Conferred to recognize individuals with visionary leadership and significant contribution to the tourism sector, the UNWTO Lifetime Achievement Award has been bestowed on the deceased Arthur Haulot, founder of the International Social Tourism Organization (ISTO/OITS), for his pioneer work in promoting social tourism and the right to tourism for all.

Born in Belgium in 1913, Arthur Haulot founded the International Social Tourism Organization (ISTO/OITS) in Belgium in 1963. The Organization regrouped 170 active organizations in 35 countries in the Americas, Europe and Africa. The ISTO/OITS is currently an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote access to leisure, holidays and tourism for all.

Mr Haulot was also President of the International Union of Official Travel ‎Organisations (IUOTO), precursor of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Mr Haulot was instrumental in the foundation of the European Travel Commission (1946), the first Regional ‎Commission within IUOTO, where he became chairman and played a key role in the granting of United Nations (UN) consultative status to IUOTO in 1948 and the designation by the UN of 1967 as the International Year of Tourism. In 1973, he founded the International Bureau of Social Tourism and became its Secretary General until 1988.

Honorary doctorate from the Free University of Brussels, Mr Haulot was a writer, a poet and the founder of the Biennale de Poésie de Liege. Arthur Haulot was also the director of 'Journal of Poets' and the president of the International House of Poetry. He was a member of the Socialist Party, established the basis of the National Youth Council and a respected Minister of Tourism, and one of the pioneers for ensuring the rights to tourism for all, social tourism.

Mr Haulot dedicated his life to tourism – in 1938 he was appointed as inspector at the National Holiday Office workers and later in 1939 as Commissioner General for Tourism (equivalent to Minister of Tourism in Belgium), a post he held for thirty-three years.

Mr Haulot passed away on May 25, 2005. The Award will be presented to his family during the UNWTO Awards Ceremony on 20th January 2016 in the framework of the Spanish Tourism Fair FITUR.

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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.

Rut Gómez Sobrino
Principal Media Officer
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UN Tourism