Both Tui Group chief executive Fritz Joussen and Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), referenced avoiding the closure of borders during the UNWTO & WTM Ministers’ Summit at WTM London last week.

Joussen said: “The nationalistic tendencies we see in all our countries are part of the overstatement of the challenges of foreign cultures versus
the advantages of them.

“The closure of borders is something which is an anxious and very dangerous tendency, not only in the US, but you see it in Europe as well.” Rifai said that although 1.2 billion people will have travelled this year, and the sector continues to thrive, this is “against a backdrop of challenges”.

“We have to be on the right side of history when we deal with [geopolitical and other] issues," he said.

“Just think about what has been targeted by much of these forces of darkness – airports, beaches, hotels, gathering places. It is the infrastructure of our industry.

“These people know where it hurts. They are trying to hit us economically and politically.

“We should never allow these forces of darkness to isolate us from one another and build walls between one another, because that is exactly
what they want us to do.”