UNWTO has launched, in cooperation with representatives of leading international, regional and national hotel associations, a Global Partnership for the Hotel Industry aimed to bring the industry together to share best practices and find common positions on issues such as hotel quality, distribution or major consumer trends.

The first meeting of the Partnership, held in Madrid, focused on the need to elaborate basic guidelines on hotel quality and on the importance of improving the relationship between the hotel industry and the diverse existing online distribution systems.

Participants also discussed the challenges currently facing the hotel industry in view of the global economic situation and how these could affect the short-term development of the hotel business.

Looking into the future of the Partnership, participating associations highlighted the relevance of establishing a forum to exchange experiences and best practices; conduct technical studies on subjects of common interest and issue recommendations and proposals for the benefit of the global industry.

The second meeting of the Global Partnership for the Hotel Industry will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, 3-5 April, 2013.

The meeting was attended by the International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), the European Trade Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafés (HOTREC), the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), the Egyptian Hotel Association (EHA), Federal Hospitality, the Association of South Africa (FEDHASA), the Federación Empresaria Hotelera Gastronómica de la República Argentina (FEHGRA), the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), and the Balkan Alliance of Hotel Associations (BAHA).

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.

Rut Gómez Sobrino
Principal Media Officer
(+34) 91 567 81 60
UN Tourism