The integration of national security with tourism security, crisis communication and travel advisories were some of the key issues discussed at the 1st Meeting of the High Level Task Force on Tourism and Security, organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) today in Madrid. The event took place ahead of the 105th UNWTO Executive Council meeting to be held in Madrid, home of the UNWTO Headquarters, on 11 and 12 May.

The Task Force Meeting gathered representatives from UNWTO Member States, UN organizations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and private sector entities such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry (BTW) and the Association of British Travel Agencies (ABTA).

"The Task Force was established by the UNWTO Executive Council to help us reinforce our action and cooperation towards safer, more secure and yet more seamless travel," recalled UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, opening the meeting.

Actions such as joint police work between Spain and source markets for specific events or times of the year, tourism training for security forces in Jamaica, the tourism and security task force in Kenya, and the experience of the tourism police in Thailand were some of the cases shared during the meeting by UNWTO Member States.

Also on the table were issues of public and private sector cooperation in operational crisis management and communications, and the tourism sector addressing possible tightening of security measures.

The work of the Task Force will focus on five key issues: 1) the integration between tourism and security; 2) support to the sector in setting crisis management plans and protocols; 3) travel advisories; 4) safe, secure and seamless travel including visa facilitation; and 5) crisis communications.

These areas will be addressed by specific working groups tasked with developing recommendations and guidelines to be presented at the UNWTO General Assembly.

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