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WTTC urges faster reopening of UK tourism
While the UK travel sector has been widely supportive of plans to life Covid-19 restrictions, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has warned the process may take too long.
Prime minister, Boris Johnson, unveiled the plans on Monday, with a global travel taskforce to report on the reopening of travel on April 12th.
The government would then decide on removing restrictions on international travel.
However, this would not happen until May 17th at the earliest.
While some businesses have already reported a surge in bookings, WTTC chief executive Gloria Guevara said delays could prove costly.ADVERTISEMENT
She explained: “While we welcome the incredible progress the UK government has made on the vaccine rollout programme, delaying the return of international travel until at least mid-May, could mean the tourism sector simply will not survive and struggling small- and medium-sized enterprises will just disappear.
“The sector was banking its hopes on a quicker return to international travel, so there will be widespread dismay at this news.
“Its return is crucial if the UK economy is to recover from the ravages of the pandemic, given the sector generates £200 billion to the GDP of the United Kingdom and supports almost four million jobs.”
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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects its digital Covid Travel Pass will be ready for use “within weeks”.
The pass – which was originally unveiled in December – is designed to verify a passenger has had the Covid-19 tests or vaccines required to enter a country.
It also verifies they were administered by an approved authority.
The industry body sees the pass as essential for reopening air travel, as many countries still have strict restrictions or quarantines in place.
“The key issue is one of confidence,” Vinoop Goel, IATA regional director of airports and external relations, said.
“Passengers need to be confident that the testing they have taken is accurate and will allow them to enter the country.ADVERTISEMENT
“Then governments need to have the confidence that the tests that the passengers claim to have is one which is accurate and meets their own conditions.”
IATA said the Travel Pass – which it is preparing alongside Etihad and a number of other carriers – is designed in a modular way, so that it can work with other digital solutions that are being trialled around the world.
British Airways, for example, is working on a separate, but compatible, VeriFLY solution.
IATA said the Travel Pass will be available on iOS and Android platforms, and is expected to be free to passengers.
“We are building the IATA Travel Pass with one aim – to help reconnect our world safely.
“IATA has brought advancements in global standards like e-ticketing and mobile boarding passes to consumers in all parts of the world.
“This unique capability demonstrates that we can work with industry and governments to re-shape travel processes based on global standards,” said Nick Careen, IATA senior vice president, airport, passenger, cargo and security.
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American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has appointed Jason Geall as senior vice president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
He will take up the post immediately.
In this newly created role, Geall will expand his current responsibilities for the UK and Northern Europe to oversee the entire EMEA commercial operation.
Geall will continue to report to Andrew Crawley, chief commercial officer.ADVERTISEMENT
As part of this new team structure, GBT has appointed Yorick Charveriat as vice president and general manager for France, and will be recruiting a vice president and general manager for the UK.
Before joining GBT more than five years ago, Geall was chief executive of online platform the Student Room Group.
Prior to that he held senior leadership roles in travel and technology companies including GetThere and Eurostar.
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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has sent an open letter to UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, urging him to support its recovery plan for the travel sector.
It comes ahead of an expected announcement on Monday about a roadmap out of lockdown and for lifting restrictions.
The WTTC letter lays out four key principles needed to safely restore international mobility.
Firstly, an international coordinated approach led by the UK with public and private collaboration, to establish an international mobility framework which allows for the safe movement of people and removes restrictions such as blanket and hotel quarantines.
Secondly, it urges the UK government to move from risk assessments based on countries to risk based on individual travellers; thirdly, to reinforce health and hygiene protocols including mandatory mask wearing, in addition to the vaccination rollout; and fourthly, to provide a major government support package for the tourism sector.ADVERTISEMENT
Following extensive consultation with WTTC members and governments around the world, WTTC also made clear there was strong and determined opposition to air corridors and that the UK could be in danger of ‘burning bridges’ with overseas governments looking to agree trade and other deals in the post-Brexit era, putting the UK at a competitive disadvantage.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC chief executive, said: “While we applaud the government’s incredible progress on the rollout of vaccines to combat the virus, the tourism sector is still massively exposed to the terrible impact of anti-Covid-19 travel restrictions.
“That is why we are calling on the UK government to take urgent action to support the sector, without which we fear tourism in the UK could face complete collapse.
“We have laid out a pathway using four clear principles for the government to navigate the tourism sector out the lockdown, and back to powering the UK economic revival.
“Our members and overseas governments believe that air corridors should not be reinstated, as they could put in jeopardy relationships with overseas governments who are looking to agree trade and other deals in the post-Brexit period.”
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Oasis Overland has ceased operations in the wake of the Covid-19 shutdown of travel.
The company specialised in small group expeditions by truck across Africa and other key overland destinations worldwide such as South America and Central Asia, alongside hotel-based trips in Pakistan, Bolivia, Peru and south-east Asia.
The news was reported by AITO.
Martyn Sumners, executive director of AITO, said: “Chris Wrede and his team had been in business since 1998 – more than 22 years – and joined AITO in 2008, just over 12 years ago.
“He was a valued member of the AITO family and will be much missed.”ADVERTISEMENT
Oasis Overland had just launched a new and exciting 93-day long trip by truck through Africa, from Nairobi to Johannesburg, but Covid-19 restrictions as a result of the South African variant of the virus meant that it has now had to admit defeat.
Wrede said: “We are devastated to be unable to continue to trade.
“The past 11 months have been extremely tough, and the outlook is very bleak for our type of adventure until the world is clear of Covid-19.
“We are very sorry that we could not deliver our adventures as promised, and our thoughts go out to all our clients, loyal UK staff, leaders, drivers and the many local people and businesses around the world that were the bedrock of our adventures.”
Details of how to claim refunds from Oasis Overland are available here.
Other AITO members to ceased trading earlier in the pandemic include Cities Direct, based in Cheltenham, and London-based Tucan Travel.
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