Mala McAlpin Are you ready to open your doors?
It would be an understatement to say that it’s been a chaotic few weeks, with so much pressure being felt industry-wide to pivot your business and accommodate things like online services and retail. It would be completely understandable if you haven’t had a minute to spare to sit down and plan for what happens when you physically reopen for services, and how you should adapt your practices around post-COVID-19 standards of living.
Thankfully, the International Spa Association (ISPA) has stepped into help by releasing a Spa Reopening Toolkit. The toolkit is a comprehensive collection of resources and items that are customisable allowing spas of different types, sizes and locations to create a plan that follows the guidelines set by their respective governing bodies.
ISPA also partnered with PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct a thorough and timely Consumer Snapshot study to gain invaluable insights into the current status of the spa consumer, which is also included in the toolkit.
The collection of resources includes:
Reopening Checklist: A detailed list of all aspects of business you should give thought and consideration to before opening, including laws, HR, staff policies, training, treatments, menus, signage, bookings, payments, cleaning standards, guest experience, sanitary materials, disinfecting guidelines based on area type, and internal and external communications.
Spa Sanitation & Hygiene Standards: Thorough guidelines and standards on cleaning and disinfecting, including types of cleaning products required, surfaces to use them on, and more detailed info cleaning for different room/area types (ie. wet areas, receptions etc).
Spa Sanitation & Hygiene Commitment: Customise this and share it with your clients, on your front door, on your website and social media, wherever you like. It details the commitment you have undertaken to your clients and your staff when it comes to health and sanitisation, and gives you the opportunity to outline the measures you have in place for cleaning, staff, and clients when they visit.
More downloadable templates: there are options for door hangers and signage to place around your business, including requests to maintain social distance, signs stating your rooms or tools are regularly disinfected. Logos can be added to make the designs your own.
You can access the ISPA Toolkit here. It should be noted that anything included in the toolkit has been created for the purpose of general guidelines and does not supersede your local government legislation.
