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Lift blanket international travel bans now
By Mandy Clarke, Editor
All countries should now lift blanket international travel bans and replace with risk-based policies, agreed The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
A growing number of countries around the world have begun to ease their rules for international arrivals, including more relaxed travel bans. These decisions are in line with WHO’s latest recommendations for safe international mobility, which highlight the ineff ectiveness of blanket restrictions in controlling virus transmissions. This trend is also consistent with UNWTO’s repeated warnings of the great social, economic and development harm of restrictions.
The two UN agencies agreed to collaborate on a global trust architecture for recovery of the travel sector. “Guided by UNWTO, global tourism has followed WHO advice from the very start of this crisis.”
He underscored the need to “continue to do so, and to open up again, safely and responsibly, and allow tourism to deliver on its unique potential as a driver of recovery and growth”.
According to the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committ ee on COVID-19, all measures applied to international travellers should be based on “risk assessments - including testing, isolation and vaccinations”. Furthermore, the fi nancial burden of such measures should not be placed on travellers themselves.
“As countries ease travel restrictions, health must remain the key priority. By basing their decisions on evidence and a risk-based approach adapted to their specifi c context, countries can fi nd the right balance between keeping people safe, protecting livelihoods and the economy, and keeping borders open”, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Properly managed, tourism has the potential to act as a force for development and opportunity, as highlighted in the sector’s enhanced relevance in the wider United Nations development agenda. Destinations around the world report increased tourist arrival numbers on the back of easing or removing restrictions. This trend off ers the potential to kickstart economic recovery and put social development progress back on track.
In January a UN report highlighted the important role that tourism will play in the recovery of national economies and global trade. The 2022 edition of the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report by the United Nations. Draws on data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and underlines the sector’s importance for the world economy. The report uses key UNWTO data on international tourist arrivals and tourism receipts to illustrate how the pandemic’s impact has been felt beyond the sector itself. International tourist arrivals plunged by 73 percent in 2020, dropping to levels not seen for 30 years. And while tourism did record a modest improvement in the third quarter of 2021, international arrivals between JanuarySeptember 2021 were still 20 percent below 2020 levels and 76 percent below 2019 levels. The report shows the devastating impact the crisis has had on employment, including in hospitality, travel services and retail trade. It has disproportionately aff ected vulnerable groups, including youth and migrant workers, as well as workers with lower educational att ainment and skills. Exacerbation of the gender divide is evident, especially in developing countries, with women seeing greater declines in employment and labour force participation than men. Further analysing the sector’s role in economic recovery, the UN report notes that many destinations, in particular tourism-dependent countries, will need to diversify their tourism throughout 2022 and beyond.
