PERTH, Australia – While most people may be familiar with megabrands like Marriott and Delta, 80% of the global travel and tourism sector is made up of small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs.

Citing this figure, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) at its Global Summit launched an initiative called “Together in Travel” to provide support and resources to these businesses, and to demonstrate to legislators the full scale of the travel industry.

Membership in Together in Travel is free and gives subscribers access to content such as tips on social media, networking opportunities and educational programs. Next year, the initiative will introduce paid subscription options with enhanced features and benefits (the platform does not provide WTTC membership).

Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch, WTTC’s vice chairman of membership and the driving force behind Together in Travel, said the motivating factor for the program is that it gives the travel industry more influence.

“If we show up at Parliament or City Hall or wherever, it’s one thing for you to say, ‘We’re WTTC,’” he said. “But if you go to a government office and say, ‘By the way, within your borders or within your city we also represent 1,200 small businesses,’ frankly, that’s a political and moral advantage.”

For Together in Travel SME members, Upchurch says the three most important things the initiative provides are pride, inspiration and access to practical tools.

An example of such tools, he said, are the country-by-country economic impact reports that WTTC produces in partnership with Oxford Economics.

“In the hands of a small business, this could be an attachment to an investment bank loan document,” Upchurch said.

Another example is this month’s WTTC report on Indigenous travel. Upchurch said the study “could provide amazing information showing that this is a real trend with real money behind it.”

He added: “We don’t need to tell (SMEs) how to run a DMC or how to run a boutique hotel. We need to help present the bigger picture.”

We are proud of our business

Pride is paramount to the project, Upchurch said. “If we achieve one goal, every travel business will have to say: ‘I’m not just a hotel owner, I’m not just a person from the cruise industry or anything like that, but I’m a proud member of the global travel and tourism industry, which is one of the 10 jobs, etc., etc., because simply repeating these basic statistics provides an important boost.”

Inspiration will come from each other, as well as from larger companies and leading industry figures, Upchurch said. He hoped that WTTC members would help SMEs by sharing their knowledge.

He cited Intrepid Travel’s work on animal welfare in tourism as an example of a topic SMEs could learn from.

“If you are going to develop an animal tourism enterprise, what mechanisms are most important to ensure that it is ethical? Or it could be measuring sustainability or staffing,” he said. “The idea is for many of the WTTC members to start offering things that they develop for themselves and make them open and accessible to small and medium-sized businesses.”

During the summit, Ryan Mossney, co-founder of Perth-based Matagarup Zip+Climb, became the first member of Together in Travel.

“For small businesses, accessing the vital resources and industry connections needed to thrive in the tourism sector can be challenging,” he said. “WTTC’s new initiative comes at the perfect time.

“With personalized support, we will be able to directly address our problem areas, allowing us to not only survive, but thrive in an increasingly competitive market.”