Travel and Tourism Industry (06/05/20)
The tourism sector is among the most affected industries by the coronavirus crisis. The UNWTO estimates that global international tourist arrivals are declining by 20-30 %. The unemployment in the sector is contantly growing. As presented by Antonio López de Ávila for the Spanish tourism cluster Turisfera in the meeting on 6 May, the sector faces the big challenges: reopening of borders, regaining the trust of the travellers, and reducing uncertainty. Safety will be the main concern for the future development of the sector.
Which kind of support and what tools do the stakeholders in the tourism sector need?
Turisfera European Clusters Alliance.pdfReplies
Safety as a major need of EU tourism
I participated in this interesting meeting, that's why I would like to share some observations. I think that the tourism sector needs some fast track of projects devoted to change the way how tourism service is provided, to make it safer for visitors, who will look for this in the near future. I thnk the cross-sectoral tools should be invented, especially more digitalization is needed in tourism. A nice example of it was the presentation of the application for mobile tracing the users to avoid COVID risk. I think EU and member states should support this kind of clusters initiatives.
AN INCLUSIVE RESPONSE FOR VULNERABLE GROUPS by UNWTO
As laid down in the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics, the sector has a duty to promote the rights of the most vulnerable groups such as women, indigenous people and people with disabilities.
To access the material, please follow the link.
Commission's guidance on how to safely resume travel and reboot
On 13 May 2020, the Commission presents a package of guidelines and recommendations to help Member States gradually lift travel restrictions and allow tourism businesses to reopen, after months of lockdown, while respecting necessary health precautions. More informationn could be found in this section of the forum https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/forum/supporting-policies-examples-regions-countries-questions-discussions-38
Tourism Recovery Technical Assistance Package
Detail information about the recovery package could be found in this section of the forum - https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/forum/long-term-plans-and-actions/tourism-recovery-technical-assistance-package
Forthcoming live webinars
Please check the link in the events section: https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/forum/events/tourism-post-covid-challenges-and-opportunities-sustainable-travel