WTTC 2021: Guevara urges tourism sector to seize moment

Gloria Guevara, chief executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), has urged the global hospitality sector to cooperate as rebuilding from the Covid-19 pandemic begins in earnest.

Addressing the annual Global Summit, she said: “We are not going back to 2019, we are moving forward, and tourism will come out of this crisis better than before.

“But we must work together to achieve a financial and social recovery – we must be united.”

Guevara was speaking at the end of a challenging year for tourism, with the industry recording losses of almost $4.5 billion in 2020.

In total some 62 million jobs were lost across the tourism sector last year, she added, with Guevara telling delegates that Covid-19 took a toll 18-times great than that of the financial crisis of 2007-8 on the industry.

The WTTC chief added the tourism sector must avoid the mistakes of the past, building reassurance for the traveller through a consistent application of hygiene protocols such as the Safe Travels standards.

“We need to remove barriers to mobility, reduce quarantine and increase the use of the vaccine around the world,” Guevara continued.

“We can turn the crisis into an opportunity – we can become more inclusive and more sustainable.

“The beginning of the recovery is the beginning of a new chapter – if we are united, we can make it happen.”

More Information

The highly-anticipated WTTC Global Summit, organised in partnership with the government of Quintana Roo, is being held in Cancun until April 27th.

The showcase seeks to position itself as the leading tourism event in the calendar, where the highest-level industry leaders meet with key government representatives to act on the biggest issues across the international agenda.

This year, the summit will be exploring the challenges ahead and providing a platform for the recovery of the sector.

Find out more on the official website.