Council calls for visa application ease amid recovery of international tourism

Tourists disembark from a Cruise Ship Oceania at the port of Mombasa on December 26, 2022. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Julia Simpson, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), said the sector's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was well underway while urging governments to further ease visa application procedures.

Governments should work to ease visa restrictions and accelerate the process of visa applications in a bid to further support international tourism, suggested Simpson, who is also the council's president, on the sidelines of the 23rd WTTC Global Summit which took place in Rwanda's capital Kigali from Nov. 1-3.