— from Amy Nesler for San Juans Visitors Bureau —

Summer is here, and that normally means an increase in visitors to our Islands. While 2020 is redefining what ‘normal’ is, there are steps the tourism industry is taking to safely welcome visitors back to the Islands. One of our most important goals is to educate our visitors and ask them to share the responsibility of keeping our community safe by following our County Health Officer’s guidelines as we move into a modified Phase 3 of the Governor’s Safe Start reopening plan. This partnership is key to moving forward carefully and cohesively.

The Visitors Bureau, in collaboration with the three Island Chambers of Commerce, has created a “pledge” from our tourism industry to our visitors, and for our visitors to our businesses and islanders. This pledge lists aspects such as wearing masks, washing hands, social distancing, and following local Health Officer guidelines, to keep each other safe. 

This poster is available to download for all island businesses and non-profits, or you can drop by the Visitors Bureau or Chamber offices to pick up a few. The goal is to make everyone aware of strict health and safety guidelines so we move forward together.

Businesses: You can download the Stay Safe 8.5×11 poster here and print it out to post in your place of business or office. Please also consider posting it on your website and including it with reservation confirmations. 

We’ve also created a Guidelines for Enjoying Your Visit Checklist to download for all visitors to Plan, Pack and Prepare, with emphasis on safety.

You can also download either Stay Safe poster or Guidelines from our website: www.visitsanjuans.com/stay-safe, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the links.

Please consider sharing these resources with visiting friends, relatives or guests before they arrive, to help us partner with visitors to safely and sustainably reopen to protect the place we all love. 

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