Special TTC: Goodbye Covid-19!. Hello to the global tourism lessons

By Frank Martin

The Covid-19 pandemic is no longer a public health emergency for the world  and specially for international tourism.

However, similar dangers lurk.

Experts advise that world surveillance remain in the face of possible contingencies in this regard and that preventive measures be reinforced.

In addition, it is essential that the lesson is unforgettable.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) “greeted” this month the end of the public health emergency phase for the coronavirus, published by the World Health Organization.

The universal health entity also made it clear that, however, close cooperation will continue to monitor the situation.

For the International Tourism Organization it is crucial not to forget because it represents a human activity of trips and stays that force innumerable long trips a year from one side of the planet to the other.

“The UN health agency has declared that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is no longer an international public emergency, which does not mean that COVID-19 has ceased to be a threat to public health,” the page warned. official UN News.

Last week, the disease still claimed one life every three minutes and right now there are thousands of people in intensive care units in parts of the world still fighting the virus.

The WHO, when making its announcement on May 5 of the end of the emergency,  revealed that this entity received notification of almost 7 million deaths, “but it is known that the number of victims is several times higher:  at least 20 million,” according to more accurate statistics you cited.

The World Tourism Organization had a double reaction in this regard.

Not only did he publish the declaration of the entity for world health on the end of the emergency, but he also announced his own steps to be carried out from now on.

One decision is that the tourism entity will rely on its own guidelines and assessments applied during the long emergency, including travel restrictions.

The Secretary General of the UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili, explained that this is a moment to “recognize that collaboration is the only way to overcome the challenges that lie ahead.”

Pololikashvili estimates that tourist destinations around the world have had very different responses to travel restrictions.

The official explained that environmental measures, stricter sanitary and hygienic regulations and a greater dependence on tourism contributed to the lifting of travel restrictions.

This, he claimed, opened the doors to a faster recovery in terms of international tourist arrivals.

In addition to making observations that have been part of the experience in the face of the pandemic, other concepts are in the range of the unforgettable.

One is the human capacity to extract good experiences from disasters.

The United Nations organization for tourism stressed in its first analysis after the end of the emergency that there is “the need for a comprehensive reassessment of travel restrictions, recovery strategies and the intricate interaction between the environmental sectors, the health and tourism

After the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, this seems like a good reset.