As countries begin to end their COVID-19 lockdowns and ease travel restrictions, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has outlined what the ‘new normal’ will look like and incorporated it into its recovery plan.
WTTC said public-private collaboration between business and governments was vital to develop new health protocols that would form the travel experience and also provide people with strong reassurances when travelling.
It said travel was likely to return first to domestic markets with staycations; then to a country’s nearest neighbours before expanding across regions, and then, finally, across continents to welcome the return of journeys to long-haul international destinations.
WTTC also believes younger travellers in the 18-35 age group, who appear to be less vulnerable to COVID-19, may also be among the first to begin travelling once again.
“It is vital for the survival of the travel and tourism sector that we work together and map out the road to recovery through co-ordinated actions, and offer the reassurance people need to begin travelling once again,” said Gloria Guevara, WTTC President and CEO.
Streamlined processes
She said the WTTC had learned from past experience that when the protocols from the private sector were taken into account and there was a co-ordinated approach, the recovery timeframe was significantly reduced.
“We should avoid new, unnecessary procedures that create bottlenecks and slow down the recovery. However, a quick and effective restart of travel will only happen if governments around the world agree to a common set of health protocols developed by the private sector, such as those we’ve outlined.”
Guevara pointed out that these must provide the reassurance travellers and authorities need, using new technology to offer hassle-free, pre-vaccine ‘new normal’ travel in the short term.
The new protocols and standards are being defined following feedback and multiple conversations with WTTC members, as well collaboration from associations that represent the different travel sectors.
These include Iata, the Airport Council International (ACI), Cruise Lines International Association, United States Travel Association, Pacific Asia Travel Association, Icao, the OECD, the European Travel Commission, and the UNWTO.
Iata, ACI and Icao are pooling their crucial expertise and working closely to define the best protocols to keep travellers and employees safe to enable the aviation sector to recover. The World Health Organization and other health experts have also contributed by providing their experience from various global medical crises.
To offer world-class cleanliness, improved hygiene standards and ensure guest safety, hotels are developing protocols, based on learnings from offering free rooms to frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 crisis.
New hygiene protocols
There will be new protocols for check-in involving digital technology; hand sanitiser stations at frequent points, including where luggage is stored; contactless payment instead of cash; using stairs more often than lifts, where the two-metre rule can be harder to maintain; and fitness equipment being moved for greater separation, among other examples.
Cruise operators will take further measures to ensure ships are free of COVID-19, such as staff wearing gloves at all times, which are then frequently changed; and more frequent room cleaning.
Travellers at airports will find themselves tested before they fly and upon arrival at their destination airport. They can expect to see social distancing measures at the airport and during boarding, as well as wearing masks while on board.
Aircraft will also be subject to intensive cleansing regimes. These measures will be combined with contact-tracing, via mobile app, that will allow flights to leave airports COVID-19 free.
Positive signs of recovery
Guevara pointed out that there were positive signs of the first green shoots of recovery. Research by travel data and analytics expert, Cirium, shows that over 30% of domestic capacity has returned to the Chinese aviation market in the last two months.
Domestic flights have also resumed in some countries, such as in Vietnam between Ho Chi Minh City and Saigon, with Vietnam recording relatively few COVID-19 fatalities.
To speed up the global recovery, WTTC will continue to work closely with the G20, EU, international organisations and governments around the world to help translate the new protocols into easily adopted public policies by each country while adhering to common global standards.
WTTC says the travel and tourism sector is now facing over 100 million job losses worldwide due to the pandemic, at a cost of up to US$2.7 trillion of GDP.
