GENERATION C: Wary post-COVID travellers get a name

Jamaica tourism minister Edmund Bartlett

Move over millennials, the travel industry will soon have to cater to “Generation C” – a new generation of post-pandemic travellers who will expect to travel with assurances that their journeys and destinations will be safe.

The term was linked to future travellers by Jamaican tourism minister Edmund Bartlett during a recent keynote address to the UK Chapter of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

Previously Gen C has been used to describe the “YouTube” generation – though not by age, but rather as a force in consumer culture that cares deeply about “creation, curation, connection, and community.”

Bartlett agrees that Gen C travellers will also be intergenerational and “ageless.”

And when it comes to travel, they will be “unsettled by the crisis they have lived through this year, they will need reassurance and evidence that their experience overseas will enhance their lives, (and) not put themselves or their loved ones at risk,” he says.

As such, Bartlett stated, “We are working hard to create new protocols for our industry to be implemented as soon as we can safely welcome visitors back. We as an island and as part of the global tourism industry need to adapt swiftly to the requirements of this new type of traveller post pandemic.”

Among the new measures that will have to be “tackled” will include sanitation and hygiene requirements, and – at least in the Caribbean – protocols for behaviour at swimming pools, beaches and restaurants, according to Bartlett.

Portugal

Already, some destinations are ahead of the curve. Turismo de Portugal, for example, has created a stamp of approval that distinguishes tourist activities that are compliant with hygiene and cleaning requirements for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and other possible infections.

Intended to reinforce tourists’ confidence in the safety of the destination, the validation is free and optional and is valid for one year and requires the implementation of an internal protocol for companies that, according to the recommendations of Portugal’s public health agency, ensures the necessary hygiene measures are in place to avoid risks of contagion and a guarantee of safe procedures for the operation of tourist activities.

Once approved, companies may promote the “Clean & Safe” stamp, either physically on their premises or on their digital platforms, and will be subject by random audits by Turismo de Portugal.

With this measure, the national tourist authority intends to inform companies on the minimum hygiene requirements and cleaning measures to ensure the safety of various establishments, but to also promote Portugal as a safe destination.

In order to respond to new sensitivities of the Gen C travellers, Jamaica’s Bartlett says such measures will “without a doubt become the new norm.”