July 29 - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has unveiled its Insurance Guidelines to rebuild global consumer confidence to help encourage the return of travelling.

 

The guidelines are designed to drive the return of safe, healthy and responsible travel and ensure the insurance sector is fit for purpose to operate for travellers in the ‘new normal’ of the COVID-19 world.

 

Insurance is a vital part of the Travel & Tourism experience, providing peace of mind and risk mitigation to consumers, suppliers, and organisations across the Travel & Tourism sector.

 

These new guidelines were compiled based on input from leading companies, many of which have partnered with trusted experts in public health and governments to support safe, healthy, and responsible travels.

 

The guidelines aim to promote consistent standards across all relevant functions with an increased focus on health and safety, in line with what travellers need and expect.

 

They provide practical insights and guidelines around insurance for the Travel & Tourism private sector to equip them with the knowledge of risks, what insurance coverage they need to look for, and how to attain appropriate coverage for their needs.

 

Detailed discussions took place with key stakeholders and organisations to ensure maximum buy-in, alignment and practical implementation, to set clear expectations of what travellers may experience.

 

WTTC divided the new guidance into four pillars including operational and staff preparedness; ensuring a safe experience; rebuilding trust and confidence; innovation; and implementing enabling policies.

 

Highlights of recommendations include:

• All organizations to provide risk management plans, including how they aim to combat COVID-19, to insurers • Organizations to make sure their plans are thorough, practical, and simple to follow • All staff to be informed of protective measures being taken, which include insurance products that will cover them • Insurers to ensure audits identify and plug gaps in and source the right partners and providers to ensure appropriate coverage • Insurers to create blanket insurance and crisis management coverage to give comfort to customers • Ensure there is enhanced awareness of the terms and conditions, restrictions, and coverage limits of insurance products/policies • Insurers to provide a minimum base of mandatory coverage for risks posed by COVID-19 • Educate travellers who are unfamiliar with the risk they could be exposed to and what coverage to look for

 

WTTC recently unveiled its Safe Travels protocols for hospitality, outdoor retail, airports, airlines, tour operators, convention centres, meetings and events, which were widely endorsed and supported by top CEOs and business leaders globally.

 

Backed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the new protocols recognise businesses and governments worldwide which have adopted them to rebuild confidence among consumers, encourage the return of ‘Safe Travels’ and enable the Travel & Tourism sector to reopen for business.

 

According to WTTC’s 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, Travel & Tourism was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million total), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.

For more information, please visit wttc.org

 

---

More Travel News:

ATELIER De Hoteles: Cleaning and Disinfection Protocol
Register now for UNITE 2020, a Global Virtual Trade Show
Airlines to resume services for August 15 reopening
Belize announces phased re-opening plan for Tourism