wéi WTTC wollt de britesche Premier Boris Johnson d'Welt am Reouverture Tourismus féieren?

Gloria Guevara, CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council has become the leader for the private industry to speak for the survival of one of the largest industries in the world. Other than the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), WTTC clearly became the “doer” and a true leader when it comes to responding to the biggest threat the industry ever faced. Other than UNWTO WTTC has done by far more than lip service and empty talk.

Am Juli 31 der World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) was looking to the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson for global leadership in sending a letter to him asking him for personal engagement. before any other Country leader. Mr Johnson himself is recovering from the after effects of COVID-19

The member of WTTC are the largest corporation in the global travel and tourism industry. Many of them are fighting for survival. WTTC has been in this battle alongside these travel industry giants to convince governments to reopen travel despite COVID-19. There is no time and room for failure since even the giants in the industry are on the verge along with millions of people employed directly or indirectly in the travel and tourism industry.

August 06: The U.K. adds Belgium, The Bahamas, Andorra to the quarantine list
Boris Johnson’s government warned British tourists they face more disruption to their plans for holidays in Europe amid reports that France may be next on the U.K. list of countries hit by coronavirus travel restrictions. Spain battled to rescue tourism after the U.K. quarantine order

Am August 07, WTTC was hoping to get a supporting response from the UK government in response to the letter sent to the PM a week earlier.

Am August 12, WTTC released a statement saying, that WTTC was deeply disappointed that thousands of British holidaymakers have had their holidays ruined, now the UK government has added more countries to its quarantine list, including key summer holidays destinations, France and Malta. While we agree public health should remain the top priority, this move will crush what little confidence there is left in the fragile Travel & Tourism sector.

“More than 100 of the world’s major travel and global business leaders signed a WTTC letter sent to 10 of the world’s most powerful Heads of State, including Boris Johnson, calling for their leadership to coordinate the international response to save the Travel & Tourism sector and the global economy. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has led the positive responses we have received following our plea for urgent action for a range of measures including testing and tracing instead of quarantines.

“The UK clearly lags behind other countries which have shunned quarantines in favor of comprehensive programs of testing for everyone departing and arriving back into their respective countries. International coordination and program of testing for anyone who wants to go on holiday to help stop COVID-19 in its tracks are crucial in order to rescue three million jobs in the UK alone.

“It’s hard to avoid believing that the UK Government doesn’t want people to travel at all. This is not only damaging the UK economy but also thousands of UK businesses, workers, and households up and down the country who will continue to suffer if an alternative solution to quarantines isn’t implemented immediately.”

UK

This was the letter WTTC had sent to PM Boris Johnson on July 31
A similar letter went to the UK Opposition on August 4:
The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer, MP Leader of the Labour Party United Kingdom

The Rt. Hon Boris Johnson MP

Premier MInister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA
Vereenegt Kinnekräich

Cc:
Hon. Nigel Huddleston, Minister of Tourism & Heritage
Hon Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Transport
Hon Priti Patel MP, Secretary of State for Home Department
Hon Paul Scully MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets)

A call for your personal engagement and leadership to recover global Travel & Tourism

Léif Premier Minister,

On behalf of the global Travel & Tourism private sector, we thank you for the measures your government has implemented to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to support our sector during the worst crisis of our generation.

Your country has a proud history of showing leadership when the world needed it the most. We are now requesting your urgent personal engagement and leadership to ensure international collaboration and alignment that is desperately needed for the recovery of the Travel & Tourism sector. As a reminder, Travel & Tourism has been a critical catalyst for economic growth globally responsible for 330 million jobs, 1 in 10, and 10.3% of global GDP.

The restart and recovery of Travel & Tourism, and its associated economic and social benefits, is highly dependent on rebuilding traveler confidence and a consistent alignment amongst countries.

According to medical experts we can protect lives and recover the economy by supporting traveling and the application of the following four measures in a globally consistent way:

1. Droen eng Mask: This should be mandatory on all modes of transport throughout the entire traveller journey, as well as when visiting any interior venue or those with restricted movement which results in close personal contact of two metres or less. According to medical evidence, such measures can reduce the risk for the spread by up to 92%1.

1 Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health

2. Testing and contact tracing – We need extensive, rapid and reliable testing on departure and or arrivals (symptomatic an asymptomatic would-be travellers),

supported by effective contact tracing tools. The application of multiple tests will help to isolate infected people.

3. Quarantines for positive tests only: Quarantines for healthy travellers should not be necessary and damage the economy if testing and effective containment measures are in place at departure and arrival points. This can replace blanket quarantines in a more targeted and effective way significantly reducing the negative impact on jobs and the economy.

4. Reinforcing global protocols and standardise measures: The adoption of global health and safety protocols will help rebuild traveller confidence and ensure a consistent, coordinated and aligned approach of the travel experience in addition to significantly reducing the risk of infection.

We are convinced that our leaders of the G-7 platform can rescue the world from this unprecedented crisis by acting in an effective and coordinated way that will allow us to bring back more than 120m jobs and livelihoods affected. We are calling on the leaders of the G7, plus Australia, The Republic of Korea and Spain (as 10 of the top global tourism source markets) to work together to commit to and deliver the measures needed.

You have understandably focused on your important domestic priorities during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic but now the hope and the future of the world is in your expert hands as one of the most important global leaders we have. With power comes the responsibility of global leadership and now is the time to act.

We are sending a similar letter to the Leader of the Opposition, in the firm belief that this is a non-partisan issue, and requiring their full support and commitment to your actions to help us during these difficult times.

Can we count on your leadership?

We intend to make the public on Monday 10 August our proposals and requests to the ten governments. We therefore respectfully request your response to this letter before Friday 7 August, so that we can confirm your personal engagement and the commitment of your government.

We already work very well with your Minister of Tourism and we kindly ask you to nominate an additional senior Minister of Foreign Affairs or similar to join his efforts and support the recovery of the sector, whilst also delivering the unquestionable benefits of the measures that we have proposed.

We urge these selected ministers to hold an urgent COVID-19 global summit to deliver a coordinated action plan with immediate impact.

WTTC and all our Members are fully committed to support you and your government colleagues in this endeavour of resolving the worst crisis of our generation.

Thank you in advance and with our highest respects, Gloria Guevara President & CEO WTTC	Chris Nassetta President & CEO Hilton
Jeffrey C Rutledge Chief Executive Officer, AIG Travel D'Geschicht vun American International Group, Inc.	Alex Zozaya Executive Chairman Apple Leisure Group	Arnold W Donald President & Chief Executive Officer Fuesent Corporation	De Paul Griffiths CEO Dubai Airports International
Gary Chapman President Group Services & dnata Emirates Group	Hiromi Tagawa Executive Advisor JTB Corp	Jerry Noonan Co-founder, Global Hospitality & Leisure Practice Spencer Stuart	Jane Jie Sun Chief Executive Officer & Director Trip.com Group
Désirée Bollier Chair and Chief Merchant Wäert Retail	Geoffrey J W Kent Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Abercrombie & Kent	Glenda McNeal President, Enterprise Strategic Partnerships American Express Company	Paul Abbott CEO American Express Global Business Rees
Kurt Ekert President & CEO Carlson Wagonlit Rees	Greg O’Hara Grënner a Managing Partner Certares	Sean Donohue Den Chef vun der Firma Dallas Fort Worth International Airport	Ariane Gorin President, Expedia Business Services Expedia Grupp
Rob Torres Managing Director fir Travel Google Inc.	Joan Vilà Exekutivspresident Hotelbetten	Dee Waddell Global Managing Director, IBM Travel and Transportation Industry IBM	Keith Barr CEO InterContinental Hotels Group
Darrell Wade Co-founder and Chairman Intrepid Group	James Riley Group Chief Executive Mandarin orientaleschen Hotel Group	Arne Sorenson President & Chief Executive Officer Marriott International	Pierfrancesco Lazy Exekutivspresident Msc cruiser
Richard D Fain President & CEO Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.	Sean Menke President & CEO Saber Corporation	Pansy Ho Group Executive Chairman and Managing Director D'Käschte vum Aktien Shun Tak Holdings Limited	Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio di Balsorano de Clunieres President Silversea Cruises
Brett Tollman Chief Executive D'Rees Corporation	Greg Webb Den Chef vun der Firma Travelport	Friedrich Joussen CEO TUI Grupp	Roger Dow President & CEO US Travel Association
Matthew Upchurch President & CEO	Caroline Beteta President & CEO	Sébastien Bazin CEO	Vum Brian Chesky

 

 

 

Am August 03, WTTC sent similar letters to
Spuenien
H.E. Pedro Sanchez President of the Government of Spain Complejo de la Moncloa Spain
Cc: H.E. Nadia Calviño, Third Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation H.E Arancha González Laya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation H.E. José Luis Ábalos, Minister of Transports, Mobility and Urban Agenda H.E. María Jesús Montero, Minister of Finance and Spokesperson of the Government H.E. Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism H.E. Fernando Valdés, Secretary of State for Tourism

H.E. Pablo Casado Blanco President of the Partido Popular Spain

Am August 04, WTTC geschéckt fir

Australien
The Hon Scott Morrison MP Prime Minister Australien
Cc: The Hon Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs The Hon Simon Birmingham, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment

Australia Leaders of the Opposition:
The Hon Anthony Albanese MP Leader of the Australian Labor Party Australia

Kanada

The Rt Hon Justin Trudeau, MP Prime Minister Kanada Cc: The Hon François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs The Hon Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages

The Hon Andrew Scheer, MP Leader Conservative Party Canada

Däitschland:

The Hon Dr. Angela Merkel Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Bundeskanzleramt Willy-Brandt-Straße 1 DE-10557 Berlin, Germany
Cc: The Hon Heiko Maas, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs The Hon Peter Altmaier, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy The Hon Christine Lambrecht, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection The Hon Thomas Bareiß, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

The Hon Katrin Göring-Eckardt, MdB, Group Leader of Alliance 90/The Greens The Hon Anton Hofreiter, MdB, Group Leader of Alliance 90/The Greens

The Hon Dietmar Bartsch, MdB, Group Leader of the Left Group The Hon Amira Mohamed Ali, MdB, Group Leader of the Left Group

Frankräich:
The Hon Emmanuel Macron President France Cc: The Hon Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs The Hon Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

Christian Jacob MP President, Les Republicains France

Italien:
The Hon Guiseppe Conte MP Prime Minister Italy
Cc: The Hon Luigi Di Maio, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation The Hon Dario Franceschini, Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities The Hon Lorenza Bonaccorsi, Secretary of State for Tourism

Senator Matteo Salvini Federal Secretary of Lega Nord Italy

Japan:
H.E. Shinzo Abe Prime Minister Japan Cc: H.E. Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister for Foreign Affairs H.E. Kazuyoshi Akaba, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

H.E. Yukio Edano Leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party Japan

Republik Korea:
H.E. Moon Jae-in President The Republic of Korea
Cc: H.E. Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Park Yang-woo, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism

H.E. Kim Chong-in President of the United Future Party Republic of Korea

USA
Donald Trump President of the United States of America The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500
Cc: Michael Pompeo, Secretary of State Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce Philip Lovas, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism

The Hon Joe Biden 47th Vice President of the United States and Democratic Presidential Nominee The United States

The Hon Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

Am August 12  a letter was sent to the European Union in Brussels
europäesch Unioun
WTTC continued sending letters for a call for personal engagement and leadership to recover global Travel & Tourism to Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission, to  Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Adina-Ioana Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport.

WTTC is reacting immediately for any positive and of course negative signs for tourism openings.

Today, August 21, WTTC issued a statement of relief: saying: “WTTC is relieved that thousands of British holidaymakers can now at long last go on holiday to Portugal thanks to the country finally being removed from the UK government’s quarantine list.