COVID-19 Protocols

Amaco Travel has announced newly enhanced COVID-19 related protocols and hygiene standards for all their Conferences and Small Group Tours once domestic and international travel resumes.

Amaco has completed a review of the sanitation and hygiene measures around guests’ experiences and interactions while on their Conferences and Small Group Tours, from the moment they meet their Amaco escort and trip managers, to traveling on state-of-the-art coaches, the hotels they will stay in and the immersive excursions they will experience on each tour.

“At Amaco, as a family-owned and run business, we have always taken the well-being and peace of mind of our guests and every team member as our top priority,” said Mathew Lazarow, Managing Director. “As we adapt to this new world, our dedicated team members across the globe are preparing and will be implementing enhanced training, procedures and numerous new measures throughout the various guest experiences offered, with the very best possible care and service. These new protocols will be adapted and adjusted as needed, in a timely manner, as governments define and implement what will be required in each country.”

Mathew Lazarow confirmed the new steps and procedures that have been implemented to further elevate hygiene protocols and sanitary practices and to provide travelers with peace of mind during their travels in these new times. He said Amaco is ready to comply with new testing and physical distancing and hygiene protocol requirements by relevant government authorities and in accordance with the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Amaco is adopting as best practice the guidelines provided by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). WTTC has taken an important lead in driving the definition of new measures and protocols, with the goal to have all governments approve these as expeditiously as possible, across the 10 sectors that WTTC is focused on. New Amaco steps and procedures include:

Expertly Trained Travel Directors: Amaco’s staff, travel escorts, and trip managers will be trained in these new and enhanced hygiene and physical distancing procedures. They will operate caring duty of care and will monitor the hygiene etiquette of guests during their trips, reacting, and advising as needed to ensure high standards are maintained. In addition, they will have new preventative measures in place to try and ensure guests’ well-being and in the event that any unexpected issues arise on a trip, they will activate additional protocols.

Stringent on the Road Protocols: All motorcoaches are sanitized before the start of each trip and have always been kept to very high standards. Amaco will ensure that drivers are trained with the latest hygiene protocols and will clean and disinfect all surfaces including handrails, door handles, tables, seats, air-conditioning filters, and overhead lockers on a daily basis. All Amaco guests will be asked to follow hygiene practices recommended by the WHO, including the thorough and regular washing of hands and sanitizing when required. Hand sanitizer will be freely available onboard for the guests to use throughout the day. Clients will be encouraged to bring their own washable face mask and gloves (as these are required to be worn in public in some countries and on many airlines now) and to bring additional hand sanitizer with them. In addition, should an unexpected situation arise, additional face masks, rubber gloves, antiviral sprays and wipes will be readily available for guests on all trips.

Trusted Partners, Exceptional Partners: Amaco is very selective in who they work with and choose to only use hotels, restaurants, ground handlers, and venues that take the health and well-being of their guests as seriously as Amaco does and agree to meet expected guidelines and specifications. Amaco will try hard to only work with establishments that they are confident will consistently adhere to our standards.

Physical Distancing: Amaco will be adapting the size of their groups, based on government distancing requirements. Clients can be rest assured that they will travel with the comfort of their own personal space and have peace of mind that all of the experiences, hotels, and restaurants they will enjoy on their trip have been vetted to ensure they adhere to physical distancing and hygiene guidelines required in each jurisdiction.

Smaller Groups, More Personal Space: As an established leader in the Small Group travel, Amaco guests already enjoy more personal space than most other tour participants. Smaller groups also mean less queuing when embarking and disembarking, as well as at hotels and attractions, so it is easier to maintain a comfortable physical distance. As in the past, Amaco will ensure that on all future tours, participants are divided into smaller groups at each stop, to ensure the required physical distancing is ensured.

In the Know: Amaco is actively sourcing as much information as possible from government advisories and travel alerts and is continually in touch with their partners on the ground in each destination. Now, under Amaco’s new protocols, their teams will work to try and ensure that their supplier partners (hotels, restaurants, museums, and other venues) are also applying the same, new required hygiene and distancing protocols, to the extent possible.