Global tourism crisis, livelihoods of millions at stake

Travel Biz News —

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) plans to release a set of recommendations for global tourism crisis recovery. Tourism is one of the hardest hit economic sector by COVID-19.

The document will highlight the steps governments and other authorities need to take to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector and accelerate recovery.

“The livelihoods of millions of people and their families are at stake, be it in urban centres or in remote communities where tourism is sometimes the main income generator and a vehicle for social inclusion, protecting heritage and kickstarting development”, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said at a meeting held this week in Madrid.

UNWTO hosted a high-level meeting, bringing together key UN agencies, the chairs of its Executive Council and Regional Commissions, and private sector leaders on March 20.

Since the start of the pandemic, UNWTO has been working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to guide the tourism sector as it faces up to the COVID-19 challenge.

The Madrid  meeting called for international cooperation to underscore a united response based on the latest public health recommendations and reflecting the deep economic ripple effect and social cost of the pandemic.

Without any certainty over how long this crisis will last or what the final economic and structural impact on tourism might be, all participants were united in their deep concern over the millions of jobs that are at risk of being lost. With small and medium-sized enterprises making up 80 per cent of the sector worldwide, the wider social impact of the crisis will go far beyond tourism, making it a key concern for the international community.

All welcomed UNWTO’s tagline to ‘Stay home today so you can travel tomorrow’, which is promoted on digital media through the hashtag #TravelTomorrow.

UNWTO’s recommendations will be complemented by a dynamic component aimed at engaging with innovators across the world through an innovation challenge centred on tourism’s response, according to a statement issued by the world organization.

Launched with the support of WHO, this challenge will identify new ideas that can be implemented to help tourism return to sustainable growth.

March 22 , 2020