Donkeys are back - and Good To Go

Around 300 businesses across the resort have signed up to the Visit England standard within a week of its launch including hotels, B&Bs, visitor attractions, restaurants, bars and amusement centres.

Now they have been joined by a traditional attraction which has graced the beach for decades – the famous Blackpool donkeys.

After going through the usual inspection regime and the new Covid-safe guidelines, the donkey operators have been given the green light to return to the sands.

Karen Richardson, a fourth generation donkey operator whose family have had donkeys on Blackpool beach for more than 100 years, was one of the first operators in the resort to be awarded the We’re Good to Go accreditation.

"It means our donkey rides will be following all necessary health and safety advice to keep our customers safe," she said..

Coun Gillian Campbell, Blackpool Council cabinet member for tourism and culture, said: “We are delighted that businesses are continuing to sign up to the industry standard in such numbers to make sure that our residents and visitors are kept safe during their time here in resort.

“Every business linked to tourism can sign up to this – as our donkey ride operators have already proved.”

To obtain the standard, businesses must show that they have carried out a Covid risk assessment and are adhering to all of the latest Government guidelines and making necessary changes around social distancing, staff training and health and safety.

Measures include: Hotels and accommodation providers introducing deep cleaning regimes between guests; meal services including breakfasts to be pre-booked and timed, and shared facilities only accessible to one family group at a time; timed tickets introduced for some indoor attractions to reduce the number of visitors in locations at the same time; the introduction of one-way systems, clear floor markings and queue management systems to maintain social distancing measures at all attractions and help to limit contact between both staff and visitors and encouragement of cashless payments throughout to avoid cross contamination.

Visit Blackpool has also launched an on-line “Know Before You Go” platform giving comprehensive information on the measures introduced across the resort’s tourism industry to protect the public so that visitors can plan ahead of their visit. It can be viewed at visitblackpool.com