WTTC is recommending a single global portal that recognises the main digital passes currently in use worldwide and acts as a one stop shop for travellers and governments. Photo Credit: WTTC
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has identified digital
solutions for governments across the globe to significantly restore
international mobility.
The inaugural report, titled “Digital Solutions for Reviving
International Travel,” calls on governments to adopt a more
internationally coordinated response to Covid-19 for the travel and
tourism sector and to implement digital solutions to facilitate the
resumption of safe travel.
Following World Health Organization guidelines, the WTTC urges
governments to accept the four most widely used digital Covid
vaccination certificates — EU Digital Covid Certificate, ICAO Visible
Digital Seal, DIVOC and SMART Health Cards — as proof of Covid-19
status.
By doing so, travellers, whether fully vaccinated or testing
negative, would have a globally recognised digital Covid certificate
that would allow them to travel freely and safely.
To accommodate digital Covid certificates, the WTTC encourages
governments to activate a digital travel portal that lets travellers
electronically upload their digital Covid vaccination or test
certificates with their destination before travelling. The upload
process helps avoid confusion and long lines related to paperwork.
Once travellers have submitted their Covid status, governments should
issue a travel authorisation certificate to the traveller with a
machine-readable QR code that follows the same security principles as
the Covid-19 status certificates.
The QR codes allow travellers to maintain their own record of
authority to travel and can be used by travel operators to confirm a
traveller's eligibility to travel.
“It is governments’ responsibility to ensure there is a safe, secure,
simple and digital system in place to restore international mobility.
WTTC is recommending a single global portal that recognises the main
digital passes currently in use worldwide and acts as a one stop shop
for travellers and governments,” says WTTC president and CEO Julia
Simpson.
“We can use the pandemic to leapfrog technologies and allow
contactless travel with embedded data on vaccination and testing
status.”
According to WTTC research, more than 60 million travel industry jobs
were lost in 2020, and the sector’s contribution to the global GDP fell
by US$4.5 trillion.
Source: PhocusWire