WTTC Members have identified security and travel facilitation as a top priority.
According to WTTC’s 2019 data, the Travel & Tourism sector accounted for 10.3% of global GDP and supported the livelihoods of 330 million people in 2019, outpacing the growth of the global economy for nine consecutive years. As one of the fastest-growing industries in 2019, responsible for one in four new jobs created worldwide over the last five years, the slowdown of Travel & Tourism has had devastating ripple effects beyond the sector itself. The benefits of Travel & Tourism spread far beyond its direct impacts on GDP and employment. Indirect benefits apply throughout the supply chain and interlinkages to other industries, such as agriculture, retail, arts, and construction. Additionally, the Travel & Tourism sector is highly inclusive, employing and offering opportunities to people from all walks of life, including minorities, youth, and women.
Increasing political risks and geopolitical instability require more stringent security checks and processes, putting pressure on often outdated systems which are already strained.
WTTC’s work in this area demonstrates that improved visa facilitation and a safe & seamless traveller journey with the deployment of innovative technologies, such as biometrics, can continue to drive economic growth and job creation while addressing security concerns to ensure that travel is safe, secure, and seamless.
Safe & Seamless Traveller Journey
WTTC's global vision for the Safe & Seamless Traveller Journey is to enable a seamless, safe and secure end-to-end traveller journey encompassing both air and non-air traveller touchpoints.
Seamless Traveller solutions enabled through biometrics, provide the mechanism to increase security while enhancing the traveller experience across the air and non-air touchpoints. Additionally, contactless biometric technology can assist in the prevention of pathogens’ transmission between passengers. These solutions will capitalize on several opportunities including improving the customer experience, creating a frictionless experience at touchpoints, improving security, health safety, and promoting commercial benefits to travel providers.
Global Guidelines for SSTJ: The adoption of innovative digital technologies to enable seamless travel
Our latest SSTJ report, in partnership with Oliver Wyman, and Pangiam as one of the advisors, brings a set of recommendations and best practices aiming to assist in the establishment of globally interoperable, technology agnostic, biometric-enabled solutions, which cover the end-to-end traveller journey from booking to trip completion.
Why are these guidelines important for the sector?
Further SSTJ Reports
Visa Facilitation
While millions of travellers cross borders every year without the need for traditional paper visas, millions more still find their travel plans restricted by complicated application processes and paperwork. Huge strides have been made in travel facilitation over the past decade, yet traditional visa policies remain an obstacle to both tourism and economic growth.
This barrier can, however, become an opportunity for growth and job creation for destinations around the world through the implementation of progressive approaches to travel facilitation and new technologies to aid the implementation of new, more efficient visa policies.
WTTC’s research highlights the benefits of visa facilitation in terms of increases in international arrivals as well as job creation.
