The World Travel & Tourism Council has launched a global safety and hygiene stamp under the name Safe Travels.
The decision came as Hotelbeds announced plans to list safety protocols in place at different properties listed on its site, under the ‘Safe Stay’ category.
The WTTC said that it had the backing of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation for Safe Travels, which will see hotels and other hospitality businesses able to use the stamp once the health and hygiene protocols, outlined by WTTC, have been implemented.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC president & CEO, said: “We are delighted that UNWTO are supporting the private sector global protocols and our efforts as public-private collaboration is critical to ensure a faster recovery.
“We have learned from past crises that global standard protocols and consistency provides confidence for the traveller. Our new global safety stamp is designed to help rebuild consumer confidence worldwide.
“Now travellers will be able to recognise the businesses and destinations worldwide which have adopted the new set of global protocols that will encourage the return of ‘Safe Travels’ around the world. It will, in turn, help the Travel & Tourism sector to reopen for business and move in a coordinated approach.”
Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO Secretary-General, said: “We welcome WTTC’s global safety stamp and Safe Travels protocols and its contribution to restoring confidence. This is key to build trust and we will only succeed if we work together.
“Public and private sector collaboration are of the essence here and we are happy to be working together with WTTC on the post Covid-19 recovery, and value their contribution to UNWTO’s Global Crisis Committee, where we gather other leading private sector bodies, our members and key UN agencies.
“We are united in the common goal of tourism’s come-back to generate benefits going far beyond our sector. Trust and tourism will catalyse consumer demand, investments and jobs, thus generating opportunities for all.”
The measures provided guidance about the new approach to health, hygiene, deep cleansing and physical distancing, in the post Covid-19 world, to set clear expectations of what travellers may expect travelling in the “new normal” before the vaccine is available.
Those travellers who use Hotelbeds will be able to filter their choices using a Safe Stay category.
The company said that all supplier partners are eligible and protocols from partners such as Accor, Radisson, Hyatt, RIU Hotels and Resorts, the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Spanish Institute of Tourist Quality would be included.
Tobias Thibaut, risk, compliance, internal audit & sustainability director, Hotelbeds, said: “Today more than ever, we need to focus on the safety and wellbeing of guests during the Covid-19 pandemic. When it becomes available in a few weeks our ‘Safe Stay’ filter category will be very valuable for our clients when reserving a hotel for their customers or other ancillary products by giving them greater confidence and thus helping the tourism sector recover more quickly.
“As there are already many different standards and certification processes out there, it is important to bring them together under one category and for the information to be easily displayed in the booking process. We encourage all our supplier partners out there who have introduced their own standards or who are adhering to third party standards to input the details in MaxiRoom right away to gain the Safe Stay badge”
Hotelbeds added that it supported the WTTC’s Safe Travels initiative.
Insight: Without wishing to go all Lord of the Rings, such has been the deluge of safety standards pouring out of brands and destinations that there was a need for ONE STANDARD TO RULE THEM ALL. And the WTTC is here to provide it.
Whether the regular traveller knows what the WTTC is would be a separate conversation. The sector does and, at this point, you can never have too many safety stickers to adorn your windows.
But the brands still need to set themselves apart because, y’know, that’s what a brand does. Owners are hoping that this won’t be a weapons race which they end up paying for, with ever-more costly standards to adhere too. Hotelbeds is the first group to list the protocols and one wonders whether this will end up as a leaderboard for hotels to compete. We can only know once people start to travel again. That time is looming.