The experiences and strategies used in the prevention of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus were discussed in the online forum - “Anti-crisis measures and the development of tourism during the pandemic. Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus ”, held yesterday, 25 of February, in an online format.
The forum aimed to identify new cooperation ways that have not been explored so far, strengthen collaboration between business and public authorities, and coach tourism industry actors with good practices on pandemic crisis management COVID-19.
In his speech, the Director General of the Investment Agency, Rodica Verbeniuc, mentioned that the pandemic guided us, according to WHO and WTO requirements, to adjust the way we travel and visit tourist destinations in Moldova, once the borders are closed. "The Investment Agency, mandated to promote tourism, offered practical tools to travel agents for readjusting tourist offers and adjusting tourist packages according to local demand."
The instruments developed by the Agency are:
Carrying out a National Survey to find out Moldovans position towards local tourism https://neampornit.map.md/static/poll-result-ro.pdf, where over 2000 respondents from rural, urban and diaspora participated
Development of the national campaign #NeamPornit #protected - https://www.facebook.com/neampornit, where about 5000 local tourists participated
Creation of the digital tourist page NeamPornit - https://neampornit.map.md/, which includes over 600 tourist locations from all over the country with 19 entertainment categories: crafts, wineries, adventure, art, etc.
Organizing workshops for representatives of the tourism sector
Being the third largest export sector in the global economy, the tourism ecosystem is severely affected worldwide. "According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, the collapse of international travel is an estimated loss of $ 1.3 trillion in export earnings - 11 times the losses of the global economic crisis of 2009. The crisis has threatened between 100 and 120 million direct jobs in tourism industry, many of them in small and medium-sized enterprises, ”added the General Director of the Agency.
To be mentioned that on January 21, 2021, the National Association for Inbound Tourism, signed a Memorandum with the Hospitality Industry Association of Ukraine, on cooperation in tourism development and promotion. The document provides for strengthening cooperation and development of joint projects in the tourism sector in Ukraine and Moldova, but also facilitating collaboration between the public and private sectors to increase investment and improve the business environment in tourism.
The event was organized by the National Association for Inbound and Domestic Tourism of Moldova (ANTRIM) together with the Hospitality Industry Association of Ukraine.