Travel Again, a new global advocacy organization focused on restoring corporate and consumer confidence in travel, has released its framework for safely rebuilding the travel industry.
The Global Travel Recovery Framework was released in December 2020 and updated early February 2021. It focuses on restoring global confidence in travel and reflects a consultation process involving Travel Again’s policy advisors, which include 25 senior leaders representing various sectors of the travel industry, as well as leading scientists and policy experts.
The Recovery Framework, which can be downloaded here, identifies three areas that are essential for a sustainable recovery process: managing trip risk, standardizing traveler requirements and restoring confidence in traveling.
Managing trip risk will include action items such as safely eliminating quarantine requirements, improving cooperation between industry sectors and reducing or eliminating financial risk of trip interruption or cancelation.
Standardizing travel requirements will include establishing a single “safe global traveler” list of requirements, standardizing global COVID travel testing procedures, and integrating current COVID-19 response into a broader “COVID-X” plan for ongoing use.
While restoring confidence in travel will include initiatives such as expanding Travel Again’s Traveler Confidence Index, developing industry-wide messaging, and developing a standardized travel health risk measurement formula.
In addition to the framework and its priorities for restoring confidence in travel, Travel Again also recommends 8 key travel industry initiatives for immediate adoption:
1. The “3-Test Protocol” should be implemented as standard for all travelers. The protocol requires a Rapid Antigen test or PCR-level test at home three days prior to departure, followed by a Rapid Antigen test at the departure airport, and then another Rapid Antigen test at the return airport.
2. Safe travel procedures such as wearing a mask, respecting social distancing protocol and the use of sanitary methods, should be enforced for all travelers.
3. A pathway for quarantine-free travel requirements should be created globally by establishing common standards for communicating the existing quarantine level.
4. Digital health passports should be deployed for travelers and common standards developed so that government agencies can quickly certify qualified providers.
5. Safe travel corridors should be established to accelerate the restoration of international travel.
6. Positive, fact-based, industry-wide messaging about travel recovery should be developed, including the coordination of messaging from trade associations and corporate leaders to promote the core messaging and reduce and eliminate duplicate campaigns and slogans.
7. A global, industry-wide advocacy clearinghouse entity should be created to aggregate information, monitor activities and set priorities on an ongoing basis.
8. A senior level “Travel Czar” role should be created within the Biden Administration to support the travel recovery process and protect the long-term health and wellbeing of the industry.
Travel Again’s Business Travel Confidence Index showed that only 10.4 percent of travelers were ready to travel when asked to by their employer in November 2020. Willingness to travel domestically was almost double that of international travel for business travelers (53.4 percent versus 30.5 percent), and only 15 percent of respondents had made future business travel reservations.
Travel Again is founded by Mike McCormick, former executive director and COO for the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), and Ed Silver, founder of Lodging.com.
For more information visit travelagainproject.org.
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