Aruba trials digital passport screening with SITA tech
Aviation tech provider SITA and Aruba have showcased successful implementation of verifiable digital credential tech for passport screening.
It eliminates the need for passengers to show their physical passport when arriving on the island.
Speaking together at the ICAO TRIP conference in Montreal, Jeremy Springall, SVP of SITA AT BORDERS, and Andrew Hoo, Aruba Director of Immigration highlighted the development of digital travel credentials.
It enables passengers to securely create a digital version of their physical passport on their mobile device in line with ICAO standards.
Following trials using a DTC developed by SITA and partner Indicio, the Government of Aruba hopes to permanently roll out digital identity to verify visitors arriving on the island.
It would make it one of the first countries to do so.
In March, they showed that passengers arriving could apply for their travel authorization using a simplified process.
This eliminates the need to manually enter information from paper travel documents.
Using a DTC, passengers can consent to share any of their relevant data directly from their digital wallet on their mobile device to multiple entities.
These include at the port of entry to other touchpoints such as hotels or car rental.
Hoo said Aruba is committed to realizing a seamless traveler experience by supporting further expansion and adoption in the upcoming months.
Hoo said: “As an island where tourism is fundamental to our economy, we want to make the immigration process as easy as possible for passengers.”
“We now have a way to make entering the country as easy as scanning your face while meeting our security needs. “
“This is just the start of our digital transformation journey.”
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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