WTTC says quarantining foreign travelers a competitive disadvantage


The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC, for its acronym in English) considers that the quarantine that will be imposed in Spain to international travelers from next Friday may be a competitive disadvantage for the country.

In addition, the executive president of the WTTC, Gloria Guevara, has stated that "if things are done well" in July-August, the tourist movement between European countries and between the United States and the Caribbean countries can be recovered.

Spain "is sending a message of disadvantage," said Guevara, who is betting on using tests, contact tracing or temperature measurements, just as other European countries do to control the spread of the virus, instead of imposing 15 days of quarantine for international travelers, as stated in the order published this Tuesday by the Official State Gazette (BOE).

In addition, the vice president for Europe and Latin America of the WTTC, Maribel Rodríguez, has wondered what image Spain projects abroad if the easy arrival of travelers from other parts of the world cannot be guaranteed while other countries allow it.

According to the forecasts of the organization, which represents the private sector of the tourism industry at a global level, after the recovery in July-August of movements within the major regions of the world, international travel will begin in September-October.

The WTTC has launched a "travel safe" seal that will be the umbrella for different protocols, of which those relating to accommodation and shopping abroad have already been launched (type outlet on the street, such as Las Rozas Village in Madrid). ).

These will be followed by others for airlines, airports, cruises, tour operators, travel agencies or restaurants, for which they work in collaboration with each of the subsectors, which seek to regain the confidence of travelers and which, according to Guevara, will reduce time. of tourism recovery.

The president believes that the sector - which represents 10% of world GDP and will lose 100 million jobs and 2.7 trillion dollars (2.5 trillion euros) with this crisis - can only emerge from this situation with some speed if there is coordinated work between countries and institutions, and between the public and private sectors.

For this reason, it has urged to repeat the recipe for global coordination in the framework of the G20 that was activated after the 2008 financial crisis, from which the sector emerged in 18 months, while after 9/11 2001 (11 of September, terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York) the recovery had to wait five years for the lack of cooperation.

For the recovery of tourism, he pointed out, the opening of borders is key, including the "health component" in the traveler experience and protocols to instill confidence in travelers.

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