Reviving th the Economy and Resuming Travel and Tourism in in th - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Reviving th the Economy and Resuming Travel and Tourism in in th the COVID-19 Era

Patr tric ick Ose sewe Chie ief of Healt lth Se Sector Group

Contents

I. Context Setting: Global Travel and the COVID-19 Pandemic

• II. COVID-19’s Impact on Travel and Tourism in Asia and the

Pacific

• III. Measures to Support the Industry
• IV. Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

2

• I. Global Context Setting

3

Context Setting: Travel, Tourism and the COVID-19 Pandemic

4

• Globally, the impact of COVID-19 has been particularly

catastrophic for the travel and tourism sector, with the decline in international air travel bringing the industry to an abrupt halt.

• According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), at the

height of the crisis, every destination worldwide had imposed at least some travel restrictions—a historic first.

• As a result of the pandemic, the global travel and tourism market

faces a loss of up to 100 million jobs worldwide in 2020, based

• n research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

• II. COVID-19’s Impact on Travel and

Tourism in Asia and the Pacific

5

COVID-19’s Impact on Travel and Tourism in Asia and the Pacific

6

• The Asia and Pacific region stands to lose

approximately 69 million travel and tourism-related jobs and $1.1 trillion in GDP⎯more than any other region in the world.

• In June, IATA estimated that the air transport industry

in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to register losses totaling $29 billion in 2020, the largest absolute losses

• f all the regions.
• Hotels in the region are also in crisis and have

experienced sharp declines in occupancy rates, up to 60% in some countries.

• Informal workers, often among the poorest and most

vulnerable members, and those employed by small and medium businesses have been severely impacted by the negative effects of the COVID-19 crisis, including through the loss of livelihoods, disruptions to education and health services, and food scarcity, among other areas.

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Vanuatu Fiji Cambodia Georgia Thailand Philippines Kiribati Armenia Tonga Azerbaijan Sri Lanka China Mongolia Solomon Islands India Vietnam Brunei Darussalam Nepal Tajikistan Pakistan Myanmar Kazakhstan Indonesia Bangladesh Kyrgyz Republic Uzbekistan Papua New Guinea

Travel and Tourism (% of GDP and % of Employment), 2019

Share of Total Employment Share of GDP

• III. Measures to Support the Travel and

Tourism Industry

7

Measures to Support the Travel and Tourism Industry

8

• Governments:
• Lifting travel restrictions
• Introducing fiscal stimulus and monetary packages with tourism-

specific measures (e.g., Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Palau, and the Republic of Korea have deferred tax payments for small travel and tourism businesses)

• Promoting job retention (e.g., Cambodia announced a plan to pay

20% of the workers’ minimum wages employed in hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and travel agencies)

• Preparing tourism recovery plans (e.g. Maldives developed

guidelines for restarting tourism)

Measures to Support the Travel and Tourism Industry

9

• Travel and Tourism Industry:
• New health protocols for safe travel (e.g. Hilton’s CleanStay,

WTTC’s Safe Travels Protocols)

• Information and digital contract tracing apps for visitors (e.g.

Singapore)

• Enhanced cleaning and sanitation procedures (e.g., Cathay

Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Emirates)

• New technologies (e.g., air filtration systems/Boeing)
• Joint approaches (e.g., development of a joint approach for

restarting the aviation industry by IATA and ACI)

Measures to Support the Travel and Tourism Industry

10

• International Organizations:
• ADB has leveraged a portion of its $20 billion comprehensive COVID-19

response package and is providing substantial ongoing support through finance, knowledge, and partnership to respond to requests from its Developing Member Countries (DMCs) for guidance about how to restart travel.

• ICAO established the Council’s Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) in
• rder to respond to the need for aligned guidance around air travel for

governments and industry stakeholders. ICAO’s CART recently published a “Take-Off framework” that includes recommendations to guide the international air transport system in its recovery and to build air travel.

• UNWTO produced a global action plan focused on the key priorities to

mitigate the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 and to support jobs and economies through tourism and recently released Global Guidelines to Restart Tourism, an action plan focused on priorities for industry recovery.

Measures to Support the Travel and Tourism Industry

11

• ADB-specific response efforts
• Convened a panel of leading experts from academia, government, global

health organizations, travel and tourism, and technology to reach consensus on and prioritize a set of post-COVID-19 pandemic policy recommendations.

• Supporting Pacific Island countries (e.g. Fiji and Cook Islands) to access

Trans-Tasman travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand.

• Co-hosted a high-level consultative virtual roundtable on the theme of

Reopening Pacific Borders. The meeting included participation from WCO, WTO, IATA, UN, ADB, and CDC.

• IV. Expert-Informed Travel Policy

Recommendations

12

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

13

• As borders re-open, countries are seeking actionable guidance about

how to restart travel and support the tourism sector.

• However, there was a lack of a coordinated, harmonized approach to

restoring air travel and supporting other industry stakeholders to adopt a common set of post-pandemic health and safety measures.

• ADB⎯in collaboration with the International Civil Aviation Organization

(ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other stakeholders⎯engaged a panel of leading experts from travel and tourism, global health, and academia to reach consensus on a set of post-COVID-19 health-focused travel policy recommendations.

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

14

• The aim of this engagement was to:
• 1. Better understand both the unprecedented impact of COVID-19

across travel and tourism in Asia and the Pacific, along with current efforts to support the sector in response, recovery, and resiliency;

• 2. Identify a set of immediate and prioritized actions validated by

experts to help travel and tourism stakeholders and government leaders reopen the sectors safely.

Airports

• Central Japan International

Airport Co. Ltd.

• Narita International Airport

Corporation

• Incheon Airport
• Samoa Airport Authority
• Changi Airports International
• Pohnpei Board Authority

Airlines and Manufacturers

• Association of Asia Pacific Airlines
• Bangkok Airways
• Air New Zealand
• Fiji Airways
• Boeing

15

Participants

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

Hospitality Industry

• Yaana Ventures
• Intrepid Travel
• Discova/Flight Centre
• Amadeus
• Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts
• Marriott
• 7 Eleven Corporation

Academia

• Asian Institute of

Management

• Ateneo School of Medicine

and Public Health

• Ateneo School of

Government

16

Participants

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
• International Air Transport Association (IATA)
• Airport Council International (ACI)
• Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
• World Health Organization (WHO)

17

Partner Organizations

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

• 1. Conducted a literature review of the impact of COVID-19 on the travel and tourism

industry, and in Asia and the Pacific

• 2. Reviewed relevant emerging health guidelines and protocols for reopening

tourism and travel

• 12 protocol documents reviewed
• Over 275 individual health and safety-focused recommendations

considered

• 3. Consolidated the list by identifying 4 categories to consolidate and group

recommendations

• 4. Validated list with global health experts and travel industry leaders and

incorporated their feedback

• 5. Created a final list of 25 health-focused policy recommendations that were

included in the Delphi process

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

How can the recommendations be applied?

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

• A flexible menu of evidence-based and expert-validated

policy recommendations will be generated to guide travel and tourism stakeholders and to support reactivation of the sector.

• Stakeholders can select the combination of

recommendations that best fit their context and are technically and financially feasible⎯depending on their respective countries, the demand for travel, human and financial resources, and legal and capacity constraints.

How have the recommendations been organized?

• The recommendations have been classified into

four interrelated categories: (i) strengthening management and planning; (ii) introducing transmission barriers; (iii) enhancing sanitation; and (iv) promoting health screening.

• They also assume a phased approach to

reopening travel. This approach aims to ensure continuity, while recognizing that transition back to earlier phases may be required in line with the disease’s trajectory. At the same time, as transmission subsides and following health- related guidelines, measures that are no longer needed can be withdrawn

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations

A Phased Approach Phase 1. Emergency: Disease still in acute phase as determined by local health

• authorities. Limited travel. Necessary to

address urgent needs. Phase 2. Restart: Downward trajectory of disease transmission as determined by local health authorities. Countries reopen and travel is gradually re-started. Risk mitigation measures in place. Phase 3. Recovery: Disease has been sufficiently contained as determined by local health authorities. Risk mitigation and preparedness measures to be sustainably implemented.

What do the recommendations include?

• Management and Planning
• All stakeholders to harmonize, coordinate, and update health screening and sanitation standards

across the travel eco-system (e.g. quarantine restrictions).

• Introducing Transmission Barriers
• All stakeholders to minimize touchpoints by integrating technologies to enable automation, touchless,

and contactless services across the travelers’ journey (e.g., hotels, airports)

• Enhanced Sanitation
• All stakeholders to develop waste management procedures for PPEs
• Promoting Health Screening
• During transit/transfer of passengers, airports and airlines to utilize “one stop-security arrangements”

for security and health screening (e.g., thereby eliminating a queuing point in the journey)

Expert-Informed Travel Policy Recommendations