WTTC CEO calls for a more sustainable world

Young woman hiking in the Zhangjiajie National Forest park, makes a heart shape finger frame. Love nature wanderlust sharing concept.

“Is it Too Much to Ask?”

That was the opening line of the David Scowsill, President & CEO, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) speech, at the WTTC Global Summit in Bangkok this week.

Scowsill urged over 900 leading figures from the public and private sector to stand up and make a real difference, to think about how we can be ‘Transforming our World’.

Scowsill called on the sector to lead the world in the “eradication of poverty, cleaning up the oceans, and protecting habitats”.

Travel & Tourism stimulates the economy by generating over USD$7.6 trillion globally, supporting over 292 million jobs, which is now 1 in 10 jobs worldwide. The sector has grown faster that the global economy consistently in the last six years.

Highlighted as a specific driver of three of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, business and leisure travel will help shape the global agenda for the next 15 years.

“We are now seeing the recalibration of global politics, it is becoming clearer that the economic growth we have enjoyed over the past half century, and the globalization that has driven it, is not working for everyone. Governments are calling into question some of the basic freedoms of people movement and trade, upon which all our businesses so depend,” Scowsill said.

Scowsill continued that in the face of terrorism and natural disasters, Travel & Tourism has continued to show resilience as people continue to move around the world:

“The fear engendered by dividing us into races or religions destroys the notion that each human being is unique. I believe wholeheartedly that closed borders lead to closed minds; that travel makes the world a better, more peaceful place, and that human encounters across cultures change us for the better.”

Travel is not for a privileged few. The world and its astonishing beauties are for everyone. We believe in the fundamental right of anyone to travel, regardless of their nationality, gender, religion, sexual orientation or age. Our sector must be accessible to all.”

“This sector plays a vital part in the global quest for a more equal, inclusive and sustainable world. For our sector to continue to thrive we must focus on three elements; people need to be able to travel; we need successful businesses; and we need responsible practices,” Scowsill concluded.

Watch the WTTC Global Summit which is livestreamed on www.wttc.org/livestream

Latest News

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]