Baku, Azerbaijan,The United States of America has highlighted its support of tourism as a driver of sustainable development. A high-level delegation of the Government attending the World Tourism Organization Executive Council announced that the US is exploring the possibility of re-joining the UN agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and accessible tourism.

The 110th Session of the UNWTO Executive Council is meeting this week in Baku, Azerbaijan, with Member States joined by representatives from the public and private sectors. In a move that has been widely welcomed as a sign of the United States' commitment to UNWTO's mandate, the country accepted the personal invitation of Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili to join the talks. Emma Doyle, Principal Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of the United States, announced before the Council that "the United States is exploring the possibility of re-joining the World Tourism Organization", and noted that her country looks forward to working with UNWTO "to encourage tourism around the world."

Quoting President Trump, she said that "America First does not mean America alone", and added: "We believe that there is tremendous potential for UNWTO, with its focus on job creation and education, to be a beacon of innovation for other international organizations."

Ms. Doyle headed the US delegation to the UNWTO Executive Council together with Ambassador Kevin E. Moley, Assistant US Secretary of State.

A founding member of UNWTO, the United States is currently one of the world's biggest tourism markets, both as a destination and as a source of international tourists. In 2018, the country welcomed more than 60 million tourists and, according to the most recent UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, the tourism sector grew by 7% over the first quarter of 2019, compared to the same period last year.

UNWTO members welcomed the presence of the United States at the meeting in Baku as recognition of tourism's growing relevance to global economic growth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as an endorsement of UNWTO's leadership.

The 110th Session of the Executive Council comes as UNWTO is undergoing a period of significant restructuring and streamlining. Key priorities of Secretary-General Pololikashvili include closer alignment with the wider United Nations system, financial sustainability and a focus on the role innovation, digital transformation and entrepreneurship can play in the global tourism sector.

About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.