Julia Simpson, CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said Thursday that the covid-19 pandemic "has been devastating" for employment in the sector, with 62 million jobs lost worldwide.

Referring to data from before the pandemic, the head of this organization (WTTC, World Travel & Tourism Council) indicated that in 2019, "one out of every four jobs that were being created in the world" were in the travel and tourism industry.

"And that means that in 2019, there were more than 330 million jobs in our sector. Unfortunately, this pandemic has been devastating for us," Julia Simpson stressed at a conference in Evora.

"WTTC will fight for the restoration of every one of the 62 million jobs lost around the world," and "Portugal is already taking great steps in this direction," argued Julia Simpson.

Recalling that this sector represents "10.4% of GDP globally," the WTTC CEO considered it "important" that industry and governments cooperate "to reboot travel and build the resilience" of this area for "a sustainable future."

The pandemic and related travel restrictions "had enormous social and economic effects, which reverberated through countries, destinations, communities and families around the world," he stressed, assuring that in the past year, WTTC has sought to "prove that travel can be done safely."

Currently, "there are still parts of the world that are effectively closed", but we are already starting to see some progress, she said, giving as examples Portugal and the whole of Europe.

Still, stressed the CEO of WTTC, a body that represents more than 200 companies from around the world from the different industries of the travel and tourism sector, "stronger international collaboration" is needed to "drive a global economic recovery."

"I therefore call on all governments not to look internally, but to respond as global leaders and coordinate global solutions."

Border closures and restrictions on international mobility are not the only issues on the table, there are "other factors that are detrimental to the recovery" of the sector, he said.

Julia Simpson alluded to the "highly fragmented nature of travel and tourism," the "lack of inclusion of this sector in government decision-making," and the "limited leadership of multilateral institutions."

Travel-related risks in this pandemic period should be managed "on an individual level" and "not by putting entire countries on red lists," he argued.

Lusa Agency