UNWTO has set out its ‘Vision for Coronavirus Recovery’ saying that the tourism sector must “grow back better” following the coronavirus pandemic.
UNWTO new Global Tourism Crisis Committee set out a series of recommendations designed to help governments, the private sector and the international community mitigate the “unparalleled social and economic emergency” that is Covid-19.
It has recommended “urgent and strong” support including sustaining jobs, supporting at-risk companies, protecting liquidity and ensuring the sector is ready to rebound once the crisis abates.
UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “These specific recommendations give countries a checklist of possible measures to help our sector sustain the jobs and support the companies at risk at this very moment.
“Mitigating the impact on employment and liquidity, protecting the most vulnerable and preparing for recovery must be our key priorities.
“We still do not know what the full impact of Covid-19 will be on global tourism. However, we must support the sector now while we prepare for it to come back stronger and more sustainable. Recovery plans and programmes for tourism will translate into jobs and economic growth.”
The 23 recommendations are broken down into three key areas:
- Managing the crisis and mitigating the impact: Key recommendations relate to retaining jobs, supporting self-employed workers, ensuring liquidity, promoting skills development and reviewing taxes, charges and regulations relating to travel and tourism. The recommendations are made as a global economic recession looks likely. Given its labour-intensive nature, tourism will be hard hit, with millions of jobs at risk, especially those held by women and youths, as well as marginalised groups.
- Providing stimulus and accelerating recovery: This set of recommendations emphasises the importance of providing financial stimulus, including favourable tax policies, lifting travel restrictions as soon as the health emergency allows for it, promoting visa facilitation, boosting marketing and consumer confidence, in order to accelerate recovery. The recommendations also call for tourism to be placed at the centre of national recovery policies and action plans.
- Preparing for tomorrow: Emphasising tourism’s unique ability to lead local and national growth, the recommendations call for greater emphasis to be placed on the sector’s contribution to sustainable development and to build resilience learning from the lessons of the current crisis. The recommendations call on governments and private sector actors to become build preparedness plans, and to use this opportunity to transition to the circular economy.
