- Did you miss the WTTC Summit in Cancun? Watch the entire event on eTurboNews from this article on page 3.
- Some of the world’s leading private and public sector Travel & Tourism leaders took a united stand to safely restart international travel at the closure of the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Global Summit.
- The Global Summit named Carnival Corporation President and CEO, Arnold Donald, as the new chair of WTTC, which represents the largest companies in the global private Travel & Tourism sector.
Key members in the just-concluded summit discussed how together they could safely restart international travel, whilst looking to an even more sustainable and inclusive future of the sector.
The new WTTC chairman took over from outgoing Chair, Chris Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton, after three successful years at the helm of WTTC.
Following the success of the two-day Cancun Global Summit, WTTC announced Manila, capital of the Philippines, will be the host of its next Global Summit, with dates to be confirmed.
600+ business leaders, government ministers, and key decision-makers from across the global Travel & Tourism sector gathered together in Mexico, to discuss the road to recovery for the embattled sector.
It was obvious participation varied by region, making at a summit of spot presentation. Leaders from the European Union, South Africa were not seen personally, but other key personalities like the minister of tourism from Brazil, Roger Dow, head of the US Travel Association, or Isabell Hill, Director of the Office of Travel and Tourism, United States Department of Commerce attended by virtual hook up.
Puerto Rico was the orginal venue for the 2020 summit. The 2020 summit was moved to Cancun due to the hurricane in PR, but didn’t take place until now in 2021. Technically it was also the 30 year celebration of the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Puerto Rico had much invested in 2019 and 2020 leading to the cancelled event. It was surprising, WTTC had no part of the conference. Rumors at the Cancun summit claimed that Puerto Rico was demanding money from WTTC and was ready to file a law suit. This information was not confirmed by Puerto Rico, but comes from a high level source within the WTTC.
Since WTTC is representing the largest travel company in the world. Due to pandemic or the member base tourism-dependent destinations including Nepal, Asia, and Africa, Pacific was not able to be part of this perhaps essential discussion. Jamaica Minister Edmund Bartlett gave a voice to many of them. Juergen Steinmetz, the chair of the World Tourism Network (WTN) representing many medium-sized and small companies in 127 countries observe the event as a non-member.
The most prominent participant and the person receiving numerous recognition and awards was the Hon. Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism, Saudi Arabia. He also delivered the keynote address. Saudi Arabia was awarded for WTTC to have a regional office in the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia also reached out to Mexico and the Caribbean with investment and cooperation opportunities. Saudi Arabia is also home of the new regional UNWTO center and a center with the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Center is planned. The minister said when his country announced tourism visas right before the world was hit by COVID-19, 40,000 applications were expected. The reality was 400,000.
Opponents specifically in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia warned of serious human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. The fact however that despite these challenges, that the tourism potential for the Kingdom is enormous.
Vaccine alone is not the answer. Read about this and other challenges discussed and watch the event archive online. Click on NEXT PAGE
One of the most global minister of tourism and a champion for the needs of smaller tourism dependent destinations, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett from Jamaica is now in a two week quarantine upon his return to Jamaica. He knew how important the event in Cancun was to bring up the concerns of Caribbean and other smaller destinations to compete with the giant developed countries, including the US, Europe or the UK.
Vaccine alone cannot be answer. There has to be a balance of fairness. The UK would be guilty of “vaccine politics” and unfair discrimination if it bans travel to countries like Jamaica next month for the reason that vaccination numbers in countries like Jamaica are too low.
Instead Mr. Bartlett urged the UK to honor its historic Commonwealth links by sharing its vaccine supplies with Jamaica and other poorer nations.
The truth is that 10 countries had cornered more than 70 per sent of all vaccines and were vaccinating their population at five times the rate of the rest of the world.
The truth is also that many of the so-called poorer countries managed to keep both visitors and residents safer than richer nations with strict protocols designed to the individual situation. Many small and medium-sized members of the World Tourism Network (WTN) are worried about this inequality and feel it will hurt the recovery. “We are only safe if all of us are safe,” said US President Biden. 170 heads former heads of state and Nobel prize recipients urged the US President to push for a temporary waiver of patent protection, so poorer nations can produce or obtain vaccines for their population. The direst example is currently ongoing in India.
In a world-first, WTTC organized the event for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic – with tens of thousands more joining virtually – while complying with strict world-class health and hygiene protocols. eTurboNews provided its global network to WTTC complimentary. All WTN members were also invited to watch live and communicate with WTN participants in Cancun by WhatsApp.
Regular testing was made available for all delegates attending for the duration of the summit to ensure their safety was paramount.
Out of 1000 tests, 2 or 3 came back positive. “We did not allow those tested positive to enter the event venue,” said Gloria Guevara
Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO said: “WTTC brought together exceptional leaders from across the private and public sectors throughout Travel & Tourism at our Global Summit, united in their desire to safely revive international travel.
“Our very presence here, shows that we can resume international travelling once more, by observing the latest health and safety protocols, which WTTC has helped develop for businesses large and small throughout the sector.
“Together we have shown that with a united front, both the private and public sectors in Travel & Tourism can drive change and get the world moving again so that we can start travelling, exploring and sharing our experiences face-to-face.
“We concluded our Global Summit here in Cancun, confident that together we can revive a sector which will generate the world’s economic recovery and bring people back together thanks to the amazing benefits international Travel & Tourism can bring.
Under the theme of ‘Uniting the World for Recovery’, Tourism Ministers from around the world and Travel & Tourism business leaders agreed that the need for greater public and private collaboration.
At WTTC’s Global Leaders Dialogue session they debated how the sector could tackle the pressing issues of protecting jobs, saving businesses, and supporting the global economy through the safe revival of international travel.
The growing importance of using digital technology, such as biometrics, a major force in the post COVID-19 world, was recognised as being critical to creating a contactless, safe and seamless traveller journey.
WTTC also committed to work towards a more inclusive and sustainable future. It pledged to advocate and advance gender equality and equity, and boost female representation in leadership roles by launching its Women’s Initiative with the help of 18 Grand Slam singles title winner, Martina Navratilova.
The Global Summit saw the signing of the WTTC Women’s Initiative Declaration, which recognized the contribution of women around the world and the importance of an equal equitable environment for women to thrive as leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators.
On the next page, you can watch both days of the event using the eTurboNews live broadcast. Click on NEXT PAGE
