Freedom via easier access to visas urged

Policy debates worldwide increasingly reflect the need for economic growth and job creation. With global unemployment of 200 million and 40 million people expected to enter the labour force every year, 600 million jobs will need to be created over the next decade. 

There’s no single solution for accomplishing such a daunting task, but the contributions of the travel and tourism industry are too often overlooked in the debate over creating jobs. 

While conventional sources for jobs get most attention, a joint study by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) reveals that the travel and tourism industry employs 98 million people, more than the auto-manufacturing, communications, mining or financial industries. Additionally, the study shows that the economic impact of the travel and tourism industry last year was US$6.3 trillion (more than Bt197 trillion), or 9.1 per cent of the global gross domestic product. 

Travel and tourism is one sector in which growth does not require significant new government investment. It can be facilitated simply by removing bureaucratic restrictions that are already in place, in particular antiquated processes by which most states issue visas to foreign visitors. Long waiting periods, lack of consular offices and excessive documentation requirements discourage travel, restricting visitor spending as well as the jobs and growth it generates. Modernising and simplifying visa applications and approval processes, and introducing new technology such as e-visas, would go a long way to maximising travel and tourism’s pay-off to local economies. 

Over the past year, the World Economic Forum’s Aviation, Travel and Tourism Council has been working to promote e-visas worldwide. The council has produced a “Call to Action” manifesto that highlights the opportunities that e-visas provide, and has made key recommendations to improve existing visa policies as a bridge towards a liberalised e-visa regime. Through these efforts, and in conjunction with the WTTC/UNWTO study, the council hopes to persuade leaders in Southeast Asia and other regions of the world of the economic benefits of modernised visa programmes.

The good news is that some Southeast Asian nations have already identified collaboration and improved technology as two of the most important means of updating their visa programmes and expanding the travel and tourism sector. Thailand and Cambodia began offering a combined tourist visa this past February, with plans to expand the programme to include Vietnam and Laos by the end of the year. 

Such cooperation among neighbouring states makes travel more convenient and more attractive to potential visitors. At their January meeting, the Asean Tourism Ministers set an even higher bar for regional collaboration by pledging their support for an Asean common visa, with the hopes of having a plan ready for consideration by the 2015 Asean Summit. We applaud this effort. A common visa for the 10 Asean countries will likely have economically beneficial effects, similar to those experienced by the European states in the Schengen visa programme.

With respect to technology, this region already has experience with accepting visa applications online. Cambodia has e-visa facilities and Myanmar unveiled its own e-visa in March. A region-wide e-visa system would definitely help Southeast Asia stand out as a tourist destination. 

 

Written on behalf of the Global Agenda Council on Aviation, Travel and Tourism by Brian Havel, professor of law at De Paul University, Chicago, and member of the Global Agenda Council on Aviation, Travel and Tourism, World Economic Forum.