(TAN): Iceland, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Colombia and Turks and Caicos are the latest major destinations to adopt the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) global safety and hygiene stamp, which was launched earlier this year.
The Safe Travels stamp was developed as the first of its kind to help restore confidence in travellers and aims to revive an ailing travel & tourism sector.
It is now being used by over 145 destinations, including major holiday hotspots such as Puerto Rico, Philippines, Portugal, Turkey and Maldives.
The stamp allows travellers to identify which destinations around the world have adopted standardised global health and hygiene protocols – so they can experience ‘Safe Travels’.
The move by WTTC also received the backing of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The launch of global protocols to recover the travel & tourism sector have been embraced by over 200 CEO’s, including some of the world’s major tourism groups.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said, “The success of the stamp shows its importance both to countries and destinations, but also to travellers and the 330 million people around the world who work in and depend on a thriving travel & tourism sector.”
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Mr. Skarphedinn Berg Steinarsson, Director General, Icelandic Tourist Board, said: “The Icelandic Tourist Board has implemented Clean & Safe guidelines for tourism businesses who are working hard to adhere to government and public health and are committed to achieve traveller confidence and ensure safety. The guidelines are aligned with WTTC, to whom we want to express our gratitude for its effort in establishing and developing the new global safety stamp and Safe Travels protocols.”
Yerzhan Yerkinbayev, Chairman, JSC, National Company, Kazakh Tourism, also welcomed the Safe Travels initiative by WTTC.