UNWTO, G20 pair up for tourism recovery

UNWTO, G20 pair up for tourism recovery

(MENAFN- Bangladesh Monitor) Madrid : The United Nations World Tourism Organisation has sought to serve as the sector's global voice as the tourism ministers of the G20 nations met to devise a way forward for an inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery. Upon assuming presidency of the G20, Italy has drawn on UNWTO data to highlight the impact the pandemic has had on tourist numbers globally and how this translates into lost jobs and revenues, as well as lost opportunities for social development. Addressing the meeting, Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General, UNWTO, stressed the continued need for coordination at the very highest level, in order to advance "common, harmonised criteria for the easing of travel restrictions, and for increased investment in systems that support safe travel, including testing on departure and on arrival". With the crisis far from over, the Secretary General welcomed the G20 Rome Guidelines for the Future of Tourism and called for "schemes aimed at supporting the survival of tourism jobs and businesses to be sustained and, wherever possible, expanded, especially as millions of livelihoods continue to be at risk". In addition to ensuring the safe restart of international travel and supporting jobs and businesses, the G20 ministers committed