Dubai and Indonesia are latest recipients of WTTC Safe Travels stamp

Dubai and Indonesia are some of the latest recipients of the world’s first ever global safety and hygiene stamp, launched recently by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, created the Safe Travels stamp to allow travellers to identify destinations and businesses around the world which have adopted the global standardised health and hygiene protocols.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has welcomed the WTTC Safe Travels stamp, which place the safety and hygiene of travellers as top priority.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & Chief Executive notes “our Safe Travels stamp is proving a great success and we are delighted to see even more popular countries and destinations adopt our global health and hygiene protocols.

“The success of the WTTC Safe Travels stamp shows its importance not only to countries and destinations, but also, crucially, to travellers and the 330 million people around the world who work in and depend on, the Travel & Tourism sector.

“The stamp is a critical step in re-establishing consumer confidence in Travel & Tourism and ensuring travellers can rest easy knowing that enhanced standards of hygiene are in place and they can once again experience ‘Safe Travels’.”

Since the launch of the WTTC Safe Travels stamp, destination countries, cities, and hotspots around the world have now adopted WTTC’s new protocols.

His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), advised “as we reopen Dubai’s doors to tourism and welcome our international visitors back to the city, our foremost priority is their wellbeing, achieved through stringent hygiene and safety protocols that have been deployed across all tourist touch points.

“The WTTC's Safe Travels stamp endorses Dubai’s strong global cooperation in combating the pandemic with comprehensive and effective measures to ensure guest health and safety.

“We trust that our efforts not only provide an optimised experience for our visitors, but also secure their health and that of their families, further cementing the confidence that our guests have had thus far in Dubai, and encouraging people from every corner of the world to visit one of the safest cities in the world this summer.”

His Excellency Wishnutama Kusubandio, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia added “Indonesia and the World Travel & Tourism Council have a long history of strategic cooperation, including the latest support from WTTC for the development of Guidelines on the Implementation of Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Encironment (CHSE) under “Indonesia Care” national campaign.

“Parallel to Indonesia’s efforts to restart the tourism industry after the pandemic, we are honoured to be part of the Safe Travels stamp that has been designed to rebuild confidence among consumers so they can travel safely.”

As part of its Safe Travels protocols, these worldwide measures provide consistency and guidance to travel providers and travellers about the new approach to health, hygiene, deep cleansing and physical distancing, in the ‘new normal’ of COVID-19 world.

The protocols were devised following the experience of WTTC members dealing with COVID19 and based on guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to WTTC’s 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, Travel & Tourism was responsible for one in 10 jobs (330 million total), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.

For full details about “Safe Travels”, please visit wttc.org

WTTC has created nine overarching principles & objectives for the Travel & Tourism Sector in the post-lockdown and recovery stage: 

1.Have the sector lead the definition of industry regulation as Travel & Tourism moves from crisis management to recovery

2.Put the safety, health and security of travellers and the Travel & Tourism workforce at the core of the development of global standards

3.Ensure coherence in the approach and development of new global standards through a coordinated, collaborative, and transparent approach within the Travel & Tourism sector

4.Share harmonised and consistent standards and guidelines across destinations and countries.

5.Collaborate with key actors across the Travel & Tourism supply and value chain to ensure readiness to restart operations

6.Ensure standards and guidelines implemented are aligned with governmental and public health requirements and supported by medical evidence.

7.Rebuild trust and confidence with travellers through effective communication & marketing; letting them know the protocols and guidelines implemented and assurances available to keep them safe.

8.Relax and lift travel restrictions once the public health threat has been contained.

9.Advocate for the implementation of enabling policies from financial relief to visa facilitation and incentives to destination promotion to support the recovery and demand re-generation for the sector.