Source: UN Photo / Loey Felipe

Organized by the President of the General Assembly in collaboration with UN Tourism, the event was held at the UN Headquarters within the framework of Sustainability Week. The presence of Member States, Observers, civil society organizations, and UN agencies reflected a growing collective commitment to harnessing the transformative power of tourism for inclusive and sustainable development.

Addressing the General Assembly, UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: The growing significance of the tourism sector for our societies and our economies brings with it extra responsibility. We cannot allow the lifeline of tourism to be cut again. Resilience in the tourism is not just a matter of planning or reacting to crises. It is also about proactively addressing the underlying factors of those crises. Unsustainable consumption is leading to biodiversity loss, climate change and the emergence of pandemics. It's vital that we adopt policies that accelerate transformative change.

The President of the General Assembly, His Excellency Dennis Francis, said: "We need a global tourism sector that is sustainable – one with deep local value chains that expand demand for locally made products and services in ways that also directly and positively benefit local communities; a sector that serves as a positive force for biodiversity conservation, heritage protection and climate friendly livelihoods."

High-level platform for statistics-led strategy

The thematic event provided a platform for Member States to share best practices, strategies, and innovative approaches to promote sustainable and resilient tourism, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Key highlights included:

  • Fireside Chat: The Future of Tourism - Leaders from the tourism industry, academia, and civil society engaged in a dynamic discussion on the future of tourism and the need for innovative solutions to address emerging challenges and opportunities.
  • Ministerial Roundtables: Discussions were held on the launch of the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism and strategies for fostering resilient tourism in the face of global challenges. Ministers and high-level officials shared insights and commitments to advance sustainable tourism practices and policies.

In closing, the President of the General Assembly reiterated the importance of collaboration and partnership to address the complex challenges facing the tourism sector and reaffirmed the UN's commitment to supporting sustainable tourism as a catalyst for positive change.

In February, the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution to declare 2027 as the International Year of Sustainable and Resilient Tourism. The resolution invites UN Tourism to work with Governments, UN agencies and international organizations to on the implementation of the themed year.

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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.

UN Tourism Communications Department
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