Why travel passes, vaccines are key to the global tourism rebound

Some airlines, including those in the Gulf, have begun to trial the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass while some countries, including Saudi Arabia, have mandated approved vaccination for those entering the kingdom.

In the UAE, authorities have said that from June 6 those attending public events must be vaccinated, although the Gulf nation has not yet limited entry to the country to those who have received their shots.

Speaking at The Middle East Tourism Investment Summit virtual event on Thursday, Nicolas Mayer, global tourism leader, PWC was asked what it would take to truly kick-start global travel.

“A variant of a vaccine or all-clear passport,” he told moderator Eddie Taylor, editorial director, Arabian Business.

“This seems to have become a contested subject, and I’m puzzled why that may be. If we wish to have tourism and business travel, there’s absolutely no way to restore that without providing digital tools and support that facilitates rapid transport between jurisdictions,” Mayer said.

He said hesitation surrounding travel passes comes down to debate over whether travel can be fairly restricted to those who are vaccinated and the fear over data protection.

Mayer said that the decision ultimately lies in the hands of governments and countries who must find a solution that works in their societal context. “Most of us have no issue with our data being available for e-banking, amazon prime, Netflix,” he suggested.

Dr Taleb Rifai, chairman of ITIC & former secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), echoed Mayer, saying that international travel will not revive unless the whole world is vaccinated.

While domestic and regional travel is starting to come back, international travel still has a long way to go to reach pre-pandemic levels, he said.

The UAE has for years been a hotspot for tourists looking for a taste of the high life, and Saudi Arabia has worked fast to transform its tourism sector, a part of its ambitious Vision 2030 plan that aims to diversify its economy away from oil.

Mark Beer, chairman at the Metis Institute, said that “Dubai has figured out how to position itself coming out of [the pandemic.]”

Following a strict lockdown, the UAE was able to safely reopen its doors to tourism well before many other countries around the world and benefitted from first-mover advantage, recently allowing live events to come back as long as precautions are adhered to.

Across the UAE’s northern border in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom has a “huge amount to offer, and we’ve got two rising stars”, Beer said.

He pointed to the so-called “silver hair generation” that is slightly older and has a large spending power and the youth, who typically want to see heritage and history sites – which Saudi Arabia has spent the last few years developing the infrastructure around their heritage sites.

“I’ve seen things in the kingdom I didn’t think existed,” said Mayer who urged investors to not treat the region like a monolith.

“Differentiate the countries,” he said. And on Saudi: “You have to come see for yourself. The kingdom isn’t well known enough yet to make your investments based on an excel sheet.”