More destinations have received the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Safe Travel Stamp. Among them are Egypt, Slovenia and Ukraine.
The WTTC designed the stamp to enable travelers to identify destinations and businesses that adopted its health and hygiene global standardized protocols and travel safely.
“We are delighted to see major countries and destinations such as Egypt and Slovenia joining the growing list of global destinations adopting our private sector protocols,” said Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and CEO. “This not only shows the success of the WTTC Safe Travel stamp, but also demonstrates its importance to travelers and those who work in the sector.
Guevara noted that the stamp is critical to reestablishing consumer confidence in the travel industry.
“As WTTC health and hygiene protocols, affecting hotels, restaurants, airports, cruise lines, tour operators, restaurants, outdoor shopping, and transportation are implemented, so the list of destinations recognizing the new stamp continues to grow,” she said. “We thank these destination countries and cities for working with WTTC to ensure a speedy recovery of the sector. We look forward to welcoming many more destinations as countries around the world begin to lift travel restrictions which will see people traveling again.”
WTTC Safe Travels stamp has now been awarded to several countries and regions, including Turkey, Bulgaria, Mauritius, Panama, Portugal, and the Mexican State of Jalisco in addition to Egypt, Slovenia and Ukraine.
“I am pleased with the decision issued today by the WTTC to grant Egypt its Safe Travels stamp,” said Khaled al-Anany, Egypt Minister of Antiquities and Tourism. “This is a milestone in our bilateral cooperation with WTTC. This decision reflects Egypt’s commitment to the safe resumption of inbound tourism with strict comprehensive hygiene safety measures starting July 1, 2020, to its superb, sunny and healthy beaches.”
Ivan Eskildsen, Panama Minister of Tourism, said: “As the hub of the Americas, restoring confidence for travelers and tourists, will be a key factor for the reactivation of our industry and our economy. The WTTC Safe Travels stamp is a great way of building trust, aligning the protocols we have developed with our Ministry of Health with WTTC standards so that travelers can have a safe journey through our country.”
WTTC introduced the measures as part of its Safe Travels protocols, to provide consistency and guidance to travel providers and travelers on cleanliness and sanitization. The protocols were devised following the experience of WTTC members dealing with COVID19 and based on guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).