COVID has thrown a cat amongst the pigeons when it comes to liability and risk mitigation and management.
During SATIB’s webinar on ‘Liability and Legal Implications of COVID-19 on Tourism Businesses’ held on 19 January 2021, Stefan de Beer, Director of Martin and de Beer Inc., Onne Vegter, MD of Wild Wings Safaris, and Lucien Niemann, African Rescue Live Assist Executive Director unpacked your liability and legal obligations during COVID times.
What liability and potential litigation do you face if one of your guests falls ill or dies from COVID? What happens if clients have to curtail their trip? How do you deal with unruly guests who simply refuse to wear their masks? Do you need to shut down your operations immediately if a guest shows symptoms?
Stefan, Onne and Lucien answered all these questions and many more during the webinar. For your convenience, SATIB has listed the most frequently asked questions along with the answers, in one handy document, which you can access here.
There are several protocol documents that could further assist you:
If you still feel a bit overwhelmed by an overload of information, Stefan shared four things any tourism business can do today to mitigate your risk exposure as much as possible.
- Draw up the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for your business based on your thorough understanding of your business.
- Follow, enforce and apply the procedures vigorously (for example, the wearing of masks).
- Ensure that your staff, your suppliers, your contractors and everyone involved follows and understands your SOPs or protocols.
- Document your cleaning activities and the preventive measures you have taken every single day. Include as many details as you can.
If you would like SATIB to address a particular pain point you are facing, your suggestions are always welcome. You can send any suggestions for future webinars to satib@bigambitions.co.za.
For those who missed the webinar – or if you would simply like to view the webinar again – you can access a recording here. If you would like to ensure that you do not miss out on future webinars again, you can stay informed by signing up here.
