When will inter-provincial travel be launched?

The General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the "Notice on Matters Concerning Promoting the Expansion and Resumption of Work and Operations of Tourism Enterprises" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") on July 14, 2020. Under the premise of doing a good job in epidemic prevention and control, and with the consent of the local provincial (regional, municipal) party committee and government, travel agencies and online travel companies can resume the operation of cross-provincial (regional, municipal) group tours and "Air tickets + hotel" business. Group travel and "air tickets + hotel" business are not allowed in medium- and high-risk areas. Inbound and outbound tourism business will not resume for the time being.

At the same time, the "Notice" proposed to adjust the restrictions on tourist attractions. Tourist attractions must continue to implement the requirements of "limited quantities, reservations, and peak staggering", and the number of tourists received should be adjusted from 30% to 50% of the maximum carrying capacity. On the premise of strictly implementing various prevention and control measures, indoor places in tourist attractions will be opened by making reservations and limiting the flow of people.

The "Notice" further requires:

(1) Strengthen epidemic prevention and control management. All localities must insist on putting epidemic prevention and control first and coordinate various tasks such as tourism safety. In accordance with the principle of "who organizes, manages, and is responsible", we must further consolidate the main responsibilities of tourism enterprises, guide tourism enterprises to formulate emergency plans, and clarify emergency measures and disposal procedures for epidemic prevention and control and safety emergencies. It is necessary to urge travel agencies to control the size of their teams, do a good job in itinerary management, and implement prevention and control measures throughout all aspects of tourist recruitment, organization, and reception. Online travel companies shall refer to and implement the "Guidelines on Epidemic Prevention and Control Measures for the Orderly Resumption of Operations of Travel Agencies".

(2) Standardize the order of the tourism market. All localities must innovate development concepts, support tourism enterprises in comprehensively applying scientific and technological innovation achievements, promote online and offline integrated development, expand resumption of work and business, accelerate transformation and upgrading, and strive to improve service quality. Industry organizations should advocate honest management, strengthen industry self-discipline, and strengthen self-supervision. Tourism enterprises must implement quality main responsibilities, strictly implement product quality standards and service specifications, and continuously enhance tourist satisfaction.

(3) Strengthen the opening management of tourist attractions. Tourist attractions in various places must strengthen cleaning, disinfection and garbage classification in accordance with the requirements of the "Guidelines on Epidemic Prevention and Control Measures for Reopening of Tourist Attractions". It is necessary to take targeted measures to strengthen guidance and guide tourists to take safety precautions in areas where tourist congestion is likely to occur, such as important tourist spots, viewing platforms, transportation connections, narrow passages, and ticket purchase and dining areas.

(4) Establish a new trend of civilized tourism. All localities should carry out civilized tourism promotion through various forms, guide tourists to comply with epidemic prevention requirements, safety warnings and civilized tourism regulations in tourism activities; encourage and support tourism enterprises to innovate service models, promote "shared meals system" and "shared chopsticks system" and other healthy New ways of tourism; strengthen publicity and education for tourists, guide tourists to pay attention to hygiene, refuse game, consume rationally, and establish a new trend of civilized, healthy and green tourism.

(5) Improve emergency response capabilities. All localities must strictly implement territorial management responsibilities, strengthen linkage with local health departments, strengthen collaboration between tourist destinations and tourist source authorities, and improve prevention, control and emergency response capabilities. In accordance with the prevention and control plan and emergency plan, emergency drills, hidden danger investigation, risk assessment and other work are carried out to promptly discover emerging problems and deal with them effectively. Abnormal situations must be reported promptly and relevant business activities must be suspended.

(6) Do a good job in tourism safety during flood season. All localities must always tighten the string of tourism safety during the flood season, further consolidate responsibilities, and strengthen safety inspections of ropeways, cable cars, large-scale amusement facilities and other equipment in accordance with the arrangements of the local flood control and drought relief headquarters, and resolutely stop operations if they cannot meet safety requirements. Or use; increase the inspection and guidance of water tourism projects, urge enterprises to pay attention to rain forecasts and water regime changes in a timely manner, pay close attention to flood forecasts, and avoid organizing tour groups to travel to areas with severe floods; once the tour groups on the itinerary encounter sudden floods, Effective measures should be taken to deal with it and tourism operations should be suspended if necessary.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism also issued the "Guidelines for Epidemic Prevention and Control Measures for the Orderly Resumption of Operations of Travel Agencies" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines"). The "Guidelines" propose to adhere to normal prevention and control. Local culture and tourism administrative departments should follow the principle of territoriality, put epidemic prevention and control first, and formulate epidemic prevention and control plans and emergency plans based on the characteristics of group tourism, such as wide coverage, high mobility, and long chains, and make timely and dynamic adjustments. Guide travel agencies to strictly implement epidemic prevention and control regulations, formulate epidemic prevention and control plans and emergency plans for corporate operations in accordance with relevant technical guidelines, establish response mechanisms, conduct emergency drills, and improve handling capabilities. In accordance with the principle of "who organizes, manages and is responsible", we must consolidate the main responsibilities of enterprises, assign prevention and control responsibilities to specific departments and individuals, and strictly carry out epidemic prevention and control work in tourist recruitment, organization, reception and other aspects. Tourists should be reminded to enhance their safety awareness and actively cooperate with travel agencies in taking various prevention and control measures.

At the same time, we insist on orderly recovery. On the premise of doing a good job in epidemic prevention and control, the cultural and tourism administrative departments of various provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) can resume the operation of travel agencies and online tourism enterprises across provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) with the consent of the local provincial (regional and municipal) party committee and government. ) group travel and "air tickets + hotel" business. Group travel and "air tickets + hotel" business are not allowed in medium- and high-risk areas. Inbound and outbound tourism business will not resume for the time being.

Third, adhere to high-quality development.

Local cultural and tourism administrative departments must innovate development concepts, support travel agencies in comprehensively applying scientific and technological innovation achievements, promote online and offline integration, expand resumption of work and business, accelerate transformation and upgrading, and strive to improve service quality. Industry organizations should advocate honest management, strengthen industry self-discipline, and strengthen self-supervision. Travel agencies must implement quality main responsibilities, strictly implement product quality standards and service specifications, and continuously enhance tourist satisfaction.

The "Guidelines" require: Strengthen risk research and judgment. Travel agencies must conduct safety assessments of tourism products, select suppliers and partners with corresponding qualifications and meet local epidemic prevention and control requirements, and clarify the rights and responsibilities of all parties. It is necessary to strengthen communication, timely understand and grasp the epidemic prevention and control situation of the health departments of tourist destinations and tourist sources, and do a good job in route design, product docking and reservations. It is necessary to strengthen data analysis and improve product epidemic prevention standards. Tour operators and local tour operators should clarify their respective responsibilities for epidemic prevention and control, strengthen collaboration, and achieve full sharing of information to ensure smooth, orderly, and safe group travel.

Control the group size. Travel agencies must strictly implement local prevention and control requirements. Based on their own operating capabilities and the reception capabilities of suppliers and partners, they must publish product epidemic prevention requirements in advance such as the number of group members, strictly control the number of team members, and promote small-scale travel teams. It is necessary to rationally arrange group travel routes, scale and travel time, and carry out tourism activities in different periods, batches and regions to avoid tourist gatherings.

Equip protective equipment. Travel agencies should be equipped with a sufficient number of masks, temperature detection equipment, hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, disinfection supplies and other protective equipment that meet the standards of disposable medical masks or have a comparable protection level to provide necessary protection for drivers, tour guides and tourists. Disinfection items must be stored and used correctly, away from fire sources and power sources, and must not be mixed or mixed. They must be inspected regularly and replenished and replaced in a timely manner. Suppliers and partners must be urged to conduct comprehensive disinfection and cleaning of tourist chartered vehicles, hotel rooms, restaurants and other reception facilities and places.

Strengthen publicity and guidance. Travel agencies must strictly implement various systems and norms for group travel, sign travel contracts in accordance with the law, and clarify the rights and responsibilities of all parties. It is necessary to actively publicize knowledge on epidemic prevention and control, promptly publish prevention and control precautions for tourists when traveling, remind tourists to implement the requirements of "wearing masks, washing hands frequently, and keeping distance" to enhance tourists' awareness of self-prevention and control.

Strengthen pre-departure inspections. Travel agencies must collect tourist information, health files, and test registration, and require tourists to show their health codes when registering and verify them again before traveling. It is necessary to explain and dissuade tourists who fail to pass the health code inspection. The body temperature detection system must be strictly implemented. Tourists with abnormal body temperatures are not allowed to participate in the itinerary. They are advised to seek medical examination and register properly.

In terms of itinerary management, the "Guide" proposes to implement prevention and control measures. Travel agencies must strictly implement local epidemic prevention and control requirements in transportation, accommodation, catering, sightseeing, shopping, etc., and urge suppliers and partners to implement ventilation, disinfection and other measures. It is necessary to strengthen the temperature detection of tourists. Tourists should wear masks at all times when riding in cars and other means of transportation, strictly implement measures such as "limited quantity, reservations, and peak staggering" in scenic spots and cultural and entertainment venues, and actively cooperate with the reception units in epidemic prevention and control.

Strengthen service standards. Travel agencies should further implement industry standards such as the "General Principles of Travel Agency Services" and "Tour Guide Service Specifications" and strengthen safety tips and itinerary management for tourists. Tour guides should provide prevention and control reminders to tourists during boarding, check-in, ticket purchase, sightseeing, dining, etc., and guide tourists to wear masks scientifically and maintain a safe distance. Tourists are reminded to cooperate with health quarantine and take personal protection. After the trip, the travel agency must organize the travel team's files and keep them properly.

Advocate civilized tourism. Travel agencies should combine epidemic prevention and control efforts, strengthen civilized tourism promotion, and promote new healthy tourism methods such as the "shared meal system" and "public chopsticks system". It is necessary to strengthen publicity and guidance for tourists, advocate hygiene, reject game, and rational consumption, remind tourists to dispose of garbage in a standardized manner, and establish a new trend of civilized, healthy, and green tourism.

In terms of internal management of enterprises, the "Guide" requires: Strengthen the management of office and business premises. Travel agencies must implement prevention and control responsibilities, formulate internal epidemic prevention and control plans and emergency plans, and do a good job in cleaning, disinfection, and ventilation of office spaces and travel agency service outlets. To reduce the frequency and length of meetings, use online conferencing tools as much as possible. Office spaces and travel agency service outlets should assign responsibilities for various epidemic prevention links such as daily duty, cleaning and disinfection, testing and registration, garbage cleaning, site inspections, and safety management to individuals, and make timely and dynamic adjustments based on local epidemic prevention and control requirements.

Perform employee monitoring. Travel agencies should do a good job in employee health management in accordance with local requirements, establish an "Employee Health Record Form", conduct daily temperature checks, and keep abreast of employees' health status, travel trajectories, etc. If employees are found to have fever, cough, fatigue, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, diarrhea and other related symptoms, they will be promptly arranged to seek medical treatment at the nearest designated medical institution and follow up on the relevant situation. A health code check must be carried out before tour guides take up their posts, and tour guides are required to wear masks scientifically.

Strengthen education and training. Travel agencies should carry out special training on normalized epidemic prevention and control measures and emergency response, urge employees to master knowledge about epidemic prevention and control, personal protection, health and emergency response, and improve employees' epidemic prevention and control and emergency response capabilities. It is necessary to consolidate the responsibilities of tour guides, refine job responsibilities, and do a good job in various services such as full escorts and local escorts.

In terms of emergency response, the "Guide" emphasizes: establishing a coordination mechanism. Travel agencies should know in advance the contact information of health departments and designated medical institutions at tourist destinations and tourist sources, and ensure that tour guides and other service personnel are aware of it. It is necessary to strengthen coordination and linkage with partners and suppliers, open channels for epidemic reporting, and report suspected epidemics to local health departments, culture and tourism administrative departments in a timely manner.

Be prepared for emergencies. If a travel team discovers a person with suspected symptoms, the travel agency must immediately stop the group's travel activities and report it as soon as possible, and cooperate with relevant departments to carry out epidemic investigation and prevention and control measures. Once a confirmed case occurs in a travel team, the travel agency must immediately implement an emergency response plan, cooperate with relevant departments and units in patient isolation, close contact tracing, etc., and properly handle the aftermath.

The "Guide" proposes the following safeguard measures: Strengthen organizational leadership. Local cultural and tourism administrative departments must strictly implement local management responsibilities, strengthen linkage with local health departments, strengthen collaboration between tourist destinations and tourist source authorities, improve prevention and control and emergency response capabilities, and ensure orderly The resumption of business operations was smooth and orderly.

Strengthen supervision and inspection. The cultural and tourism administrative departments of various regions should urge travel agencies to follow the "one group, one report" system to fill in travel group information on the national tourism supervision service platform and upload electronic contracts. It is necessary to strengthen the supervision and inspection of travel agencies, promptly correct those who fail to implement epidemic prevention and control measures, investigate and deal with illegal business activities in accordance with laws and regulations, and maintain market order.

Strengthen daily scheduling. Local cultural and tourism administrative departments must follow prevention and control plans and emergency plans to clarify emergency measures and disposal procedures for epidemic prevention and control, safety emergencies, carry out emergency drills, hidden danger inspections, risk assessments, etc., so as to promptly discover emerging problems and effectively deal with them . Abnormal situations must be reported promptly and relevant business activities must be suspended.