(TAN): Vacation hotspots Tunisia and Ras Al Khaimah have signed up for the world’s first global safety and hygiene stamp, launched recently by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, designed the Safe Travels stamp to enable travellers to identify destinations and businesses around the world which have adopted its health and hygiene global standardised protocols.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has backed the WTTC Safe Travels stamp initiative, which place the safety and hygiene of travellers as top priority.
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WTTC President and CEO Gloria Guevara said: “Our Safe Travels stamp is proving a great success and we are delighted to see many more major countries and destinations receive the stamp. Top holiday destinations like Tunisia, and popular cities such as St Petersburg, have joined the growing list of global destinations adopting our private sector protocols.”
“The early success of the WTTC Safe Travel stamp demonstrates its importance not only to countries, destinations and businesses, but also to travellers and the 330 million people around the world who work in and depend on, the travel and tourism sector. The stamp is critical to re-establish consumer confidence in travel and tourism and ensure travellers can rest assured that enhanced standards of hygiene are in place,” she said.
Sergey Korneev, Tourism Development of Saint Petersburg, Chairman of the Committee said: “A fast and effective recovery of the travel and tourism industry will require a coordinated approach. The northern capital is the first Russian city to adopt the protocols recognised through the WTTC Safe Travels stamp, and our main priorities as a major tourist centre, is ensuring safety and reducing risk factors during the journey.”
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Raki Phillips, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority CEO said: “With all these measures in place, we are witnessing an uptick in domestic travel and preparations are well underway to welcome international markets as travel corridors open up. WTTC has been instrumental in this process by providing consistency in global protocols and rebuilding trust and confidence in the travel experience.”
Emad Hijazeen, Jordanian Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities secretary general, said: “We appreciate and support the WTTC initiative of making travel and tourism a safe activity.”
As part of its Safe Travels protocols, these worldwide measures provide consistency and guidance to travel providers and travellers about the new approach to health, hygiene, deep cleansing and physical distancing, in the ‘new normal’ of COVID-19 world.
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The protocols were devised following the experience of WTTC members dealing with COVID19 and based on guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to WTTC’s 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, Travel & Tourism was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million total), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.
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