WORLD COUNCIL FOR AUTOMOBILE MOBILITY AND TOURISM MEETS IN PARIS TO DISCUSS FIA ACTIONS TO PROMOTE SAFE, CLEAN AND INCLUSIVE MOBILITY
Members of the World Council for Automobile Mobility and Tourism (WCAMT) met today at the FIA headquarters in Paris, and online, to review recent developments in the field of mobility and define new strategies for the future.
The WCAMT meeting started with a minute of silence in remembrance of FIA Vice President of Honour and OMDAI President José Abed and his commitment to the FIA Family.
Today’s meeting was then the occasion for the World Council to review the Strategic FIA Mobility Advocacy Framework entitled “Sustainable Mobility for All”. Elaborated by the FIA Mobility Division in consultation with the FIA Mobility Policy Commission, the Framework relies on four main pillars: safe, clean, inclusive, and smart mobility.
The document also identifies five FIA’s core responsibilities that will serve as a guide to develop initiatives: to build capacity; to foster knowledge sharing; to promote global programmes; to implement research; and to ensure stakeholder management.
The WCAMT members noted that the format of the Framework will be further developed and submitted to the next World Council meeting for final approval.
As a key topic of the Framework, and in line with the FIA Environment Strategy, the strong commitment for the FIA to be a key player in the transition towards a sustainable mobility future was reasserted by the WCAMT.
The WCAMT members heard about the interim report supported by the FIA Youth Mobility Working Group. Gathering several case studies and FIA Members’ existing experience in engaging with youth, this report also gives recommendations and guidelines to better engage and communicate with youngsters. It marks the completion of the first phase of the FIA Youth Strategy focused on “Mapping” and “Learnings” and opens the path for the roll out of the next phases relying on “Testing” and “Attracting and Retaining”. World Council members approved the launch of market research, with support from the FIA Foundation, and the establishment of the Youth Voice Group composed of young employees from FIA Clubs.
The WCAMT was also kept abreast of recent developments related to FIA Membership Services. Members were informed about the successful 11th edition of the FIA University Emerging Leaders programme that took place at ESADE Business School in Barcelona in May. They heard about the upcoming in-person programmes: the FIA University Senior Executive Programme that will take place in October at the Ivy League Columbia Business School in New York; the Region IV FIA University American Leaders Programme; and the Region II FIA University Programme. The FIA University also offers two online learning programmes: the eLearning programme with Coursera and the FIA University Experience-Sharing Working Groups.
The World Council was presented with the latest developments regarding the One Road programme. One Road is a global rewards programme aiming to harness the collective power of FIA Mobility Clubs to offer high-value benefits to their members and create new revenue streams. Once finalised, One Road will help FIA Mobility Clubs tackle membership acquisition and retention challenges by providing their members with access to unique global loyalty offerings. The World Council heard about the regular workshops that have been organised with FIA Members who are participating in the pilot — the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS), the Österreischischer Automobil- Motorrad- und Touring Club (ÖAMTC), the Automobile Club Association (ACA) and Koninklijke Nederlandse Toeristenbond (ANWB) — and the ongoing negotiations with International Business Partners to launch a pilot phase.
Another highlight of the meeting was the presentation on the Drone & Vertical Mobility Academy (DAVMA) launched in March 2022 by the Touring Club Switzerland’s Mobility Academy, in collaboration with the FIA. World Council members were informed about the development plan of the project that aims to position FIA Mobility Clubs as leaders in the emerging area of drone technology, urban air mobility and even personal airborne mobility. More specifically, the Drone & Vertical Mobility Academy intends to examine pioneering projects from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe over the next three years and develop them further to facilitate FIA Mobility Clubs’ entry into the vertical mobility ecosystem. The project will focus on drone innovations for transporting goods in the healthcare sector, the training of drone pilots, the promotion of social acceptance and sustainability, and also the integration of air-taxis into future multimodal transport systems.
The World Council also heard about the advances in the field of Travel and Tourism Services, and more specifically, the successful workshop on the Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPD) which was organised with the UNECE at the occasion of the 160th session of the UNECE Working Party on Customs Questions affecting Transport (WP.30). The workshop reached its goal to bring together contracting parties, interested countries and national associations to discuss current efforts to digitalise CPDs. Another success was the launch of VIAFIA 2.0 in May 2022. The WCAMT Members were informed about the new features of this updated version of the platform offering FIA Members an even smoother user experience and access to market data through an essential modern tourism information sharing tool. Discussions on Travel and Tourism Services concluded with an update on the work to create an FIA Tourism Services Commission. The dedicated working group met several times and identified four pillars that could serve as strategic priorities for the Commission: best practice sharing; development; monitoring and evaluation; and governance. The World Council will be presented with the proposal for Internal Regulations of the proposed Commission in a next meeting.
Presentations on the main findings and recommendations of the audits and reviews of the FIA financials, governance, and management were delivered to the WCAMT members. They approved the directions from these reviews concerning governance, commissions and structure, and the launch of detailed design work.
Following the voluntary retirement of Mrs. Irina Bokova, who was re-elected by the WCAMT as a member of the FIA Senate in December 2021, the WCAMT members elected Mr. Augustus Ferreria as a new member of the FIA Senate.
The next meeting of the WCAMT will take place in September.
