The first major conference in the ‘new normal’ of the Covid-19 world will take place in Cancun, Mexico on 23-25 March 2021, hosted by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, is once again hosting the most influential event in the Travel & Tourism calendar, to help lead the sector into recovery and restore millions of jobs around the world. The WTTC Global Summit will take place in a hybrid format, observing all health and safety protocols. The 20th WTTC Global Summit, delayed from Spring 2020 due to the pandemic, will be held in the popular Mexican resort of Cancun, in partnership with the Government of Quintana Roo, from March 23-25.
The hybrid format will include invitations to the live event, with restricted numbers and extensive outdoor sessions to ensure physical distancing. Those unable to attend will be able to take part virtually, with up to 20,000 online free registrations available, enabling participants to listen to a range of specially invited international guest speakers headlining the event and engage in special breakout sessions.
World-leading hygiene and safety protocols will be in place throughout the Global Summit to ensure the health of every participant at the event, with testing and regular health checks, guided by the very latest medical and scientific advice. Previous Global Summits have attracted some of the biggest international speakers in the world, including former US Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, former President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, and former President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso.
During a joint press conference in Mexico City, Gloria Guevara President & CEO of WTTC and the Governor of Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, said that this innovative event will be conducted with responsibility and according to the ‘new normal’, and will become a platform for the recovery of the sector.
“Every aspect of the 20th WTTC Global Summit is being explored to ensure it complies with the world’s best available health and hygiene protocols to show with best practice, how major conferences can be held safely and securely in the new normal,” said Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO
WTTC wants the Global Summit to learn from the challenges of the pandemic to showcase how we can use this experience to adapt to Covid-19
Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO
The Global Summit will take place at The Moon Palace Convention Centre, and Jose Chapur, President of Palace Resorts Group was also present at the press conference, during which he thanked WTTC and the Government of Quintana Roo for their trust in holding this event at the Moon Palace.
The Palace Resorts Group holds the WTTC Safe Travels stamp and has been conducting the highest standards of hygiene and security since the beginning of the pandemic. “During the Global Summit, we will implement enhanced safety and hygiene protocols such as mask wearing, physical distancing, hygiene and sanitisation, along with fast turnaround testing, all of which will enable us to host a safe large-scale event,” said Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, Governor of Quintana Roo. “Today, Cancun Airport operates more than 300 daily flights and the R rate remains below one.”
WTTC which will announce its major new initiatives for 2021 during the Summit, has been at the forefront of international efforts to save the Travel & Tourism sector, which has been damaged by the impact of the pandemic. Just last week WTTC offered to work closely with the new incoming US administration to recover international travel through a five-point list of top priorities.
This includes reopening borders, the adoption of a comprehensive and cost-effective global standard testing regime at airports, a commitment to seamless travel, the re-opening of essential ‘air corridors’ to resume key international business travel routes and re-establishing relations with countries around the world to ensure each is ‘open for business’.
