OH! MY COD TOURS FOUNDER’S LETTER
Dear traveller,
I decided to share with you our COVID-19 internal commitments and guidelines in order to inform you about our responsibilities, as hosts and guests, and to share some procedures we all must be aware of in order to have a safe and responsible experience.
We believe we can enjoy, be safe and have the same fun as always.
Portugal was the first European country to receive the Safe Travels Seal from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and in May 2020, Turismo de Portugal granted Oh! My Cod Food Tours (Silvia Olivença Unipessoal, Lda.) the Clean & Safe certification.
This label certificates that all our activities and hosts are compliant with hygiene and cleaning requirements for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and other possible infections.
You can feel confident to travel safely as restrictions are raised.
If you book one of our tours, we will do a small briefing once we meet just before our experience starts and reply to all your related questions.
For now, kindly read our internal safety protocol.
During these pandemic times we’ve also created a virtual experience for those who can’t travel right now!
In this online experience you can meet me via Zoom, walk through Lisbon, meet my grandmother and the locals and discover this old city from your coach, through stories that connect my childhood with Lisbon’s history and modern life.
This is also a great opportunity to be introduced to the city and to know your future hosts, before you can visit us in person! Plus, if you do join you’ll automatically get a code offering you 10% OFF any of our in person Lisbon food experiences. And if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also receive a free Ebook Guide of Alfama, with several restaurant addresses and hidden gems to discover on your own. Check it out here.
Warm regards,
Your host,
Silvia
OH! MY COD TOURS COVID-19 SAFETY GUIDELINES
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Turismo de Portugal granted Oh! My Cod Food Tours the Clean & Safe certification. This label certificates that all our activities and hosts are compliant with hygiene and cleaning requirements for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and other possible infections.
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All our team members received training via Turismo de Portugal, on how to comply with basic infection prevention, control precautions including the procedures. We are well prepared to host you in a safe but also fun and relaxed experience.
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All the shops, restaurants, partners we work with and visit during our experiences were granted the Clean & Safe certification, being all compliant with internal hygiene and safety protocols, according to the recommendations of the Directorate-General for Health.
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Hosts and guests must wear individual masks in public areas when the minimum distance can not be guaranteed (in open air or when you are seated at the table you don’t need to wear it).
Hosts will supply alcohol-based hand sanitizers to participants in activities for free. We’ll keep a safe physical distance between yourself and other people throughout the experience but we promise you, we will not feel distant!
Hosts are required to regularly wash hands and guests also. We need to avoid physical contact, so no kissing, handshakes or hugs. But we’ll overcome this in other ways! -
Our group size is limited to 10 guests, following the Portuguese governmental rules and for the maintenance of the social safety distance between the participants.
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Hosts conduct a daily self-monitoring to assess fever and other symptoms possibly related with COVID-19; before the experience starts, hosts are allowed to take guests’ temperature (with an infrared thermometer).
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We always save a few minutes before our experience begins for a short presentation but now we must add a few more minutes for our Covid-briefing. During this we’ll keep to the protocol adapted to the present state we are living in and to reply to all of your questions.
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We do think that this pandemic situation drastically increased the amount of plastic and waste in our society and transformed our mindset. We became maniac from the discartable: from masks, to dishes, to cups, and cutlery. Because of this our experiences are 100% plastic free. We trust in our partners and all the cutlery and cups used during these experiences are washed following the rules. For this reason, we don’t work with descartaveis. For this reason, we avoid working with disposables when it is not necessary.
We are ready to share with you Portuguese food, fun, knowledge and dedication together with a few surprises. All this respecting the hygiene and cleaning protocols required by WHO and recognised by Turismo de Lisboa.
Private tours available for guests who do not wish to join a small group.
COMMITMENT TO SAFETY
These guidelines were created based on publicly available COVID-19-related guidance from the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control.
Here’s is what Oh! My Cod team committed to:
Practicing good hygiene
Follow hand washing guidelines and ensure all participants wear a protective face covering
Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
Avoiding physical contact
Practice social distancing as recommended by the relevant local authority
Temperature checks for travelers upon arrival
Regular temperature checks for staff
Limiting group sizes
Limit group to 10 guests or fewer to allow for appropriate social distancing
Following cleaning guidelines
If applicable, clean and sanitize accessible spaces before every experience
