The WTTC considered that the global tourism industry is in critical shifts and waiting for vaccination for the opening of borders can affect in not the best way. Along with Airports Council International (ACI), the World Economic Forum (WEF), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have called for an immediate resumption of international travel without waiting for COVID-19 vaccines.
Recent WTTC research shows a staggering 174 million global Travel & Tourism jobs are now at risk.
The four measures identified by WTTC and its international partners are as follows:
1. Globally recognized testing regime on departure - It is essential that quick and cost-effective testing to international standards are introduced on departure for all passengers to minimize the risk of transmission.
2. Common health and hygiene protocols - Heightened health and hygiene protocols, such as the WTTC Safe Travels Protocols, can ensure the risk of transmission during traveling is actually lower than in the community at large.
3. Risk management regime - All governments should adopt a clear policy of risk management in accordance with the recent recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Council Aviation Recovery Taskforce (CART), and the guidelines from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (EASA/ECDC). This is in stark contrast to the present risk avoidance approach, reflected in 14-day quarantines, which is crushing both business and leisure travel.
4. Travel passes - Vaccines can work alongside digital travel passes, such as CommonPass, AOK Pass, and IATA Travel Pass to ensure the common certification of test results to revive travel, without the need for restrictive and unnecessary travel barriers and counterproductive quarantines. By contrast, attempting to introduce so-called “health passports” would only further delay the urgently needed recovery.
We remind that the WTTC opposed the use of digital health passports as a prerequisite for travel. According to the president of WTTC, Gloria Guevara, this decision will not only make travel safer but at the same time will greatly slow down the process of recovery of the Tourism industry.
