One of the lessons learned with covid is that the world cannot afford to come to a standstill again in case a new pandemic breaks out: “We must have defined protocols to manage future epidemics without having a negative effect on the travel industryis fundamental”, warned this morning the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Reyes Maroto, after meeting in the morning with the representatives of the 36 countries belonging to the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD) that participated until today in the “high level” summit on international safe mobility, held in a Palladium Hotel Group accommodation in Platja d’en Bossa. Maroto was optimistic because at that meeting six measures were agreed to achieve this goal, among which he highlighted the commitment to create a “system of systems” that allows validation of all vaccination certificates issued in the world.
The first of the six conclusions reached, which were approved in the afternoon, was the need to “urgent action to hasten the returnor at the levels of sightseeing pre-pandemic international“, explained Maroto. “We have committed ourselves – he added – to work in a framework that guarantees a safe, adaptable and uninterrupted travel environment”.
They further concluded thatNot having common travel protocols can cause distrust and confusion between travellers”, as was made clear when the pandemic broke out. “Therefore, we need closer coordination in the future,” said the minister, who indicated that, in addition, the participants in the summit supported “the need to work to guarantee the interoperability of digital systems for the recognition of vaccination certificates issued by the different authorities”, that “system of systems” for which the OECD is already “developing various pilot projects”.
The central objective is, therefore, “to advance in the interoperability of the different vaccine certification systems in the world”, which he summarized as “a unification of these different certifications”
The central objective is, therefore, “to advance in the interoperability of the different vaccine certification systems in the world”, which he summarized as “a unification of these different certifications”, so that they stop “generating distrust and confusion among tourists” and they are encouraged to travel with peace of mind and safety. A Spain Life is on ithence “lead this debate”.
They also agreed to promote “a set of high-level principles for a greater recovery in the travel sector”, in particular, the need for the measures adopted in each State “to be based on scientific evidence and to be equitable and inclusive”, as well as that “data collection” is in line with “international health regulations” and that there are “a exchange continuum of epidemiological information between countries“.
Prepared for another pandemic
aware that the coronavirus caught all countries off guard and without contingency plans, it was also agreed that it is necessary to “ensure that the measures being developed contribute to creating a more resilient health system”, so that the world is “more prepared to face future pandemics and thus avoid a repetition of the negative impact that the expansion of covid had in travel and tourism”, when half the world was paralyzed. The sixth agreement is simply to urge the Indonesian presidency of the G20 “to guarantee” that the work carried out in Platja d’en Bossa “progress urgently”.
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When will it be possible? The agreement reached is “a boost” to an issue that, as Maroto specified, “will culminate”, he hopes “100%” (at the moment it is only 95%, according to the Spanish ambassador to the OECD, Manuel Escudero), in the G20 prime ministers’ summit to be held in November: “We hope that there will be the political reach that is needed for these measures. We need all countries to understand that this is a responsible solution to the pandemic. We must learn what mistakes and successes we have had. We must not make some of those mistakes again and we must know how to preserve international mobility”. Maroto reiterated that there must be “defined protocols to manage future pandemics without having a negative effect on the travel sector, it is essential” , argued the minister.
The minister recalled that although the pandemic is more or less controlled, variants continually arise and we must be prepared for future pandemics: “The solution must be global because the pandemic problem is global. We have to trust, therefore, more in multilateral organizations.”