Check before you travel: 3 useful websites to find out about coronavirus prevention measures at your destination

[Leisure] "ASOVIEW!" helps you find places to avoid the 3 Cs by following guidelines supervised by experts.

ASOVIEW! is a leisure reservation site that partners with approximately 7,000 businesses nationwide and introduces over 20,000 plans across approximately 450 genres of entertainment and experience programs across the country.

The site features a wide range of activities, including outdoor activities such as "paragliding" and "rafting," cultural experiences such as "pottery making" and "soba making," leisure facilities such as "amusement parks" and "aquariums," and day trips to hot springs.

ASOVIEW! has started a content that allows you to search for "3 C-avoidance spots" across the country. It compiles services that can be used safely and without crowding.

The spots listed on this site are marked with a badge that reads "Coronavirus Prevention Declaration Store." This is proof that the stores have met the criteria set by Asoview! under the supervision of epidemiologist Yuito Okada.

"We aimed to create practical guidelines by combining Okada's medical knowledge with our company's knowledge of tourism and experiential activities," said Hibino Masato, a member of the Tourism Strategy Department at Asoview Inc.

When creating the guidelines, "we also had a strong desire to protect each industry," says Hibino.

"If a cluster outbreak were to occur, it could potentially give a dangerous image to not only that facility or location, but the entire industry. By encouraging business operators to use the guidelines and checklists, I think it was good that we were able to raise awareness of coronavirus countermeasures," said Hibino.

In addition, ASOVIEW! has launched a third-party certification system for COVID-19 prevention facilities in collaboration with infectious disease control experts.

"As we worked on guidelines and other initiatives, we began to hear from business operators that they wanted to make sure the measures in their facilities were sufficient, and that they wanted experts to actually look at how they were doing, so we started a new consulting and review service. Facilities whose infection control measures have been directly checked by experts will have their badges changed from 'declared' to 'certified' on the website," says Hibino.

ASOVIEW! lists many outdoor spots where the three Cs are less likely to occur than indoors, but Hibino says, "Even outdoors, facilities where queues are likely to form increase concerns about crowding and close contact, so we want to work to ensure that customers can use them with peace of mind by properly disclosing information and operating on site."

There are probably many people who are worried about infection control measures and have trouble choosing activities at their travel destinations. If you know that an activity has been certified by an expert, you can feel more at ease. If you are looking for a spot where you can enjoy yourself casually, why not check out "ASOVIEW!" first?

ASOVIEW!

[Food] "Hitosara" allows you to search for restaurants that are taking hygiene and prevention measures

Next, we will introduce "Hitosara," a gourmet media where you can search for famous restaurants all over Japan and see the faces of the chefs. This gourmet media not only provides restaurant information, but also focuses on famous chefs, and boasts the largest number of chefs listed in the industry (according to Tokyo Shoko Research in March 2018).

Recently, Hitosara has been focusing on COVID-19 efforts. It has compiled a list of stores that are taking hygiene and prevention measures, allowing users to easily find stores that are taking measures to prevent infection.

We spoke to Eiji Naruchi, president of USEN Media (USEN-NEXT GROUP), the company that runs Hitosara, about how this project came about.

"I think that in some areas, anxiety about the new coronavirus began to affect restaurants from late February onwards. Some restaurants took preventative measures such as ventilating the premises and installing disinfectant, and even posted about them on social media. We wanted to share those efforts with as many people as possible through Hitosara," says Naruuchi.

As of September 16, 4,625 stores are displaying their hygiene measures, and 4,027 stores are registered on the feature page. This is about a quarter of the total number of stores on the site, but the number is gradually increasing. In addition, with the lifting of the state of emergency, the number of store reservations via "Hitosara" has increased, and there has been a change in user trends, says Naruuchi.

"For reservations for parties of four or less, the number of reservations has recovered to about 85% of the pre-COVID level. In addition to taking hygiene measures, restaurants with terraces or other locations that are less likely to be crowded, and restaurants with seating that makes it easy to maintain social distance tend to be popular," says Naruuchi.

In addition, Hitosara has launched special features that keep up with the times, such as listing restaurants that offer takeout and delivery. They are also planning new projects for the future.

"We want to take advantage of our strong connections with chefs to share the real stories of owners and chefs, such as how popular restaurants overcame the COVID-19 pandemic and what they are thinking about for the future. This will be helpful for other restaurants, and I think it will also be interesting content for users," says Naruuchi.

When choosing a restaurant, being able to see the chef's face and thoughts in addition to information about infection prevention measures should give you peace of mind. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled on what's next for "Hitosara."

[Accommodation] "Relux" displays facility measures with 17 icons and text

The last one we'd like to introduce is the hotel reservation service "Relux." This popular site, with over 2 million members, lists only accommodations that have been reviewed and carefully selected by travel professionals who have stayed at top hotels and inns across the country.

Relux has launched a service that displays 17 icons of infection prevention measures taken by accommodation facilities. This allows you to see at a glance the infection prevention measures taken, such as installing disinfectant and ventilation. We spoke with Kazuki Shiokawa, vice president of Loco Partners, the company that operates the service, and Sota Nakano of the product group, about this icon display.

"According to a survey we conducted in June, we found that one in two people place importance on the disclosure of information about COVID-19, such as sterilization and disinfection, when choosing accommodation. As a result, we decided to display 17 initiatives on each facility's page using icons and text," says Shiokawa.

They particularly focused on making it easy to understand, and decided to display it with icons to make it more natural and easy for users to see.

"Some people want to know more about the hygiene measures being taken at accommodations, while others are concerned but not interested in going into detail about each and every measure. We adopted icons to make the information easy to understand at a glance for as many people as possible, and to reassure them," says Nakano.

The number of items, 17, was chosen with an emphasis on ease of understanding. Based on the "Guidelines for Accommodation Facilities to Deal with the Novel Coronavirus (1st Edition)" published by an industry group, the guideline was compiled by picking out points of concern from the user's perspective from 49 items that are expected to be effective.

Shiokawa says that infection control measures will become standard for accommodations in the future. As the situation changes and the psychology of users changes, it is necessary for information providers to keep updating the information, and Relux will continue to work with accommodations to keep users informed.

Finding out what kind of infection prevention measures are being taken in places you're visiting for the first time will not only help you protect yourself, but it will also help you create fun memories. Why not make good use of the websites introduced in this article and start planning your next trip?