The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, yesterday supported the initiatives launched by the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, to recover international travel and transform the crisis into an opportunity, developing a tourism “more inclusive, more accessible, which better distributes wealth and is respectful of heritage.
In his opening speech of the Conference ‘Setting the Recovery of International Tourism into Action‘, by videoconference, Sanchez advocated “sharing ideas that allow us to take advantage of everyone’s experiences“, in line with the proposals that the UNWTO Secretary General has been reiterating to act together against the pandemic.
The President of the Spanish Government also pointed out that “one of the priorities now must be the recovery of international travel“. Therefore, he said, “we must organize ourselves so that international travel guarantees maximum security for the communities that receive it”.
The International Conference for Tourism Recovery, organized in La Palma by the Spanish Executive, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), closed with the La Palma Declaration, which states that it is “desirable and more efficient” to have a “coordinated and coherent” international response and calls on the private sector to adapt its offer to the new post-pandemic reality, with greater flexibility.
The Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto; the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, and the President of the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC), Gloria Guevara, signed this document. The declaration calls for, among other measures, “the adoption of unified protocols through pre-departure testing, which should be accepted at the destination”, since it considers that “the revival of international travel depends directly on the elimination of travel restrictions imposed by different countries.
