WTTC Global Summit Cancelled: Change of direction for Travel Industry

Gloria Guevara, the CEO of WTTC needs to be applauded for showing leadership in tough times for the travel and tourism industry. Postponing the World Travel and Tourism Council Global summit scheduled in Cancun, Mexico next month is showing leadership and was a tough decision for the organization, and here is why.

Coronavirus, unfortunately, is now leading the world and has forced tourism in some regions to come to a stop. Most events in the world are postponed or canceled.

On February 28  Gloria Guevara told eTurboNews the decision to not go forward with ITB was not based on facts available by WHO and there was no need to overreact.

Just this weekend the WTTC Leader, who is also seen as the most powerful woman in tourism told eTurboNews, that she was worried a lot of people are impacted, jobs will be lost, and small businesses will suffer. She said there would not be money for advertising, marketing. She added: Blanket travel bans don’t work.

She warned in saying: “Wait to see the domino effect”.

The Domino effect is becoming an avalanche this week and is coming down the full speed to the travel and tourism industry. It was a responsible move for WTTC to put reality over profit and health and made the difficult decision to postpone the WTTC Global Summit 2020 . Without a doubt, such a summit has to be the major moneymaker for the World Travel and Tourism Council as well.

The WTTC press release announcing the postponement of their WTTC Summit was released today and says:

The World Travel & Tourism Council [WTTC], which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, and the Government of Quintana Roo in Mexico, have announced that the 20th Global Summit will take place in the Autumn of 2020.

WTTC’s annual Global Summit is the most influential Travel & Tourism event in the calendar, where the highest-level industry leaders meet with key government representatives to take action on the biggest and most important issues across the international agenda.

The 2020 Global Summit will take place in Cancun in early Autumn, giving the Travel & Tourism sector time to recover from the current Covid-19 outbreak and its impact.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said: “We stand in solidarity with governments, countries and organizations which are being affected by Covid-19 and look forward to hosting our Global Summit in the Autumn. This will provide a global platform to discuss the sector’s recovery and future plans.”

Carlos Joaquin, Governor of Quintana Roo said: “Cancun and the State of Quintana Roo are continuing to plan a full schedule of events, meetings and conventions against the global backdrop of Covid-19. We have no Covid-19 cases but stand ready to support those around the world.

We look forward to hosting the 20th WTTC Global Summit in the Autumn and ensuring it is the most successful Global Summit ever”.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) the organization represents the Travel & Tourism private sector globally.

Members include over 200 CEOs, Chairpersons, and Presidents of the world’s leading Travel & Tourism companies from all geographies covering all industries.

WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world’s largest economic sectors, supporting one in 10 jobs (319 million) worldwide, and generating 10.4% of global GDP.

For the past 30 years, WTTC has conducted research on the economic impact of Travel & Tourism in 185 countries. In 2018, the Travel & Tourism sector experienced 3.9% growth, outpacing that of the global economy (3.2%) for the eighth consecutive year. Over the past five years, one in five jobs were created by the sector, making Travel & Tourism the best partner for governments to generate employment. Our priorities are Security & Travel Facilitation, Crisis Preparedness, Management & Recovery, and Sustainable Growth.

eTurboNews was a media partner for the summit.