July 22 - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has warned governments around the world that further country-wide border closures could seriously jeopardize global economic recovery.

 

WTTC is urging authorities to take a more carefully calibrated approach and introduce localised measures, and only when necessary. This would avoid blanket restrictions, prevent stalling the fragile economic recovery and not cripple the already bruised and battered Travel & Tourism sector.

 

WTTC would support the opening of city to city ‘air corridors’ between global financial centres, such as London and Frankfurt and New York. This would help restart business travel which is crucial to kickstarting the economic recovery.

 

Unfortunately, a number of countries around the world are experiencing local coronavirus spikes. This is forcing a re-think by a number of governments which are now having to consider reintroducing tough and unwelcome new ‘anti-travel’ measures.

 

According to the latest statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the US, the worldwide COVID-19 death toll has passed 606,000 while the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has now surpassed more than 14.5 million.’

 

Restoring business travel, especially via transatlantic flights, is key to help kickstart the economic recovery. WTTC research shows that for two of the world’s top business centres, business travellers account for one U.S Dollar in every three spent in New York and one pound Sterling out of every four spent in London.

 

WTTC has also called for more consistent COVID-19 travel rules to be adopted by European countries to counter confusion by travellers and holidaymakers who faced a baffling array of different types of travel rules advice.

 

The organization has been concerned that the uneven patchwork of COVID-19 national border restrictions would deter travellers and suppress the resurgence of the Travel & Tourism sector. However, learning from response to past pandemic outbreaks, governments could avoid delaying the much-needed economic recovery.

 

However, WTTC warned that unless European governments make a greater effort to align their policies it will cause the fragile recovery to stutter and slowdown, putting 16 million jobs in Travel & Tourism at risk.

 

Research from WTTC showed that every 2.7% increase in travellers would generate or recover one million jobs in the sector. Governments working together with the right coordinated measures could stimulate an increase in travel by as much as 27%, recreating a massive 10 million jobs in Travel and Tourism.

 

WTTC also recently issued a ten-point Traveller Guideline for Safe & Seamless Travel including testing and contact tracing to ensure people can enjoy Safe Travels in the ‘new normal’.

 

 

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