The International Nightlife Association – support for World’s Best Clubs

Colombia joins Spain and Italy in the pursuit of the international sanitary seal for nightlife venues that aims to regain consumer confidence when venues reopen. The seal, promoted by the International Nightlife Association is already being implemented among the best nightclubs in Spain. The seal’s protocol includes taking clients’ temperature, complete a thorough chemical fogging, raise awareness about safe practices among clients, and staff training.

Preparing sanitary protection

For several weeks now, the nightlife sector has been working backstage, taking advantage of this period of inactivity to be as prepared as possible for when the health authorities worldwide allow for reopening. For the time being, although in most countries there is no specific date for reopening, the sector has been taking advantage of this time in different countries to develop an international seal that will allow for customers, when venues reopen, to identify those clubs that offer greater sanitary protection.

Also in Poland, the situation wasn’t any different, although the numbers of people affected by the virus outbreak weren’t even close to the statistics from Italy or Spain. It meant that polish nightlife with the best nightclubs and bars on the top of this list, were forced to freeze their activity without having knowledge about the potential reopening dates.

The International Nightlife Association has been the first international organization that has developed and launched a private seal in sanitary terms by launching in early April a sanitary distinction specifically for the nightlife sector. This seal was later presented before the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), being INA a member of the same, seeking its international support and requesting the endorsement of the UNWTO member states.

Shortly afterward, on April 17th, the Italian Nightlife Association (Associazione Italiana di Intrattenimento da ballo e di spettacolo -SILB Fipe) announced its adhesion to the “Sanitized Venue” seal, currently the only sanitary seal in the world specifically for nightlife venues.

As Maurizio Pasca, President of the Italian Nightlife Association SILB-FIPE and President of the European Nightlife Association, said at the time, “I am excited about the worldwide launch of this private sector distinction and I am confident that it will be very useful when the premises can reopen as it will speed up the gradual recovery of our customers’ confidence”. And now, when Italy is preparing for the gradual reopening of activities, the Italian and European leaders themselves have said that:

“At this moment it is even more important that we position ourselves and prepare ourselves as a sector for when it is our turn to reopen, hoping that it will be soon since our business owners will not be able to hold on much longer while closed. In this aspect, we believe that it is key that the local administrations see that nightlife entrepreneurs bet on a firm and clear protection of the health of their clients and workers.”

The best nightclubs showing their commitment

Some of the best nightclubs are already in the process of implementing the seal. Spain, as mentioned above, was the first country in the world to endorse the international sanitary seal for nightlife venues, and, at the moment, there are already two venues implementing it. Specifically, on the one hand, we have DiscoTropics in Lloret de Mar (Girona) and, on the other, Marina Beach Club Valencia, one of the most forward-thinking and state-of-the-art venues in Spain. These two will, therefore, be the first two venues in the world to obtain this international sanitary seal, without prejudice to the fact that there are other clubs in Spain, Italy, Croatia, and Romania that have already applied for its implementation.

In the words of Joaquim Boadas de Quintana, Secretary-General of the International Nightlife Association “the main strength of this reputational seal is that it is international, which will make many tourists and clients of nightlife venues around the world look for it as a reference of quality and protection of client’s health. This will not only be visible at the door of the venue but also online since the venues that obtain this seal will be listed on the website of the International Nightlife Association so that customers can pre-select which venues transmit the most trust and, based on that, even decide their final holiday destination”.

What are the objectives of this international seal?

The international sanitary seal “Sanitized Venue” is aimed to reflect the following objectives:

• Sanitary security: Provide the necessary protocols and items to assure the sanitary security for staff and clients.
• Adaptation: Adapt and improve businesses under the new post-pandemic paradigms that we will experience.
• Requirements: Prove that the venue meets minimum international sanitary requirements approved by the International Nightlife Association.
• Guarantee: Guarantee that the establishment is safe in sanitary and hygienic terms.
• Prevention: Helps to prevent the spread of viruses to staff and clients and protects the venue’s prestige
• Detection: Helps to detect possible breach causes that allow you to adopt the proper sanitary, prevention and corrective measures.
• Ethics: Shows the ethics and compromise of the sector, guaranteeing safety and health requirements and their implementation and also the promotion of good practices amongst users.
• Confidence: Restore trust among nightlife making them gain consumer confidence by eliminating any fears, since they will be in a clean and disinfected space with multiple measures to protect their health and that of the workers.

As Jose Luis Benítez, President of the International Nightlife Association and of Spain Nightlife and also representative of Ibiza’s Nightlife Association, mentioned in his last statement “The release of this certification is a firm demonstration of nightlife’s complete involvement and compromise to protect the health and safety of our workers and clients and a vow for the global nightlife community coming together as one in order to overcome this sanity and economic crisis as soon as possible.”