The World Tourism Organization is advancing plans to provide travelers with greater legal protections as consumers.
Restoring confidence in travel is a key part of the recovery for the industry. The International Code for the Protection of Tourists aims to assist tourists affected by emergency situations with clearer and more consistent policies globally.
Currently, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has support from almost 100 member states so far.
The Committee for the Development of an International Code for the Protection of Tourists recently held its first meeting, which featured the active participation of 92 UNWTO member states.
The group adopted a concrete plan of action to restore tourists' confidence through a common and harmonized framework.
The European Commission as well as private stakeholders will be asked to join the initiative to have a fair and balanced share of responsibilities among tourism stakeholders in a post COVID-19 world.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: "Uncertainty and a lack of trust in travel are among the biggest challenges we face as we work to restart tourism. An International Code for the Protection of Tourists will be a landmark step towards addressing this. Establishing a standard set of minimum consumer protection standards for tourists will help make people feel safer and more confident in international travel. And it will also ensure that the responsibility of managing the disruptions caused by this pandemic is shared fairly across the whole of our sector."
The UNWTO laid out the components of the plan that would lay the groundwork for the code that includes the following recommendations:
— Preventing possible disruptions by drawing up contingency plans and coordination protocols and training tourism stakeholders to assist tourists in emergency situations.
— Providing real-time information for tourists.
— Addressing cross-border cooperation between governments and tourism service providers.
— Fostering close collaboration between governments and travel and accommodation providers.
— Addressing the effective repatriation of tourists.
The plan is to present a progress report on the development of the code at the UNWTO General Assembly at the end of 2021 in Marrakech, Morocco.
