COVID-19 Information for tourism businesses

Visit Dorset membership unfreeze

Following the government’s decision to restrict all non-essential travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March, we took the decision to freeze all Visit Dorset membership packages across our visit-dorset.com website and all payments and invoice recovery was halted to support our tourism business members.
In line with the Government’s announcement to re-open the majority of the tourism and hospitality sector on the 4th July, we will be reactivating all Visit Dorset memberships as of 1st August. Please note, to support businesses we have also extended all Visit Dorset memberships until 1st May 2021 at no extra cost.
The team have been working incredibly hard to support the tourism sector across Dorset implementing our recovery roadmap, ensuring all the latest government information and guidelines have been made available, providing appropriate messaging to potential visitors via our social media channels and ensuring our website contains all the latest advice. 

We’ve also been busy co-ordinating joint campaigns with partners across the South West, bidding for funding and undertaking key research projects and providing feedback to central government.

We understand that the past few months have been incredibly difficult for everyone within the industry and we will continue to do everything we can to represent and support our Visit Dorset members.

Visit Dorset Roadmap to Recovery

Dorset tourism is facing up to its biggest challenge ever with Coronavirus impacting the entire industry. It is crucial as we look to rebuild a successful tourism industry which allows locals and visitors to coexist.

The Visit Dorset Roadmap to Recovery takes a phased approach and will continue to evolve in line with the scientific evidence and government advice on the reopening of the tourism industry. Responsible tourism will be core to this, communicating with and working with our local communities and the businesses of Dorset.

Read the Visit Dorset Roadmap to Recovery summarised plan

Covid-19 Information posters for holidaymakers

The NHS have produced a useful information poster on what holidaymakers need to do if visiting an area and develop COVID symptoms.  The poster is available to download and it would be very much appreciated if you could display this poster within your business to help ensure that your guests / visitors are made aware of the process they need to follow if they fall ill whilst on holiday in Dorset.

Here is another poster designed for use in the SW of England on which you can add your phone number for your guests to report to you.

If you develop any of the following symptoms during your stay – accommodation guests

UK Hospitality have also produced some posters and a pre-arrival letter which you can send to your customers or display at your business so visitors understand what is required of them and how they can help to stop the spread of the virus.

This new Tourist Charter provides 5 steps for visitors to enjoy a safe holiday.

Early outbreak management action cards

Public Health England have produced a series of action cards for different business types explaining the steps to be taken for early outbreak management. British Destinations has compiled this useful list for easy access.

The cards are a useful tool to help you understand what the process should be when managing an outbreak in your business (information correct 20 July 2020).

Arts Heritage and Cultural Attractions 

Campsites and Caravan parks

Entertainment and Holiday Resorts

Hairdressing-barbershops-beauty and nail bars-makeup-tattoo and spray tanning studios

Hotels and Guest Accommodation 

Restaurants Pubs Bars and Cafes

Spas-sports and massage therapy-well being-holistic locations

Theatres Cinemas and Venues

Tourist Attractions

Entertainment and holiday resorts

Shops and branches

In addition here are some useful posters developed for the south west of England in conjunction with Public Health.

What to do if a guest reports COVID-19 symptoms – accommodation provider

What to do when a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 is reported – non business specific

Prepare to re-open your business and operate during the COVID-19 pandemic

The new government guidance to help you plan to re-open your business has now been released and comes in to effect from 4 July 2020.

Read the Coronavirus (COVID-19): tourism and hospitality sector guidance

• Read the government guidance for accommodation providers
• Read the government guidance for restaurants, pubs, bars, cafes and takeaways
• Read the government guidance for heritage locations

Once you have read and understood the government guidance, please also read the additional information developed in partnership by UK Hospitality and other organisations. This information was created to help hospitality businesses plan and prepare your own individual operational procedures and risk assessments.

Read the COVID-19 advice and risk assessments for hospitality businesses

The guidance contains operational risk assessment considerations for the following business types:

• Hotel and B&B accommodation provider
• Hostel (multi-bed rooms) accommodation provider
• Self catering
• Conferences and events
• Restaurant and casual dining
• Pubs
• Late night/bar
• Amusement parks and visitor attraction
• Family entertainment centres
• Holiday and touring parks
• Food service management

Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme

If your business wants to take part in the discount scheme, you will need to register first.

The Eat Out to Help Out scheme is designed to incentivise customers to dine-in at your business by giving them a discount, which you can then claim back from the government.

It will run from 3rd to 31st August 2020 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

It is a 50% discount, up to a maximum of £10 per person - there is no limit to the number of times customers can use the offer during the period of the scheme. The discount applies to food or non-alcoholic drinks - alcohol and service charges are excluded from the offer.

Eligible establishments are those in which food is sold for immediate on-premises consumption and were registered as a food business on or before 7 July this year.

This could include:

• Restaurants
• Cafés
• Pubs that serve food
• Hotel restaurants
• Restaurants and cafes within tourist attractions, holiday sites and leisure facilities

Once you have registered and been approved, you can then use the promotional materials supplied by the Government.

NHS Test and Trace

By maintaining records of staff, customers and visitors, and sharing these with NHS Test and Trace where requested, you can help us to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus.

There is a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19 in premises where customers and visitors spend a longer time in one place and potentially come into close contact with other people outside of their household. To manage this risk, establishments in the following sectors, whether indoor or outdoor venues or mobile settings, should collect details and maintain records of staff, customers and visitors:

• hospitality, including pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés
• tourism and leisure, including hotels, museums, cinemas, zoos and theme parks
• close contact services, including hairdressers, barbershops and tailors

This guidance applies to any establishment that provides an on-site service and to any events that take place on its premises. It does not apply where services are taken off site immediately, for example, a food or drink outlet which only provides takeaways. If a business offers a mixture of a sit-in and takeaway service, contact information only needs to be collected for customers who are dining in. 

Read more about what details you should be collecting and how to store them safely or download the business toolkit.

Respect, Protect and Enjoy Dorset

With many visitors choosing Dorset as their destination of choice, we are promoting our Respect, Protect and Enjoy campaign across our website, social media channels and e-newsletters.

We are working with partners and Dorset Council, BCP Council and Dorset Police are also using the same slogan #RespectProtectEnjoy

Take a look at our new webpage and look out for our social media posts to share with your followers.

You can also download our designed campaign templates to use on social media or your own website:

Respect Protect Enjoy - Coastal with bullet points

Respect Protect Enjoy - Coastal

Respect Protect Enjoy - Countryside with bullet points

Respect Protect Enjoy - Countryside

Respect Protect Enjoy - Weymouth Beach with bullet points

Respect Protect Enjoy - Weymouth Beach

Respect Protect Enjoy - Weymouth Beach Huts with bullet points

Respect Protect Enjoy - Weymouth Beach Huts

Respect Protect Enjoy - Weymouth Harbour with bullet points

Respect Protect Enjoy - Weymouth Harbour

Respect Protect Enjoy - Swanage Beach with bullet points 

Respect Protect Enjoy - Swanage Beach

Respect Protect Enjoy - Swanage Bay with bullet points

Respect Protect Enjoy - Swanage Bay

Visit Dorset 2020 Membership Freeze

We understand that our members are signed up to a service which we are currently unable to fully deliver. We are therefore freezing all membership packages from 23rd March 2020 (when the Government announced restrictions on all non-essential travel for the UK).  Freezing memberships will ensure that all of our Visit Dorset members are treated the same and that we are in a position to restart our activity as soon as the appropriate time comes.

Read more here.

Business support from your council

Visit our council websites for business advice regarding business rate relief, grants and more.

For businesses in the Dorset Council area.

For businesses in the BCP Council area.

FAQ's for Tourism Businesses   

Unsure of how you can operate your business during the Covid-19 pandemic? Read our FAQs factsheet to give you the answers you've been looking for.    

Covid-19 Business Impact Survey results

Along with partners, Visit Dorset will be carrying out regular surveys to determine the impact of the pandemic on Dorset's tourism businesses. Read the Wave 1 Survey results.