On World Tourism Day: thank you!

Innovation, safety, solidarity and sustainability will undoubtedly shape the new future of tourism post COVID19 .

World Tourism Day will be celebrated this year under the slogan "Tourism and rural development". Tourism is an essential factor in economic and social development, especially in rural communities, where it is an important employer and a fundamental driver of economic growth. As UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili has stated, tourism “empowers rural communities around the world, offering employment and opportunities, especially for women and young people”. But as we all know, in 2020 our industry is suffering more than almost all others from the greatest disruption in our history caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the fact that this crisis has had an impact on the essence of our business, the mobility of people and the relationships and contact between them, our industry has been able to react, developing exemplary health and safety protocols that guarantee customers a safe experience which is also satisfying and memorable at the same time. Along with excellence in health and safety, we who work in the industry have also increased our efficiency and flexibility, working in an environment with a degree of volatility and uncertainty that we could never have imagined, and doing as much as we possibly can to preserve employment and the talent in our companies.

On the day that the United Nations dedicates to our industry, I would therefore like to express special recognition for all those customers, employees, partners and suppliers, institutions and media, etc., who have made an extraordinary effort in 2020 to keep their companies and destinations moving forward. At the same time, I would also like to invite you to use this crisis period to “reboot”, and prepare to rebuild our industry based on innovation, safety, solidarity and sustainability, given that all of these factors will undoubtedly shape the new future of tourism .

We are proud that governments around the world have recognised the importance of our industry to the economy and employment of nations, and are looking towards the industry as an essential driver in the recovery from the effects of the pandemic. This also reminds us of the importance of public-private collaboration, and that countries take the tourism industry into account as a priority recipient of reconstruction funds, as the European Commission has recently called for by recommending that no less than 25% of European Union rescue funds go to help revitalise our industry.

Only if we remain united in the search for an ethical, collaborative and sustainable solution to this crisis will we be able to accelerate the recovery of a tourism industry which is such a key part of equitable and sustainable economic development, in a competitive environment that will undoubtedly be much more complex for a few years to come.  

Thank you all very much, and my best wishes and encouragement to you to continue building a better future for all in each of the different parts of the tourism value chain.