The World Travel & Tourism Council has called on the G7 heads of state, to lead a coordinated response to restart international travel safely.
The WTTC has written an open letter to UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, chair of the group in 2021, laying out the role the G7 must play to save the global travel and tourism sector by safely restoring international travel and mobility through three key measures.
The three points are:
- Put the sector at the heart of all governmental decision making recognising its economic and social importance and committing to stronger global public-private collaboration.
- Commit to implementing a consistent framework to safely reopen international travel, through the use of testing, health & hygiene protocols, and digital health travel passes to ensure the safe and seamless flow of people.
- Reopen international borders between countries with similar successful vaccination rollouts and low levels of infection, such as the US and the UK.
“With the global Travel & Tourism sector hanging by a thread, Boris Johnson is in a unique position to lead the G7 response to restart international travel and save the millions of jobs and livelihoods that depend on a thriving sector,” Virginia Messina, senior vice president and acting CEO, said.
“The situation is critical, so we must put Travel & Tourism at the heart of all governmental decision making globally and agree a consistent framework to reopen international borders.
“The risks of not doing so are enormous. In the G7 countries alone, the sector accounts for 5.11% of the total economy and almost one in 10 of all jobs globally (9.07%). If we don’t save international travel, we simply won’t achieve global socio-economic recovery.”