The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has aligned with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in becoming a lead agency with authority to issue Australian tourism businesses with the globally recognised ‘Safe Travel’ stamp.
The stamp has been developed by the global travel and tourism industry body to recognise businesses which adopt standardised health and hygiene protocols. ATEC has incorporated the Safe Travel branding – designed as a recognisable health and safety trademark for consumers globally – into its COVID Ready program.
“ATEC has developed the rigorous, sector specific ‘COVID Ready’ program which aligns with the standards defined by the WTTC. The ATEC program enables tourism businesses to identify COVID risk points within the customer journey and implement risk management solutions, all of which are captured in a COVID Ready plan aligned with state and national regulatory requirements,” ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley said.
“ATEC has incorporated the WTTC Safe Travels branding as part of our Tourism Trade Checklist which recognises businesses who have completed and uploaded a COVID Ready Plan. The WTTC Safe Travel global branding is another level of recognition which will assist Australian tourism businesses to stand out in the international marketplace.’
“As an organisation with the authority to endorse tourism businesses, ATEC is able to connect Australian tourism businesses with global Safe Travel protocols which quickly verifies a business’s compliance.”
The strategy, titled #TravelSafeAustralia includes three components working together to ensure quality COVID Safe experiences, the components include;
COVID Ready suppliers – all suppliers servicing the international market have completed and uploaded a COVID Ready plan into ATEC Tourism Trade Checklist portal and have received the WTTC Safe Travels stamp and ready for international visitors.
COVID Risk Reduction – an alignment with goPassport biometric risk management system, a comprehensive, real-time COVID-19 alert system for inbound international travellers.
COVID Safe Managed Travel – Australian based inbound tour operators (ITOs) taking accountability for the COVID Safe travel of international visitors from arrival to departure.
