Travel after Covid-19: Assessing the challenges and how to get back on track

Aspen UK

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the travel industry. International travel ground to a halt in 2020 as four-fifths of countries around the world closed their borders in an attempt to slow down the spread of the virus. The UN World Tourism Organisation estimates that international arrivals fell by 70-75% in 2020.

With border restrictions lifted across the EU and the UK, passenger travel is rapidly ramping up. Airlines and travel carriers are coping with a number of challenges, including increased demand, rising oil prices, staff shortages, flight cancellations, and transition to low-carbon.
This event brought together travel industry professionals, consumer advocacy experts, and policymakers to discuss how the EU and UK travel industries are coping with the post-COVID rebound in tourism and how we can better build resiliency for the future. We explored how travel providers can adapt to meet fast rising demand, scale up staffing, and deal with the impact of the war in Ukraine. We also discussed how to protect passengers in times of uncertainty and explore how travel between the EU and UK is changing.
What will it take for the travel industry to recover? What steps are airlines and airports taking to minimise the chaos? Can we safeguard against future shocks? How can we create better assurances for consumers protection?
This was recorded live on 24 October 2022.
Moderator:
Ben Clatworthy – Ben is the Transport and Travel Correspondent for The Times and The Sunday Times.
Panellists:
Rhea Chatterjee – Rhea is the Assistant Section Secretary to the Civil Aviation and Tourism Services Sections of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
Simon McNamara – Simon is the UK & Ireland Country Manager for the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Bob Schumacher – Bob is the Director of Sales (United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel Jordan, South Africa and Off-line markets) for United Airlines.
Pierpaolo Settembri – Pierpaolo is an EU official since 2007, currently working as Head of Unit for Coordination and Planning in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE).
Christopher Snelling – Christopher is Policy Director at Airport Operations Association (AOA)

Support the show