Key Takeaways
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic triggered an unprecedented collapse of the travel and tourism industry and the recovery is now expected to be slower than first thought. Reviving the sector requires collaboration and coordination across the entire travel and tourism ecosystem.
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated extraordinary losses around the world—with millions of lives claimed, millions of people unemployed, and hundreds of millions more at risk of unemployment and soaring poverty.
According to ADB’s Asian Development Outlook 2020 report, tourism-driven economies—including the Cook Islands, Fiji, Palau, Samoa, and Vanuatu—were the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Asia and Pacific region, alone, was expected to lose almost 70 million jobs and $1.1 trillion in GDP—more than any other region in the world.
“These policy recommendations are the result of widespread consultation with airport, airline, hotel, and government leaders. They provide a roadmap for how countries across the Asia and Pacific region can reopen this critical sector in the most careful, responsible, and effective way possible.”
Patrick Osewe
Chief of ADB’s Health Sector Group
But the rising rates of vaccinations are seeing many countries slowly rebooting their international and domestic travel sectors. Precautionary measures against contracting COVID-19 have been put in place to ensure passenger health and safety as the transport industry deals with travel and tourism challenges in this “new normal.” The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has released a set of health-focused policy recommendations Reopening Borders to Revive the Economy and Resume Travel in Asia and the Pacific to help members in our region make the best policy decisions for their circumstances. The recommendations came from months of extensive collaboration with key partners, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Air Transport Association, the Pacific Asia Travel Association, and other stakeholders and industry leaders.
“These policy recommendations are the result of widespread consultation with airport, airline, hotel, and government leaders,” said ADB’s Health Sector Group Chief Dr. Patrick Osewe. “They provide a roadmap for how countries across the Asia and Pacific region can reopen this critical sector in the most careful, responsible, and effective way possible.”
The recommendations have been grouped into four categories: (1) strengthening management and planning; (2) introducing transmission barriers; (3) improving sanitation; and (4) promoting health screening. A three-phase approach to each category also serves as a checklist for advised actions in every perceived phase of COVID-19.
| Phase | Phase Description in relation to COVID-19 | Travel permission |
| Emergency | Disease still in acute phase as determined by local health authorities | Limited travel. Necessary to address urgent needs. |
| Restart | Downward trajectory of disease transmission as determined by local health authorities. | Countries reopen and travel is gradually re-started. Risk mitigation measures in place. |
| Recovery | Disease has been sufficiently contained as determined by local health authorities. | Risk mitigation and preparedness measures to be sustainably implemented. |
| Category: Management and Planning |
To Be Observed By Which Stakeholders? |
In What phase? | ||
| Emergency | Restart | Recovery | ||
|
Maintain an adequate supply of task appropriate personal protection equipment for employees.
|
All | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
|
Collect and share data to facilitate contract tracing in advance of and during travel and across all stages (e.g., with hotels, airlines, transportation providers, tour companies).
|
Hotels and Airlines | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Category: Enhancing Transmission Barriers |
To Be Observed By Which Stakeholders? |
In What phase? | ||
| Emergency | Restart | Recovery | ||
|
All employees wear face masks and other PPEs as appropriate.
|
All | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Category: Enhanced Sanitation |
To Be Observed By Which Stakeholders? |
In What phase? | ||
| Emergency | Restart | Recovery | ||
|
Adopt enhanced cleaning and sanitation procedures (for travelers, at airports and hotels, on planes and buses, etc.), with a focus on high-frequency touch points across the traveler journey
|
All | ✓ | ||
| Category: Public Health Screening |
To Be Observed By Which Stakeholders? |
In What phase? | ||
| Emergency | Restart | Recovery | ||
|
During transit/transfer of passengers, utilize “one stop-security arrangements” for security and health screening (e.g. thereby eliminating a queuing point in the journey)
|
Airlines and Airports | ✓ | ✓ | |
* For the full list, see Reopening Borders to Revive the Economy and Resume Travel in Asia and the Pacific: Health-Focused Policy Recommendations. pp. 5.
Key stakeholders from across the travel and tourism ecosystem—from government to the private sector—have already taken some of these steps to restart and recover the industry. Ongoing dialogue focusing on multisectoral collaboration and targeted supportive actions should continue as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds.
“Ultimately, these recommendations are intended to promote health and safety, encourage best practice, reduce incoherence in health protocols, and complement existing efforts,” Dr. Osewe said.
ADB is committed to helping governments speed up their COVID-19 response and recovery and is currently working with countries in Asia and the Pacific to implement the recommendations identified in this report. With unprecedented and evolving health and travel-related implications—highlighted by the discovery of the new Omicron strain of the virus—the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry remains. Travel and tourism will eventually rebound through a collective response that can help build the foundation now for a more sustainable future.
