Tag: WTTC

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said: “WTTC welcomes the government’s decision to scrap testing for those who are fully vaccinated travelling to England. “There is no longer any need for testing, and we urge Ministers across the UK and countries around the world, to follow England’s lead and allow the fully vaccinated to travel freely. “After a gruelling 18 months for the UK Travel & Tourism sector, this will provide a massive boost to businesses up and down the country. “We hope it will also see the end of the unnecessary passenger locator forms.”

A new research by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed a massive labour shortfall, with 263,000 direct Travel & Tourism jobs in Italy remaining unfilled by the end of 2021. The research, in collaboration with Oxford Economics, analysed labour shortages across Italy and other major Travel & Tourism destinations, such as the U.S., France, Spain, the UK and Portugal, focussing on the period between the second half of 2021 and 2022. The comprehensive research reveals staff shortages across all six countries, with employment demand starting to outstrip the available labour supply. The research shows that of the ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and UKinbound have welcomed the government’s decision to remove pre-departure tests for travellers and replace damaging Day 2 PCR testing with antigen tests Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “The removal of pre-departure tests and replacing Day 2 PCRs with more affordable antigen testing will significantly boost the UK Travel & Tourism sector and help both it and the whole UK economy recover much faster than expected. “The testing measures being removed never actually stopped infections coming in and were a blunt policy which only damaged the travel and tourism sector.” Joss ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Trip.com Group have launched ‘Trending in Travel’, a new report that shows the latest trends traveller behaviour and future booking patterns in the wake of COVID-19. WTTC, representing the global Travel & Tourism sector, joined forces with leading global travel service provider, Trip.com Group, and its major consumer brands Trip.com, Ctrip and Skyscanner, to analyse consumer trends shaping the recovery of the Travel & Tourism sector. WTTC’s latest projections show strong growth in international spending for 2022 and beyond, projected to overtake domestic spending in 2022, as more destinations ease restrictions and ... Read more

The Caribbean’s Travel & Tourism sector is recovering at a faster rate than any other region in the world, with its contribution to GDP expected to rise more than 47% this year, compared to just 30.7% globally, reveals new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, says that the recovery of the sector globally has been hindered by the lack of international coordination, severe travel restrictions and slower vaccination rates. However, the Caribbean is now benefiting from more relaxed restrictions around the world and low infection rates, which ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) says the UK’s Travel & Tourism sector’s year on year recovery may only claw back a third, whilst international travel spending continues to plummet. Latest research from WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism sector, shows the recovery has been severely delayed by the lack of spending from international visitors. WTTC blames strict travel restrictions, such as the destructive ‘traffic light’ system, for wreaking havoc on the sector. Now, despite its highly successful vaccine rollout, the UK is set to record further losses in inbound visitor spending than the previous year, a ... Read more

According to research conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the South African economy could face massive losses of more than ZAR 181 million every week it’s on the UK’s ‘red list’ for travel. The comprehensive study conducted by WTTC, reveals the staggering consequences the UK ‘red list’ represents to the South African Travel & Tourism sector, and the nation’s economy, which have both been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. All UK travellers, regardless of their vaccine status, travelling to countries on the ‘red list’, which includes South Africa, are required to cover the expensive cost of a ... Read more

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said: “Protecting public health must remain the priority and WTTC strongly supports safety protocols to stop the spread of COVID-19. However, the EU’s recommendation to reimpose restrictions on U.S. travellers is a step backwards and will only slow down the recovery of the sector. “With high vaccination levels in both the U.S. and the EU, we should be looking at opening up travel between these two major economies. We need a common set of rules that recognise global vaccines and remove the need to quarantine for people with a negative COVID result. “The U.S. ... Read more

A sign reading “Sorry, closed due to Covid-19” on the glass door of the cafe The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) today warned the UK government that with the furlough scheme coming to an end, it has just 30 days left to save travel businesses which are struggling to survive. WTTC also warns that unless international travel opens up more widely, with simplified controls, the UK is facing a loss of £59.4 billion. Hundreds of thousands of employees in the Travel & Tourism sector are still benefiting from the furlough scheme, the UK government scheme which is due to ... Read more

According to research conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the South African economy could face massive losses of more than ZAR 181 million every week it’s on the UK’s ‘red list’ for travel. The comprehensive study conducted by WTTC, reveals the staggering consequences the UK ‘red list’ represents to the South African Travel & Tourism sector, and the nation’s economy, which have both been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. All UK travellers, regardless of their vaccine status, travelling to countries on the ‘red list’, which includes South Africa, are required to cover the expensive cost of a ... Read more

Virginia Messina, WTTC Senior Vice President and Acting CEO, said: “The entire UK Travel & Tourism sector, the many thousands of British travellers already in France, and those with future plans, will be breathing a sigh of relief now that returning fully jabbed Brits won’t need to quarantine, and that the confusing and disruptive amber plus list has been effectively abandoned. “However, the requirement for fully-jabbed UK travellers to take expensive PCR tests will still deter many from travelling. “We are disappointed that more destinations were not added to the green list. But, the additions of India, Bahrain, Qatar, and in ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) launched a major new report which signals how the global Travel & Tourism sector can help eradicate human trafficking. The report is released with support from the Carlson Family Foundation, and builds on WTTC’s Human Trafficking Taskforce, which was launched in 2019 at its Global Summit in Seville, Spain. With its report ‘Preventing Human Trafficking: An Action Framework for the Travel & Tourism Sector’, WTTC aims to strengthen cooperation across stakeholders and share best practices to raise awareness about how the sector can, and does, make a difference, to proactively address this global crime. The report details an action ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has released major new guidelines outlining how the global Travel & Tourism sector can work together to tackle illegal wildlife trade (IWT). The new guidelines from WTTC, which represents the global private Travel & Tourism sector, with support from Animondial, a key advisor to the global travel industry on animal welfare in tourism, aim to help interpret the ‘12 Commitments’ of its game-changing Buenos Aires Declaration. The declaration, which was launched at WTTC’s Global Summit in Argentina, showed how coordinated commitment and action could combat the illegal trade in wildlife (IWT) and unveiled ... Read more

The restart of international travel could be seriously delayed without worldwide reciprocal recognition of all approved COVID-19 vaccines, says the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The global tourism body, which represents the global private Travel & Tourism sector, has issued its warning following concerns tourists face being turned away at the borders because countries don’t have a common list internationally recognised and approved COVID-19 vaccines. This comes just days after a number of British holidaymakers, who had been administered the Indian Covishield batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, were rejected entry into Malta despite the drug being chemically identical to ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and It’s a Penalty, have joined forces to raise awareness on human trafficking and collaborate to advance the fight to put an end to this global crime. The global tourism body and It’s a Penalty (IAP), an organisation which aims to prevent abuse, exploitation and human trafficking worldwide, signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ (MoU), highlighting the opportunity of the international Travel & Tourism community to proactively address human trafficking and develop best practices to eradicate it. The strategic partnership will see collaboration not just between WTTC and IAP, but also with WTTC’s Members ... Read more