In order to enable the sector to reopen as safely as possible, today, the Brussels-Capital Region and visit.brussels are launching a health safety label, created in partnership with the global certification company SOCOTEC. It has the simple aim of providing national and international visitors with reassurance around the quality and safety of Brussels’ tourist infrastructure.
As everyone knows, the tourism sector has been particularly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Through its tourism operator visit.brussels, the Brussels Region has already launched a number of initiatives in this area, such as the “No Br__sels without us” public communication campaign or the range of different support funds. In addition, Brussels also faces international competition from other major cities in Europe and, as a result, must also be able to provide reassurance to the large number of institutions there and the millions of business visitors arriving each year.
Therefore, the Region wants to send out reassuring messages to these large audiences. The content of this label was created in close collaboration with tourism-sector federations and partners. It will evolved based on the National Security Council’s guidelines and must support the sector over the months to come.
1. The free Brussels Health Safety Label
The label is aimed at the tourism and cultural sectors, namely : attractions & museums, tourism accommodation, guided tours, restaurants and bars, venues and events & fairs. It has a dual objective. On the one hand, it sets out to enforce the general obligatory rules that apply to all sectors, as well as rules that are specific to each sector. On the other hand, the label will help to provide the public with information and reassurance around the measures being taken by the tourist sites that they plan to visit.
“The aim of the ‘Brussels Health Safety Label’ is to reassure our fellow citizens and tourists. Whether they want to eat in a restaurant or have a drink, visit a museum or tourist attraction or spend a night in a hotel, the public needs to be reassured about the quality and safety of Brussels’ infrastructure. This will be done with the introduction of this free, certified label, available to all restaurant owners, hoteliers and cultural and tourist operators. We are doing everything we can to ensure that tourism returns to the Brussels-Capital Region in the best possible conditions,” said Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort.
2. The label in practice
The label is now available free of charge to all tourism partners should they wish to apply for one. All they need to do is fill in a special application form on the visit.brussels website. Once the application has been accepted, the partner will receive a certificate and all materials (such as visual materials and a poster) to put up on its front or in its window. In addition to being visible at these sites, the label will be promoted via a communications campaign coordinated by visit.brussels.
In order to ensure that the label is properly implemented, establishments bearing the label will be randomly checked by visit.brussels’s certification partner, SOCOTEC, which has worked in the safety industry for more than 20 years. These checks will set out to ensure that the rules required to receive the label are being implemented and followed.
