by Donald Wood
Last updated: 3:30 PM ET, Tue September 8, 2020
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) announced plans to safely international business travel and offset some of the damage caused by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak by restoring air corridors between the world's top financial centers.
The WTTC's pilot program between London and New York will involve at least two rounds of airport-based COVID-19 testing, which health officials claim could be as much as 80 percent successful in identifying passengers with the virus.
Data shows that international business travel accounts for more than $272 billion in the United Kingdom, with many airlines and hotels relying heavily on frequent flying business travelers.
While the restoration of international business travel could benefit the entire tourism industry, it can only reopen when governments take a targeted approach and abandon the country-wide quarantines which have a devastating economic impact.
"Flights must be restored along 'city corridors' linking cities with similar low COVID-19 case numbers, such as between London and New York, Washington, Paris, Frankfurt, Dubai, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Shanghai," WTTC President Gloria Guevara said.
"We need a concerted international framework at the highest level to introduce comprehensive, rapid and cost-effective testing at airports, with a worldwide accepted standard of contact tracing and widespread use of face masks," Guevara continued.
In July, business travel companies and insiders began working together to create consistent meeting standards, separate itself from other kinds of mass gatherings and encourage governments toward appropriate policies.
In addition, Hilton hotels announced a new cleanliness and customer service program designed for meetings and events.
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