International tourism organizations, both government and private, have asked the G7 group of nations along with Australia, South Korea and Spain to provide a strong international leadership and guidance so that global tourism may recover.
The call was made by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and 120 of the world’s major travel and global business leaders.
The G7 countries are composed of Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States.
In a statement released by WTTC, the global forum said they are gravely concerned by the lack of clear or internationally coordinated effort to protect the uniquely exposed sector despite travel and tourism’s crucial importance to the local and global economies.
“Who is in charge of getting us out of this crisis and will lead the world to save the jobs and secure the futures of the many millions of people globally? We have reached a stage where critical action is urgently needed. Any measures taken in silos moving forward will only worsen the plight of millions of ordinary people,” Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and chief executive officer said.
“We need to transcend politics and put the millions of livelihoods, which have been affected by COVID-19, front and center. This is not a binary solution or a choice between health on the one hand, and jobs, the economy and travel on the other. We can make strong progress on all these fronts if we follow the expert advice from science and learn from the past and positive experiences of others,” she added.
Guevara stressed that the WTTC and all other signatories of the letter are committed to working together to help resolve the worst crisis of the generation, as well as to bring back the millions of jobs impacted.
However, she pointed out that the private sector cannot resolve the pressing problem alone, citing the importance of leaders from the top nations to come together and prioritize rescuing the world from the unprecedented crisis, by acting in an effective and coordinated way to bring back more than 120 million jobs and livelihoods lost.
In the letter, WTTC identified four measures which need concerted international framework and leadership to combat the coronavirus pandemic, which includes the mandatory wearing of masks throughout the entire traveler journey, as well as when visiting any interior venue and in locations where there is restricted movement; and an extensive, rapid, reliable, and low cost testing and contact tracing.
The 120 leaders backing the call include business leaders of major airlines, such as British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Jet2, WestJet and Virgin Atlantic; top international hotel groups, such as Accor, Best Western, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Mandarin Oriental, Marriott, Meliá Hotels and Radisson; and major tour operators and travel companies, such as Abercrombie & Kent, American Express, Carlson Wagonlit, Expedia, Travelport, TUI and Uber.
WTTC research has shown that even a modest resumption of traveling can have massive economic benefits and bring thousands of desperately needed jobs back, which could later provide a critical boost for the struggling travel & tourism sector and generate desperately needed gross domestic product for economies left floundering after being struck by the pandemic.