Will Tourists Return? State Group Has a Plan to Help
Restaurant Association rolls out reopening plan
BOONE-When restrictions are lifted this Friday, the doors will open and local residents will start pouring into restaurants across this region. But what about tourist traffic? A recent Harris Poll showed that 66 percent of Americans won’t travel for three months and only 33 percent will stay in a hotel. The reason, polls say, is that people are afraid of infection. North Carolina’s Restaurant and Lodging Association has a plan to fix that.
Partnering with VisitNC, NC State University and the North Carolina Department of Health, the group put together guidelines for restaurants and hotels to follow. Follow the process and you get certified, telling any would-be guest they can safely come for a visit.
“It’s a pledge that businesses are taking, that they will operate in a safe way,” said Wit Tuttle, director of VisitNC. “Rather than having someone make a pledge and not have to do anything, we were able to work with the restaurant lodging association, NC State, the Dept of Health and Human services and develop a curriculum you have to take.”
There’s no cost for companies to go through the program, Tuttle said, and they’ll be able to put that “Count On Me NC” logo on their website, social media and anywhere would-be guests visit. The goal is to put people at ease, Tuttle said, by letting them know companies are doing everything possible to avoid COVID-19 infections.
“There’s a lot of fear out there,” Tuttle told NWNC. “People are afraid to travel. They also don’t want to get other people sick and they’re not sure what’s safe. We did this to show people the businesses that are willing to take the extra step.”
What Is ‘Count On Me NC?’
The ‘Count On Me’ training has five different programs or ‘modules,’ tailored to different types of businesses.
“The first three are primarily for restaurants,” Tuttle said. “They deal with food safety, because that’s such an intricate, important and delicate thing. The other two modules are for any type of tourism business, because they deal with cleaning and operational issues.”
Food and health safety experts at NC State designed the program, which officials said were based off of federal recommendations.
“The training incorporates the best available science,” said Dr. Ben Chapman, professor and food safety specialist at NC State University. “Our team combined federal agency recommendations with NC-specific guidance and supplemented with data in the peer-reviewed literature to build this foundational program. All trainings and materials follow a rigorous content development and review process.”
One program is for restaurant owners, the second is for front of house staff and the third is for back of house staff. Each one takes 30 minutes or less and covers everything from dining room setups to how to handle crowds. NWNC took part in a media session Tuesday with other press and saw a portion of what’s involved. There are sections that cover how to clean menus, payment systems and also steps employees need to take.
Next Steps Coming Soon
If you’re a restaurant owner, you can sign up for the program by clicking here. Only the restaurant portions are live right now, but sessions for other companies like hotels and retail stores will be up within the month, officials said.
“All courses, as well as versions in Spanish, will be made available in the coming weeks,” said Larry Michael, Environmental Health Section Chief for North Carolina’s Department of Health.
He added that there will also be webinars set up for county health departments, outlining the requirements companies have to meet in order to display the ‘Count On Me’ logo.
As for how long this will last, Tuttle said there’s not a definite end date in mind.
“The ‘Count On Me’ program will run for as long as it takes,” Tuttle said. “It’ll be here as long as people need to be reassured.”
Brian Carlton is the editor for NWNC. He can be reached at brian.carlton38@gmail.com.
