The Diplomat
Yesterday, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, offered her G20 counterparts the opportunity to hold a high-level international conference on tourism on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands, in November.
The minister presented this proposal during the meeting of tourism ministers of the G20 countries, held virtually under the presidency of Saudi Arabia. During her speech, Reyes Maroto warned that it is now possible to adopt more selective measures adapted to the health conditions of the regions or islands, rather than applying them at country level, and to carry out more targeted actions through diagnostic tests, such as tests.
Maroto also stressed the need to coordinate measures at international level to ensure the safety of travel and destinations. “It is urgent to recover international demand and, from the public-private partnership, work on a global framework of coordinated and predictable measures to give confidence to travellers”, she said, quoted in a press release from the Ministry.
During the meeting, the minister offered the countries attending to hold a high-level international conference on the island of La Palma in November to follow up on the proposed 100 Million Jobs Recovery Plan, developed during the work of the G20, and to address, within the framework of the public-private partnership, the objective of recovering countries as safe travel destinations.
The purpose of this conference, according to the minister, is to establish a platform for debate in which the most representative associations of the tourism sector at the global level and those responsible for tourism in countries from all geographical areas can come together under the leadership of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Finally, the minister called for further strengthening of measures to reduce the global impact of COVID-19 and, at the same time, to make progress in the recovery of tourism. “It is in everyone’s interest, both for the private sector and for governments and their citizens, to recover an essential sector in the world economy, with a high capacity to generate wealth and employment, but above all well-being in our society”, she concluded.
