Source: UNWTO The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has released a Tourism Recovery Technical Assistance Package to offer guidance to Member States in response to COVID-19. The package is structured around three main pillars: economic recovery, marketing and promotion and institutional strengthening and resilience building. With tourism among the hardest-hit of all sectors, UNWTO has identified three possible scenarios for the months ahead. Depending on when restrictions on travel are lifted, international tourist arrivals could decline by 60-80% in 2020. This could translate into a decline in export revenues from tourism of between US$910 billion to US$1.2 trillion and place 100-120 million jobs directly at risk. The social ripple effect is also feared to be at least equally challenging for many [...]

Source: ICAO ICAO has developed a new publication aimed at helping countries to address the aviation safety risks arising due to the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Produced specifically for national aviation regulators and civil aviation authorities (CAAs), the new Handbook for CAAs on the Management of Aviation Safety Risks related to COVID-19 (ICAO Doc 10144) was developed with the support of aviation experts serving on the ICAO Safety Management Panel. An ICAO State letter will be issued to encourage Member States to take advantage of this new handbook.   “COVID-19 has presented the entire world with many new types of challenges, and the need to adjust how we conduct ourselves in our day-to-day lives,” commented ICAO Secretary [...]

Source: GCAA The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has taken note of a publication on social media which suggests that a local air operator allegedly piloted an aircraft with passengers from Trinidad to Guyana without the relevant approval on Monday May 4, 2020. Director General of the GCAA, Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field, A.A. wishes to dismiss such rumors as false. Col. Field said that such reports could create mischief, panic and confusion during a time when our nation is battling a pandemic of unprecedented proportions. The Director General wishes to assure the citizens of Guyana that the Authority has in place strict protocols for aircraft arriving from other States recognizing the extent of the Coronavirus Pandemic in other parts [...]

The Airports Council International – Latin America and Caribbean (ACI-LAC), the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are urgently calling on the Argentine authorities to consider the imminent and substantial risks represented by Resolution 144/2020 (Passenger Transport Authorization), which restricts the operation of aviation in the country until September 1, 2020. This decision directly affects the future of the entire commercial aviation value chain in Argentina and the region, including domestic and international airlines, tourism and related sectors, putting at risk thousands of jobs. Also, Argentina’s connectivity with the world, as well as its domestic airline network which is vital for the transportation of essential supplies and the economic and social [...]

The aviation industry moves the world. Not just connecting people, but driving several industries through trade, tourism, employment and connectivity. In Latin America and the Caribbean only, the travel and tourism industry generates 18.9 million direct, indirect and induced jobs and contributes with 9.3% of the region’s GDP (WTTC data). It is a major source of economic and social well-being. The global economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 is generating that, for the first time since the 2008 crisis, the global GDP is negative, and one million people is losing their jobs daily in the travel and tourism industry worldwide (WTTC data). According to new IATA estimates, airlines will reach losses of US$252 billion in passenger traffic revenue in 2020 [...]