Measures check: Holidays in Corona times: Mallorca hotels show how this can work
Travel to Mallorca is allowed – not within Germany. What causes displeasure can become a model example for the German hotel industry.
In Germany it is currently being discussed that the federal states will have to withdraw their (announced) easing measures. The incidences have been rising again for a few days; in many places the number is even above the critical value of 100 infected per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, the season is slowly starting on Mallorca. The Balearic Islands are no longer a risk area since March 15th. If you want to travel here, you have to show a negative PCR test before your flight – that's all. And so numerous Germans have booked a flight. FOCUS Online was among them and took a close look at the hygiene measures in a Mallorcan hotel.
Even before I'm at the airport, I want to break off our trip to Mallorca
Corona protective measures in the hotel: unnoticed temperature check and disinfection en masse
Even before check-in, the temperature is checked – in such a way that very few would notice. Because at the hotel entrance there is a temperature measuring device that checks every newcomer. Hotel director Tina Ferrer reports that if the temperature rises above 37.5 degrees, an alarm is triggered at reception. The person concerned would then be taken to one side and a doctor would be contacted. The subjunctive is appropriate here because this case has not yet occurred.
Barrier tapes separate the guests entering from those who leave the house. Those arriving are directed past a dispenser with disinfectant. Only then are you allowed to go to the counter. The now obligatory plexiglass barriers can be found here.
After check-in, it goes to the room. Dispensers with disinfectant are set up in front of and in the elevator. It is said that you should only enter it one by one, but not all of them adhere to it.
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Eating and drinking under the mask
In Spain it is mandatory to wear a face mask outside and inside. The only exception is the beach. And so you are only allowed to enter the hotel restaurant if you are wearing a mask. Here, the body temperature is measured again at the entrance. With a device that is reminiscent of the police's "speedometer pistols". The next step goes to the mandatory disinfectant dispenser. Then you are led to a table. As hotel director Ferrer reports, it took a long time to work out a seating plan that complies with all security requirements. For example, only two people are allowed to sit at some four-person tables because the distance to the next table would not have been enough if it were full. Others are completely blocked. The guests are allowed into the restaurant in several groups. There is not enough space for everyone at the same time, said the hotel spokeswoman.
At the buffet you are introduced to the delicacies in one-way streets. If you want to help yourself from the juice machine, you can no longer press buttons. Instead, a technician converted the machine so that it works with the push of a foot. In other words, the orange juice flows when you step on the pedal with the orange badge.
It is only allowed to take off the mask at the seat. Things are a little different in the restaurant-bar: You are allowed to sit down here. But the mask has to be put on again between sips from the wine glass. The waitress keeps pointing out, but the unfamiliar situation makes you forget it again and again.
Food and drinks are not paid for immediately. Everything is booked to the room. And thus you prevent smear infections.
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Can German hoteliers learn something from the Mallorcan ones?
It may sound like a paradox, but travel is forbidden within Germany, but you can very well come to Mallorca. In the future, German hoteliers will still have to prepare for guests. Small tricks of the Mallorcan colleagues can complement existing hygiene concepts. Temperature measurements when entering hotels and in-house restaurants can increase security and identify those who are directly ill. Simple renovation measures such as the juice machine reduce the number of objects touched by many people.
Mallorca's hotel industry is now facing a practical test: Are PCR tests sufficient before departure, the hygiene measures in the hotels, the mask requirement outside, the curfew and the early restaurant closure (5 p.m.)? The Germans are certainly looking at the Balearic Island with excitement. Ultimately, the concepts could become a blueprint – or a teaching example of how not to do it.