İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, Tourism Hygiene Board declared hygiene and safety standards necessary to sustain tourism activities in a healthy manner during global pandemic. Catering and accommodation facilities certified by municipality to be meeting the criteria will be awarded Selluka Plaque and document. Mayor Soyer said, “İzmir launching a practice as a first for local hygiene standards.”

In meeting held at the Historical Gasworks Culture Centre, Tunç Soyer said, “Turkey-wide tourism hygiene criteria of Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Selluka certification criteria created for Kemeraltı and Vicinity in coordination with Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate have been integrated.”
Tourism Hygiene Board Executive Committee Member and Head of Department at Yaşar University, Applied Sciences Graduate School Gastronomy and Cuisine, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seda Genç expressed that the defined standards were prepared in accordance with Hygiene Evaluation Form for Accommodation and Catering Facilities by Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

How is Selluka document awarded?
Teams will be built by county municipalities under the coordination of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality for Selluka Practice. Teams created according to population of counties will be first trained. Then these teams will inspect whether businesses certified by the municipality comply with the defined criteria and issue a report. Reports will be submitted to Tourism Hygiene Board, which includes İzmir Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate. Board will decide whether to award Selluka document in light of these reports.

How will they be inspected?
Information posters and brochures will be prepared by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, Public Health Office Directorate to be distributed to facilities licensed by the municipality. Hygiene Criteria will be notified to these facilities. Inspection committee made of members from İzmir Province Culture and Tourism Directorate, district governorships, County Municipality Licensing and Inspection Directorate, İzmir Chamber of Commerce, İzmir Union of Chamber of Merchants and Craftsmen, Turkish Federation of restauranteurs and Patisseries, Provincial Health Directorate, İzmir Chamber of Tourist Guides, TÜRSAB Aegean Region Representative Board, İzmir Development Agency, İzmir Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Directorate, Aegean Region touristic Businesses and Accommodation Union and universities will be responsible for the inspections and Selluka document entering into force. Representative of each organization will attend inspections in turns. Accomodation and catering facilities that want to receive Selluka document will apply to the municipalities of their counties. 

How will certification proceed?
In Municipality licensed Accommodation facilities, in addition to criteria in “Regulation on Starting a Business and Operation Licenses” and Covid-19 and hygiene criteria, additional evaluation criteria such as type of the business, minimum qualities of its class, if any, physical properties, standard of the  material used, quality of business and service and qualities of staff will be evaluated by the commission members and corresponding Selluka Document and Plaque will be awarded based on the scores. Scoring will be classified as below:
50-70 points: 1 Selluka Document
71-85 points: 2 Selluka Document
86-100 points: 3 Selluka Document

Selluka flower
A creeper plant endemic to Mediterranean and Aegean and essential to old İzmir houses, Selluka is the most valuable and spectacular plant with its delicate lilac and white flowers. Decorating detached houses and gardens of İzmir through history, it is the colour and smell of İzmir.