the reassurance that workers and visitors can return to venues with confidence.”

Kurt Jansen, director of the Tourism Alliance, added: “We need to restart the domestic tourism industry in order to protect local jobs and businesses in tourism destinations. This scheme does that by ensuring that every property is safe so that visitors can relax and have a well-earned break in a secure environment.”

The scheme is open to all hospitality establishments. However, any establishment serving food will need to hold a food hygiene score of three and above to be eligible. Establishments can apply via https://www.ratedtrips.com/aa-covid-confident and must meet the AA’s criteria, including:

• Supplying a risk assessment
• Being able to provide clear evidence that relevant procedures and measures are in place, and that staff training has taken place
• Completion of an online self-assessment and sign up to the COVID Confident Charter, a code of conduct that will include a commitment to continuing to update procedures and measures as guidelines change, and to submitting to future audits as required.