TravTalk India Online Magazine
Three UNWTO leaders speak about how the global organisation is preparing to help plan the sector’s recovery for its member states, culling out country-specific plans from of a generic set of guidelines.
Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, UNWTO
Commitment to international cooperation will be important as we move forward and rebuild confidence and trust in the customer to travel again. Restarting our sector must be done in a timely and responsible manner, but not at the expense of fair and equal treatment of tourists. The World Committee on Tourism Ethics, an independent body convened by World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), has stressed on the importance of safeguarding the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism as travel restrictions are eased.
Suman Billa, Director, Technical, Co-operation and Silk Road Development UNWTO
In order to support its member states, UNWTO has unveiled its COVID-19 Tourism Recovery package. Under economic recovery, we cover measurement of impact of this pandemic and develop country-specific tourism recovery plans. We also help develop support programmes for MSMEs, and re-orient value chains towards sustainability. For marketing and promotion, we identify priority markets and develop tailor-made marketing and product diversification strategies. We also help prepare a plan to offer incentives to stimulate travel.
Donald Hawkins, Professor Emeritus, George Washington University & First Vice Chair, UNWTO, Affiliate Members Program
Everyone wants travel to resume as safely as possible. But the glut of guidelines currently available on how to do so may be creating more confusion than guidance. Prior to the crisis, the global travel industry experienced one of the strongest expansion cycles in its history. For travel and tourism companies, success will likely be determined by the ability to respond to the health, safety and financial uncertainty ahead.
Inputs by Hazel Jain
