Travel Stakeholders want ‘One Caribbean COVID Protocol’ | New York Carib News

Stakeholders in the travel industry are asking for a medical wallet that fits the region and ‘One Caribbean COVID Protocol’.

American Airlines vice-president for Latin America, Caribbean, and Florida, Christine Valls, says as travel and booking agents have been preoccupied deciphering and validating the different COVID-travel requirements for the various countries in the region.

Valls added that travelers are coming from a diverse group of destinations, and by standardizing travel requirements for all Caribbean countries, clients would be more inclined to make the region their first choice.

One of the proposed solutions is for the use of a digital medical wallet, which should allow a smooth flow of passengers, preventing them from missing flights, while trying to decipher requirements.

Jamaica is one of the most important destinations for American Airlines and comes December when some 15 flights per day will be operated into the island, the need for some type of standardization, in relation to testing protocols, would be of great benefit to the carrier.

Valls said, at present, discussions in this regard were ongoing with Jamaica’s tourism and health ministers, as well as Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States Audrey Marks.

According to the airline executive, a uniformed Caribbean COVID protocol would also reduce the bottleneck now being experienced by passengers who land at the Sangster International Airport, where Health Ministry staff and soldiers have been working.

Shane Munroe, MBJ Airports Limited’s chief executive officer, agrees that Jamaica must be prepared to engage in bi-lateral arrangements with its largest markets, the US, the UK, and Canada in relation to safety requirements for seamless and barrier-free travel.

“If we do not make the entry requirements as seamless as possible, try to move as many people as we can, then we are going to restrict the growth in travel,” he said.

He argued, “Aviation works based on global standards. For some reason, it is absent in this crisis right now, but even after 9-11, what brought back travel was global standards that worked regardless of the state, regardless of the country. And so, those consistent measures restored confidence … And that’s what’s needed now.”