The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has called on the U.S. and other governments to show leadership and unprecedented international collaboration to save the struggling travel and tourism sector and recover the millions of jobs already affected. Over 100 major travel and global business leaders worldwidefrom major airlines, airports, hotels, tour operators and travel companieshave, according to WTTC, backed the move.

The industry leaders signed and sent the letter, which called for urgent coordinated action, to U.S. President Donald Trump and the six other heads of state of the G7countries (Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, U.K.), as well as Australia, South Korea and Spain. Beyond President Trump, the letter was also sent to former vice president and current presidential nominee Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other such international opposition leaders, highlighting the non-partisan nature of the crisis.

In the letter, WTTC says political leaders of these major powers must step forward to save the global economy and support the recovery of the hundreds of millions of jobs already impacted. If the global leaders fail to come together, WTTC anticipates irreversible damage to the travel and tourism sector.Furthermore, as travel restrictions remain in place, the number of jobs losses around the world will continue to increase. Recently, at a Virtuoso Travel Week virtual event, Gloria Guevara, WTTC president and CEO, said the worst case scenario is a loss of 197 million jobs by the end of the year.

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Despite travel and tourisms importance to the local and global economies, WTTC is gravely concerned there is no clear or internationally coordinated effort to protect this uniquely exposed sector.

In this letter, WTTC has identified four measures which need concerted international framework and leadership to combat the coronavirus:

WTTC research has shown that even a modest resumption of traveling can have massive economic benefits and bring thousands of desperately needed jobs back.

Among those backing the WTTC call were: WestJet, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad and Virgin Atlantic; Accor, Best Western, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Marriott, Melia Hotels and Radisson; and American Express, Carlson Wagonlit, Expedia, Travelport, TUI and Uber.

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WTTC Calls on Global Government Coordination for COVID-19 Recovery - Travel Agent