The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has developed a set of protocols to rebuild confidence among consumers once restrictions on movement are lifted.
They use guidelines from the World Health Organisation and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and are designed to “avoid the emergence of multiple standards, which would only delay the sector’s recovery”.
Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and chief executive, said: “We have learned from the past, especially after the tragedy of 9/11, where the lack of coordination among governments and with the private sector caused long-lasting travel disruption, higher costs and a longer recovery time.”
Key measures for hotels include:
- A specific focus on cleaning key touch points like room key cards.
- The retraining of staff in infection control.
- Contactless payments
- No-contact room service
- Social distancing and disinfection in restaurants and bars
Retail advice includes:
- Thermal scanning of staff and the wearing of face masks
- Promoting contactless payments by providing complimentary wi-fi to businesses
- Hand sanitizers at shop entrances and exits.
- Food outlets to offer digital menus
- Capacity limits in car parks
Guevara added: “We are delighted that for the first time ever, the global private sector has aligned around these new Safe Travels protocols which will create consistency across the sector.
“Now we are calling on governments to adopt them so that they can be implemented globally and restore much-needed confidence in order to restart the travel and tourism sector.”
Additional measures for the cruise and aviation sector will be announced later.
Federico Gonzalez, Radisson Hospitality president and chief executive, said: “We need to make sure that the travel industry speaks the same language and each consumer understands what safety means in hotels, regardless of their location.
“Having a common worldwide protocol will allow consumers to recognise the same safety standards wherever they travel.”
