LONDON—The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed that 100 destinations are now using its Safe Travels stamp, with the Philippines becoming the official 100th destination. The stamp, which was developed in order to help restore confidence in travelers and work to revive an ailing travel & tourism sector, is now also being used by many more major holiday destinations such as the Maldives, Bermuda, Namibia, Uganda and Montenegro.
The specially designed stamp enables travelers to recognize destinations around the world that have adopted health and hygiene global standardized protocols. The launch of global protocols to recover the travel & tourism sector have been embraced by more than 200 CEOs, including some of the world’s major tourism groups.
“We are delighted to see our innovative initiative is proving such a great success and is being used by destinations from all corners of the globe,” said Gloria Guevara, WTTC president/CEO. “The 100 destinations which now proudly use the stamp are working together to help rebuild consumer confidence worldwide. We welcome the Philippines, an incredible destination and home to some of the world’s most beautiful islands, as our 100th destination, as well as other popular destinations around the globe such as Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia and Kenya.
“As the stamp continues to gain in popularity, travelers will more easily be able to recognize the destinations worldwide which have adopted the new set of global protocols, encouraging the return of safe travels around the world,” she continued. “The success of the Safe Travels stamp shows its importance not only to countries and destinations, but also to travelers and the 330 million people around the world who work in and depend on a thriving travel & tourism sector.”
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Philippine Secretary of Department of Tourism said, “I wish to thank WTTC for recognizing our efforts of putting in place policies concerning health, safety and sanitation protocols, which we have benchmarked with global best practices and aligned with WTTC’s standards. The Safe Travels stamp will further encourage our stakeholders to adhere to health and safety standards, and will also help us rebuild traveler confidence, so we can restart tourism and preserve and sustain jobs.”
The protocols follow guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as best practices from WTTC’s members.
