As an international tourism network, ISTO supports its members by challenging institutions, encouraging exchanges and preparing for the post-crisis period.
As the pandemic continues to spread globally, with more than 155 countries currently affected, the priority is the protection and health of people and all civil society can only be encouraged to respect the measures adopted by governments.
The tourism sector, as we know, is and will be strongly affected by this crisis. According to an estimate by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), 50 million jobs are at risk.
This is why exceptional measures are being called for from governments and institutions (European Union, United Nations agencies, etc.) in order to help those involved in tourism, 80% of whom are small and medium-sized enterprises.
ISTO joins initiatives to challenge institutions. This has just been done with a collective aimed at raising awareness among European institutions and could be done with other structures in other regions of the world, particularly in Latin America and West Africa where we also have several members.
ISTO also promotes the exchange of information between member organizations. Thus, a call has been launched for you to share information on your experiences, practices, measures implemented and impacts of this crisis. We strongly invite you to share the information you have on the forum of this website or to communicate it directly to us.
ISTO continues its actions to strengthen the visibility of its members. Whether in the framework of the 1st edition of the International Week of Fair and Sustainable Tourism for All that we are organizing or through new opportunities that will be created, we will do everything possible to strengthen your visibility and our positioning in favour of more responsible tourism.
Finally, ISTO would like to express to you all its solidarity through this unprecedented crisis. The coming days, weeks and months will be difficult for everyone, but we are convinced that the principles of solidarity that are at the heart of our mission and our actions will guide us despite an uncertain future.
