UNWTO Guidelines for Tourism Recovery

UNWTO's series of guidelines to help the tourism sector emerge stronger and more sustainable from COVID-19.

The guidelines of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) highlight the need to act decisively to restore confidence and strengthen its partnership with Google, to embrace innovation and digital transformation in global tourism.

The guidelines were developed in consultation with the Global Tourism Crisis Committee and aim to support governments and the private sector to recover from an unprecedented crisis. Depending on when travel restrictions are lifted, the United Nations agency warns that international tourist arrivals could decrease by 60% to 80%. This threatens 100-120 million jobs and could lead to $910 billion to $1.2 trillion USD lost in exports.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili stated: “These guidelines provide both governments and businesses with a comprehensive set of measures designed to help them reopen tourism safely, seamlessly, and responsibly. They are the result of enhanced cooperation characterizing the tourism response to this shared challenge, based on knowledge and input from all sectors of the public and private sector and from various United Nations agencies as part of the broader response. ”

PRIORITIES FOR TOURISM RECOVERY

1. Provide liquidity and protect jobs.
2. Restore confidence through safety.
3. Public-private collaboration for an efficient reopening.
4. Open borders responsibly.
5. Harmonize and coordinate protocols and procedures.
6. Work with new technologies as added value.
7. Innovation and sustainability as the new “normal”.

GLOBAL GUIDELINES

1. Border management in safety and seamlessness (air, maritime, and land travel)
2. Private sector – Cross-cutting measures
3. Safe air travel
4. Hospitality
5. Tour operators and travel agencies
6. Meetings and events
7. Attractions and theme parks
8. Destination planning and management

1 SAFE BORDER MANAGEMENT

1. Introduce and adapt border processes and procedures in line with evidence-based public health risk assessment.
2. Define roles and responsibilities for governments, private sector, and travelers.
3. Ensure regional and international coordination in border reopening.
4. Periodically review travel restrictions and protocols using the best available information to induce international health authority assurances that they remain proportionate to the public health threat and local risks.
5. Improve the use of technology for safe, seamless, and contactless travel.
6. Provide reliable, consistent, and easy-to-access information on travel restrictions and protocols to the private sector and travelers.
7. Ensure policy and measure coordination among tourism, health, internal affairs, and transportation authorities.
8. Harmonize travel and tourism health protocols and work toward international interoperability of visitor tracking apps.
9. Mitigate risks at departure and/or arrival.
10. Governments and regional blocks to promote facilitation of travel through e-visa/visa on arrival policies and temporary visa fee exemptions to stimulate demand.

2 PRIVATE SECTOR – CROSS-CUTTING MEASURES

1. Implement global and harmonized health, safety, and hygiene protocols.
2. Train staff on safety and security protocols.
3. Communicate protocols and responsibilities to clients and keep them informed on-site and via digital and social media.
4. Clean all surfaces more frequently, using products and disinfectants with particular attention to high-touch surfaces.
5. Establish a plan in case a guest or employee falls ill on-site.
6. Create an internal COVID-19 coordination committee to follow up on the implementation and execution of protocols and service delivery.
7. Redesign processes toward more digital, touchless operations at all possible contact points.
8. Maintain comprehensive statistical information for planning and managing tourism in coordination with local and national tourism and statistics authorities.
9. Promote social dialogue and work to ensure the health and well-being of workers and the work environment (support employees in monitoring their health and adjusting Human Resources policies).
10. Engage both public and private sectors in dialogue and recovery mechanisms.

3 SAFE AIR TRAVEL OPERATIONS

HYGIENE OPERATIONS

1. Implement proportionate health control procedures based on risk assessment.
2. Deepen and increase the frequency of aircraft and cabin cleaning.
3. Consider providing masks for passengers and crew and ensuring their use throughout the flight.
4. Implement boarding and disembarkation processes that reduce contact with other passengers or crew (using front and rear doors) in compliance with physical distancing rules.
5. Limit movement inside the cabin during flight.
6. Simplify catering and other procedures that reduce crew movement and interaction with passengers.
7. Facilitate passengers to sit apart where load factors make it possible.
8. Provide in-flight sanitizing tissues for passengers and crew members.
9. Reduce the number of items in the cabin (printed materials and souvenirs) and limit carry-on luggage.
   PARTNERSHIP
10. Promote the reduction of airport costs including government financial assistance.
11. Ensure coordination with governments, airports, and other relevant actors, as well as ICAO processes, including national coordination mechanisms.

4 HOSPITALITY

HYGIENE OPERATIONS

1. Increase cleaning frequency in common areas and contact surfaces.
2. Inform guests about existing protocols clearly and updated (e.g., last cleaning time, health officer contact, etc.).
3. Experiment with new methods such as electrostatic spray, ultraviolet light, among others.
4. Implement contactless check-in and provide guests with a hygiene welcome kit (including gloves, masks, disinfectant).
5. Learn more about your guest in advance upon arrival to provide more personalized service.
6. Keep spare rooms available for potential guests who are ill or in quarantine.
7. Maintain physical distancing in all common spaces.
8. Introduce technological systems such as “guest messaging” for direct and rapid contact with guests for bookings, refunds, cancellations, or potential infection information.
9. Promote operational flexibility.
10. Create roles such as hygiene officer and guest guardian.
    PRODUCT AND MARKETING
11. Add new services such as food delivery or takeaway service (picnic), family experiences, co-working spaces, drive & stay packages, etc.
12. Promote proximity and domestic tourism in the short term, enhancing the local value chain (e.g., local producers).
13. Implement marketing campaigns to communicate corporate values and support suppliers and workers.
    PARTNERSHIP
14. Collaborate with health and safety brands and providers.
15. Form partnerships with healthcare centers and suppliers.
16. Collaborate with local providers, destination management organizations, and other industry actors.

5 TOUR OPERATORS AND TRAVEL AGENCIES

HYGIENE OPERATIONS

1. Facilitate the redemption of international vouchers for local/national packages and products.
2. Implement health and safety protocols and promote digital communication.

PRODUCT AND MARKETING

Develop segmented and sustainable products focused on nature, rural areas, and culture: ecotourism, small group or individual sports, history, birdwatching tourism, traditional routes.

Introduce storytelling to create new tourism experiences.

Create customized and small group tours and packages.

In short, promote domestic tourism, short trips, and visits to nearby destinations.

Promote car rental services and combined hotel & auto packages.

PARTNERSHIP

Create alliances with the financial sector to promote installment-based tourism packages without interest.

Boost mileage accumulation and strengthen point-based loyalty systems for purchasing tour packages in collaboration with airlines.

Promote new destinations and experiences with added value and local inspiration, especially with the creative industries to generate market novelty.

Coordinate with insurance companies to offer fully covered or 100% coverage products.

6 MEETINGS AND EVENTS

HYGIENE OPERATIONS

1. Offer packed meals (avoid buffets or coffee breaks) respecting sustainability options.
2. Develop specific guides for meeting organizers to restart operations.

PRODUCT AND MARKETING

As a first step, create digital events with high-level speakers, technological innovation, and relevant content.
– Analyze the option to sell “tickets” for these events based on additional functionalities like B2B options.
– Offer value-added post-event services such as reports and training.
– Provide free access to certain parts of the events to build a media follower base.

In a later phase, offer traditional medium-sized events for the domestic market (according to local regulations and health protocols), especially for specialized segments (e.g., medical professionals, etc.)

7 ATTRACTIONS AND THEMATIC PARKS

HYGIENE OPERATIONS

1. Allow visitors to use the facilities and encourage face mask use by guests and staff.
2. Reduce touch points where possible and disinfect high-touch surfaces frequently.
3. Protect employees with various approaches, including barriers, protective covers, and distances.
4. Manage crowd density inside facilities and define visitor flow protocols and use of common spaces.
5. Reduce or manage capacity to allow adequate social distancing; monitor entry capacity and space usage at all times to ensure guests maintain physical distance.
6. Communicate protocols and responsibilities to guests.
7. Place signs or markings on walkways to delineate guides/distance zones.
8. Encourage online payments and pre-bookings.
9. Implement new technologies such as augmented reality or virtual reality to enhance visitor experience before, during, and after visits.

8 DESTINATION PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

1. Introduce and adapt feasible and harmonized processes and procedures in line with risk assessment based on public health evidence and full coordination with relevant public and private sector partners.
2. Support companies in implementing and training their staff on new protocols (funding and training).
3. Enhance the use of technology for safe, seamless, and contactless travel destination.
4. Provide private, consistent, and easy-to-access information on protocols to the private sector and travelers (send SMS to tourists to inform them of national health, local protocols, and related health contacts).
5. Create programs and campaigns to encourage domestic market in collaboration with the private sector (incentive plans, holiday date revisions, transport services, coupons, etc.) and integrate destinations.
6. Promote new products and experiences targeted at individual travelers and small groups, such as:
   nature, rural tourism, gastronomy and wine, sports, etc.
7. Consider data privacy policies when proposing tracking app developments. WHO will develop a guide on the use of digital technologies for contact tracing.
8. Improve and communicate destination medical capacity and protocols.
9. Ensure coordination among tourism, health, and transportation policies.
10. Define roles and responsibilities for governments, private sector, and travelers.

Pubblicato in TravelNews