The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has outlined what the "new normal" will look like as countries begin to end their COVID-19 lockdowns and ease travel restrictions.
"Travelling in the New Normal" is part of WTTC's plan which includes critical steps and coordinated actions, including new standards and protocols, which offer a safe and responsible road to recovery for the global Travel & Tourism sector as consumers start planning trips again.
Public-private collaboration between business and governments is vital to develop new health protocols which will form the travel experience and also provide people with strong reassurances when travelling.
WTTC 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.
"We should avoid new, unnecessary procedures that create bottle necks 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.
"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."
This includes the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Airport Council International (ACI), Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), United States Travel Association (USTA), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Travel Commission (ETC) and the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
IATA, ACI and ICAO are pooling their crucial expertise and are working closely to define the best protocols to keep travellers and employees safe to enable the aviation sector to recover. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and other health experts have also contributed by providing their experience from various global medical crises.
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 2 meter rule can be harder to maintain; and fitness equipment being moved for greater separation among other examples.
There are 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
WTTC says the Travel & Tourism sector is now facing over 100 million job losses worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, at a cost of up to US$2.7 trillion of GDP.
In 2019, Travel & Tourism contributed 10.3% of Global GDP, was responsible for generating one in four of the world's new jobs and, for nine successive years, had outpaced the growth of the global economy.
