Tourism: Safety and Sustainability UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili underscores the importance of a coordinated approach to make travelling safe and seamless, to rebuild trust and confidence. Secretary General, Welcome to Athens. Athens hosts the UNWTO as the world opens up after ’the worst year in tourism history.’’ How does an industry recover from a 90% dip in arrivals? First and foremost, we must work together. Coordination and harmonization are the two important principles as we work towards restoring trust and confidence of the travellers. Restrictions and uncertainties at every stage of the journey are damaging at this point, when the demand is high but confidence is still very fragile. And the only way to work around them is to coordinate measures and harmonize protocols to make travelling safe and seamless. As the minister of economic development in Georgia, you helped tourism kick off in your country, doubling tourist arrivals within a year. What advice would you offer to tourism ministers trying to deal with constantly changing travel-related challenges? Again, the solution is in collaboration. Both among national stakeholders and with international partners. We are stronger together. And we can transform this crisis into an opportunity to build a stronger, more resilient and inclusive tourism of tomorrow. This pandemic has forced us to look into the mirror and see how we can do things differently. We must prioritize sustainability and innovation, both these can drive the future development of our sector. We must offer new products, new ways of travel. Now more than ever, we must adapt to the needs and priorities of the travellers. What has impressed you most about Greece’s post-pandemic tourism strategy? Do you think Greece’s insistence on a digital vaccination card is the way forward? Greece is one of the leading European if not global destinations. And Greece has shown great leadership throughout this pandemic, working hard towards a safe restart of tourism. I am very proud of our close partnership with the Greek Ministry of Tourism, and in particular Minister Theoharis. But what is more, it is clear that the political commitment to restarting tourism in Greece comes across the board. PM Mitsotakis had a pivotal role in the establishment of the EU Digital Green Certificate, which will help reactivate tourism across Europe. We believe the adoption of this mechanism is absolutely crucial at this point and hope to see it replicated in other regions of the world - because of three crucial features: it is not discriminatory, meaning it takes into account different realities - vaccination, testing and recovery; it provides all the safety guarantees in terms of privacy and authenticity; and finally its use is limited to the duration of the pandemic. For a small country like Greece, heavily reliant on tourism, what support does UNWTO offer to train tourism professionals and tourism-related businesses?
Training and education are of the essence as we prepare to safely restart tourism. Travellers have changed during this pandemic and this will change tourism as a whole. Tourism professionals must be prepared for the new circumstances and we can only achieve that by investing in human capital, including through capacity building. UNWTO has intensified our training and education programmes, for example through the UNWTO Academy and continue to prioritize this as one of the main pillars of our work. A part of the UNWTO sessions here will be aboard a cruise ship in Piraeus Port, the gateway to the Greek islands and a popular pit stop for Mediterranean cruises. What reassurances can you offer cruise industry operators that they will not be stranded on the high seas. Tourism is the most severely affected economic sector in this crisis, and within the context of tourism, cruise industry is probably the one that has suffered the greatest losses after coming to a complete standstill of its operations for over a year. But we have seen great efforts by all the relevant stakeholders under the leadership of the Cruise Lines International Association. Working closely with experts from different specialties and across the globe, they have implemented all the necessary measures to ensure that passengers can return to the ships and enjoy a safe experience.
Tourism is a driver of economic growth. It is also a driving force in protecting natural and cultural heritage, preserving them for future generations to enjoy. Do you believe that the fragmented approach by countries was partially responsible for a collapse in trust? Protecting the health of their citizens was understandably and rightfully the main priority of every national government during the hardest times of the pandemic. We will never know how things would have rolled up if decisions were made differently. What we do know is that, moving forward, we must ensure a more coordinated approach in order to make travelling easy again. What is your outlook for the travel industry? Sustainability has certainly gained momentum and will continue to be highly valued by all consumers, including tourists. At the moment, we anticipate tourism to rebound fully in 2022, though a return to pre-pandemic levels of international tourism arrivals is only likely to happen by the end of 2024. What strikes you as a visitor to Greece? I am impressed by the unique cultural and historic heritage along with the beautiful landscapes and rich gastronomy.
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