ICC and WTTC present the business guide to restart safely

It’s called the Quick Restart Guide for Employers and has been developed by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). It is a set of recommendations for safely re-opening customer facing businesses in the age of Covid-19. The pandemic has caused widespread disruptions especially in the The Travel & Tourism sector. The ICC and WTTC guide provides businesses with recommendations for ensuring operational readiness, preparing staff and limiting risk of exposure to the virus within workplaces.

The guidance was released as part of a virtual meeting between ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO and WTTC President & CEO Gloria Guevara. “With over 150 million travel and tourism jobs lost since the outbreak of COVID-19, more needs to be done to address the challenges faced by these businesses – many of which are SMEs with limited resources,” said Mr Denton AO. “It’s critical for ICC and our global network to engage with travel and tourism businesses as we work together to reinstate consumer confidence, protect employees and safely re-open our economies.”

“Travel & Tourism is a highly interconnected sector, the devastating impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on businesses across the global Travel & Tourism sector, is also causing extraordinary damage outside of our sector, impacting millions of jobs and livelihoods around the world,” said Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO. “Our guide provides recommendations for businesses around the world, be they large enterprises or SME’s, to ensure employees are able to return to their place of work safely and are in line with WTTC’s Safe Travels protocols.”

During their meeting, the two discussed collaboration on digital platforms aimed at reopening economies and borders for international travel. Mr Denton provided an update on ICC AOKpass – a risk mitigation tool that facilitates cross-border travellers to present digitally authenticated and secure medical records to border authorities – and offered ICC’s support in promoting the WTTC Safe Travels Protocols and Stamp.