Sri Lanka receives global safety and hygiene stamp by the World Travel and Tourism Council
Sri Lanka and Grenada, which have been identified as popular holiday destinations, have received the global safety and hygiene stamp launched recently by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
The growing list of endorsements have come from many major holiday and city destinations around the world, with the holiday destinations of Sri Lanka and Grenada joining other summer sun destinations such as the ever-popular Alicante and Benidorm in Spain. Eswatini, the popular wildlife and safari destination in Southern Africa, joins a growing list of African nations to adopt ‘Safe Travels’, including Rwanda and Tanzania, a news report on the Daily FT stated.
WTTC, which represents the global Travel and Tourism private sector, had 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 reportedly welcomed the WTTC Safe Travels stamp, which place the safety and hygiene of travellers as top priority.
WTTC President and CEO Gloria Guevara has said, “Our Safe Travels stamp continues to be a great success and we are thrilled to see even more popular countries and destinations adopt our global health and hygiene protocols.
“The WTTC Safe Travels stamp has had astounding success since its launch. This shows the importance of the initiative not only to countries and destinations, but also, crucially, to travellers and the 330 million people around the world whose livelihoods depend on the Travel and Tourism sector.
“The stamp represents a critical step in rebuilding consumer confidence in Travel and Tourism and allowing travellers to rest easy knowing that enhanced standards of hygiene are in place and they can once again experience ‘Safe Travels’.”
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 a COVID-19 world.
The protocols were devised following the experience of WTTC members dealing with COVID-19 and based on guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
OSL take:
The global safety and hygiene stamp received by Sri Lanka would undoubtedly help boost the country’s tourism sector when the airports are reopened for foreign travel. Foreign tourists when engaged in post Covid 19 travel would definitely travel to countries that have received the global safety and hygiene stamp. Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the country. Sri Lanka has been listed as one of the must visit destinations in the world resulting in many international brands in hospitality expressing interest in doing business in the island. The lockdown period has been used by many in the leisure and hospitality sectors to renovate and upgrade their establishments to meet the growing demand when tourist arrivals recommences. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/12082020/Z_2 |