Hotels in Addis Ababa Will Adhere to Maximum COVID-19 Protocol For AU Summit

January 29/2022/ENA/   Hotels in the capital have expressed their readiness to adhere to maximum COVID-19 Protocol for the 35th AU Summit, Addis Ababa Hotel Owners Association President Aster Solomon said.

Speaking to ENA the Addis Ababa Hotel Owners Association President said the hotels have been prepared in a manner to strictly adhere to the maximum COVID-19 prevention protocol noting that most of the hotels in Addis Ababa have enormous experience in handling of AU Summit.  

Avoiding crowds and close contacts, wearing of a properly fitted mask as well as frequent hand cleaning are some of the COVID -19 protocols that are going to be strictly observed during the meeting by the hotels, she added.

The association has been strictly monitoring the ongoing preparations of the hotels in this regard, Aster stated.

She said “The moment we learned that the summit will be held in Addis, we started to offer awareness training to hotels in Addis regarding the implementation of strict COVID-19 protocols.”

Managers of more than 70 international standard hotels in Addis Ababa have today received refresher training on ways to effectively implement COVID-19 Protocol.

State minister of Tourism Seleshi Solomon said on the occasion that following the decision of AU member states to hold their summit in Ethiopia, Ministry of Tourism has proactively begun enhancing the hotels readiness in order to adhere to the maximum COVID-19 Protocols and render international standard services to their guests during the Summit.

Citing that Ethiopia has already received a ‘Safe Travel Stamp’ from the UK based World Travel and Tourism Council in terms of adhering to COVID protocol; he said guests of the Summit will get the maximum safety, the state minister added.

He assured that the preparations being made by the hotels and other hospitality services will match what African leaders and other guests of the Summit expect from Ethiopian hospitality sector.

Manager of Hyatt Regency Hotel, Birhanu Zerfu said the hotel is among the pioneer in Ethiopia to implement state of the art solution regarding COVID-19 protocol.

In order to minimize point of touch he said the hotel is now introducing digital menus to AU guests and encouraging the customers to use it.

He pointed out that in addition to enhancing distancing and cleaning of touch points, rooms will be frequently disinfected to keep the safety of guests Birhanu added.

Banquet Manager of Azzeman Hotel, Fasil Mammo on his part said even before the announcement of the venue of the summit, the hotels have already been implementing strict COVID-19 protocols.

The Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union will also be held from 5-6 February.

The AU Summit will be convened under the theme ‘Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development.

The decision made by the leaders of AU member countries to hold the 35 Summit in Addis Ababa could be considered as a diplomatic victory for Ethiopia, Government Communication Minister, Dr. Legesse Tulu said on Thursday.