Speaking

Founder and CEO Aradhana Khowala speaks about the importance of a diversity and inclusion agenda for the travel and tourism sector.

Aptamind CEO moderates WTFL panel about Sri Lanka's horrific attack in 2019 and the impact of disasters to destinations and the travel and tourism sector.

Aradhana Khowala, Board Member and Steering Committee of WTFL on the new normal in tourism

In our discussion with Aradhana Khowali,, CEO Aptamind Partners was asked about the recruitment and retaining of future leaders in the hotel industry. The entire episode is available on Hospitality Talks episode, ¨What are the Global Tourism Recovery Trends & Challenges ¨. #shorts

Over the last decade, the Asia-Pacific region has been a driver of Travel & Tourism growth, accounting for 33% of total outbound Travel & Tourism spend in 2019. This growth was put to a sudden halt due to COVID-19, resulting in prolonged international border closures and the loss of over 34 million Travel & Tourism jobs in Asia-Pacific in 2020. As the region first affected by the pandemic, the sector has had to remain agile in its crisis response but rigid in its dedication to maintaining public health, business continuity and jobs. What lessons can the Asia-Pacific region share with the world and what must be done to once again become a driver of Travel & Tourism growth? SPEAKERS: Pansy Ho, Co-Chairperson and an Executive Director, MGM China Holdings Limited Tadashi Fujita, Director, @japanairlinesworld James Liang, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, @TripOfficial Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Secretary of Tourism of the Philippines / @TourismPhilippines Puneet Chhatwal, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Indian Hotels Company Moderated by: Aradhana Khowala, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Aptamind Partners WTTC Global Summit 2021 Cancun wttc.org/Global-Summit #WTTCSummit​ #GSCancun​ #WTTC​ #GS2021​ #TravelAndTourism​ Copyright © World Travel & Tourism Council. Any reproduction without World Travel & Tourism Council's written consent or illegal distribution of the content in any form will result in immediate action against the person/companies concerned.

The private sector cannot accelerate recovery and bring back 100 million jobs alone; public-private collaboration is essential. Key principles from international coordination to reopen borders and aligning health & hygiene standards to the implementation of international testing protocols and the promotion of travel; must be adopted. As the sector works hand in hand to achieve full recovery, what learnings have been gained and what more needs to be done to achieve full recovery? SPEAKERS: Craig Smith, Group President, International, @MarriottIntl Luís Araújo, President, Portugal Tourism Board and European Travel Commission Isabel Hill, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director, National Travel and Tourism Office; U.S. Department of Commerce Gilson Machado Neto, Minister of Tourism of Brazil Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Director General, @AirportsCouncilInternational Moderated by: Aradhana Khowala, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Aptamind Partners WTTC Global Summit 2021 Cancun wttc.org/Global-Summit #WTTCSummit​ #GSCancun​ #WTTC​ #GS2021​ #TravelAndTourism​ #100MillionJobs Copyright © World Travel & Tourism Council. Any reproduction without World Travel & Tourism Council's written consent or illegal distribution of the content in any form will result in immediate action against the person/companies concerned.

Responsible recovery of the travel and tourism sector after the Covid-19 crisis should be seen in the context of three overriding challenges facing humanity: Achieving net zero emissions / carbon neutrality by 2050; ensuring no more species loss after 2030, and decisively addressing growing inequality / inequity in society. In our coupled human-environment system, these three intertwined challenges cut across the SDGs and responsible tourism recovery can help to make the system more resilient. As we reset and rebuild in a more equitable way in a post-Covid world, the travel and tourism sector - which represented 10.3% of global GDP and one in every 10 jobs on the planet before the pandemic hit - should be at the forefront of building a new world order. Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history. Around one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. The accelerating rate of species loss, combined with the rapid loss of nature's material and non-material contributions to people’s livelihoods, render this crisis at least as pressing a global priority as climate change and health pandemics. The relationship between nature and societies finds expression in different ways. One way is through tourism. At the nexus between biodiversity and tourism we find local communities, who simultaneously benefit from nature-based tourism and are at the forefront of conservation and protection. We need to find integrated solutions at a global level (a key lesson from Covid-19 crisis!) and cannot afford to address climate, biodiversity and poverty in silos. Tourism is heavily dependent on eco-system services such as food, water and energy; while also acting as an effective eco-system service in itself. Nature-based destinations accounted for 50% of all touristic trips in 2018. Tourism is an important source of service exports, disproportionately so for developing countries. Properly managed tourism benefits local communities, supports employment and boosts economic development in a way that disincentives unsustainable alternatives. Tourism revenues encourage communities to protect key wildlife populations and habitats. Its growth should / can enhance rather than degrade biodiversity. And it should / can educate visitors about biodiversity values and habitats. Responsible tourism is also an important source of revenue for the conservation of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, species and protected areas. Biodiversity furthermore has a critical role in achieving a carbon neutral world. At the same time, tourism economies will be disrupted due to accelerating biodiversity loss. Some negatives on tourism’s ‘biodiversity balance sheet’ include the illegal trade in wildlife products (noting that tourism also provides a bulwark against poaching in conservation areas), the spread of alien and invasive species, pressure on habitats due to poorly planned developments and land use, over-exploitation, waste disposal and pollution. THE BIG IDEA WTFL and WTM believe that true stewardship is not only be about zero impact or mitigating impact, but rather about having a positive impact – economic, social and ecological. WTFL has been collecting innovative ‘stories’ from the travel and tourism sector focused on both green shoots and established best practice in respect of tourism, biodiversity and eco-system services. Some of these innovative and inspiring concepts will be shared during WTM London, WTM Latin America, WTM Africa and Arabian Travel Market.Regenerative tourism, new standards and new metrics