Articles tagged “wttc”

Even though official government data is still unavailable for 2018, reports show the United States is losing ground when it comes to international tourism — and especially key markets like China. What will it take to turn that trend around?

Details are still being hammered out for this new Caribbean marketing fund as hurricane season officially begins June 1. Many cruise ship passengers already consider the Caribbean as a collective destination, but still, why did it take decades for this fund to come about?

Travel executives love to say that their employees are at the heart of their brands and they are on the front lines of the guest and visitor experience. Employees will toast to that notion, but hope they won't have to tussle with a robot or virtual assistant to prove their worth.

You can't really blame people who live in and around a popular city for wanting to enjoy the attractions that make it special. Their taxes give them that right, after all. It needs to be factored into overtourism calculations that locals sometimes outnumber other visitors at tourism attractions.

Many Caribbean destinations are on the road to recovery from recent storms, but they are also at the mercy of government relief efforts, which have fallen way short in some places. In Puerto Rico's case, the island is dealing with the federal government, which treated hurricanes on the U.S. mainland much more seriously.

China has initiated the formation of a new world tourism organization. The UNWTO, WTTC and PATA are exceedingly polite about it, but there are undercurrents of uneasiness about how much influence the new China-led World Tourism Alliance can wield.

It's not that the travel industry doesn't understand that overtourism is a problem. It's an issue that at times might conflict with their bottom lines, and there is a lack of thoughtful and effective plans on how to deal with it. Guevara is already working on the topic — and we'll be watching to see how creative she and the WTTC can be.

WTTC is staying committed to its goal of helping the global travel industry speak with one voice. But with Guevara's appointment, it's signaling the need for more women in leadership roles and the importance of Latin America's tourism growth.

U.S. tourism job growth is already projected to be smaller than the rest of the world without the full impact of some of the Trump administration's policies. The travel industry is asking for a seat at the table to convince Washington why that means bad news.

Having a global, visa-free block of countries might sound idealistic. But many countries have made progress with liberalizing their visa systems in recent years and a worldwide trusted traveler program isn't out of the question in the future.