Friday 29 March 2024
 
»
 
»
Story

Travel Pass ‘could spark recovery in global travel’

LONDON, February 25, 2021

The rollout of Iata’s digital Covid Travel Pass will be beneficial to the global travel sector and will increase the likelihood of a meaningful start to recovery in 2021, said an industry expert.

“Iata’s Travel Pass is not the golden ticket to an instant recovery for the global travel sector, but it will no doubt help,” added Ralph Hollister, Analyst, Travel & Tourism at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

“According to GlobalData, international air arrivals decreased by 48.1% YOY (Year-Over-Year) in 2020. Due to this unprecedented drop in demand, which has now continued into the start of 2021, ongoing testing, tracing and vaccinations rollouts will need to be continued alongside the implementation of the digital Covid Travel Pass in order to ensure a strong and sustained recovery.

“International travel is a possibility this summer and the success of vaccine rollouts may allow for short-haul travel to resume between many economically developed nations. However, low traveller confidence may still stop many from travelling. GlobalData’s survey found that 52% of global respondents are either ‘quite’ or ‘extremely’ concerned regarding restrictions on international travel,” he added.

“Iata’s Travel Pass should, therefore, help to ease these ongoing apprehensions. As the app confirms if a passenger has had the appropriate COVID-19 tests or vaccines required to enter a country, this will assure travellers that there will be no sudden surprises when they enter the destination, such as restrictions on movement.

“However, global rollout of the app could be difficult due to the insistence by some governments on paper documentation for proof of vaccination or negative test meaning that some persuasion may be needed for specific countries. Furthermore, app rollout could be difficult in developing nations where levels of smartphone ownership may not be as high in comparison to developed countries. This could mean that the rollout is seen as something that increases global inequality in terms of which nations can and can’t freely travel,” Hollister concluded. – TradeArabia News Service




Tags:

More Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Stories

calendarCalendar of Events

Ads