WTTC Global Summit to discuss how biometrics can increase travel safety

Mar 20, 2018, 6:03 pm EDT | Stephen Mayhew

Categories Biometrics News | Border and Port Security

WTTC Global Summit to discuss how biometrics can increase travel safety

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)’s 2018 Global Summit will take place next month in Buenos Aires where public and private sector industry leaders will meet and discuss sector concerns including how the use of technology such as biometrics can increase and facilitate traveler safety, and how to increase resilience in the face of crises such as pandemics, terrorism and natural disasters.

This year’s event, with the theme ‘Our People, Our World, Our Future’, is organized in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism of Argentina and the National Institute for Tourism Promotion (INPROTUR), the tourism agency of the city of Buenos Aires, the Argentine Chamber of Tourism.

“This year’s WTTC Global Summit will bring together CEOs, ministers and representatives of the highest level of international organizations around a very relevant program that will highlight the enormous opportunity that Travel & Tourism offers our world,” said Gloria Guevara Manzo, President and CEO of WTTC. “We will discuss and debate the challenges we face to turn this opportunity into reality, and develop practical actions to ensure that our sector is an agent of positive change in the world.”

Speakers will be leaders from the public and private sector, as well as academics and international organizations who will provide a vision of how to forge a common future for tourism. Among the speakers are Ministers from G20 countries, representatives from UNWTO and ICAO, and CEOs and leaders from companies including AirBnB, Abercrombie & Kent, Carnival Corporation, China Union Pay, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Deloitte & Touche, Dufry AG, Hilton, Hotelbeds Group, IBM, JTB Corp, Marriott International, Mastercard, McKinsey&Company, Thomas Cook Group, Travel Leaders Group, TUI Group, Value Retail, and Virtuoso.

According to Manzo the implementation of biometrics technology to facilitate secure borders is the single biggest opportunity for the travel and tourism sector in 2018. “Biometric technology has been evolving over many years and we have seen gradual implementation across the sector for some time. However, in order for the step change which needs to happen to improve security and create jobs through increased tourism flows, there is an urgent need to speed up implementation.”