The 22nd World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) kicks off its Global Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The annual Global Summit continues through 1^st December and is the most influential travel and tourism industry event hosting industry leaders and key government representatives. The largest in-person gathering of Minsters of Tourism and CEOs of tourism companies continues to align efforts to support the sector’s recovery and move to a safer, more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future.

Event Strategic Sponsor, Global Rescue, the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services to enterprises, governments and individuals, is on-site managing, monitoring, supporting and responding to any medical requirement.

Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, presents at the “Enhancing our Resilience” panel. Travel and tourism have been able to bounce back from crises in an increasingly agile fashion; with crisis recovery time decreasing from 26 to 10 months between 2001 and 2018. However, he sees the need for much greater preparation for inevitable future disruptions.

“We’re one mutation away from another pandemic yet the travel and tourism industry – and the governments of most countries – have been slow to implement learnings from the last pandemic.  While serving on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the Department of Commerce, I helped author recommendations to improve industry resilience – the most important of which is the need for greater public-private partnerships for preparedness and prevention,” Richards said.

Arnie Weissmann, editor in chief at Travel Weekly, moderates the “Enhancing our Resilience” session, seeking insights from panelists Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica; Hon. Sylvestre Radegonde, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Seychelles; Robin Ingle, Chief Executive Officer, Ingle International Inc; Debbie Flynn, Managing Partner, Global Travel Practice Leader, FINN Partners; and Richards.

“The pandemic was an unprecedented challenge for the travel industry, and the global response was remarkable, overall. The ongoing challenge for the travel and tourism industry is the preparation, management and coordination of the resources needed to mount an effective response for the next big challenge. By working together, we will be able to further improve the sector’s resilience to systemic shocks,” Richards said.