The Conference organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Government of Jamaica, the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank aims to set a new collaborative framework for tourism moving towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. An official event of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, the event gathers 1500 participants and over 150 speakers in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Under the theme "Jobs and Inclusive Growth - Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism", the event was opened by thePrime Minister of Jamaica, H.E. Andrew Michael Holness and included special addresses from H.E. President Danilo Medina of the Dominican Republic and H.E. Prime Minister Allen Chastanet of Saint Lucia.

The Conference aims to set a global agenda of partnerships for tourism in view of the 2030 Agenda and advance the contribution of the sector to the Sustainable Development Goals, specially SDG 8 on economic growth and jobs and SDG 17 on partnerships for the Goals.

During two days, sessions will be looking into partnership models in such areas as investment, infrastructure, international aid and development finance, human capital, social inclusiveness, climate change, resource efficiency, education and destination management.

"With growth comes power, and with power, comes responsibility. With 1.8 billion travelers forecasted for 2030, this growth can and should, when well-managed, translate into opportunities for inclusive economic growth, for more and better jobs, decent jobs, to distribute wealth and share prosperity, to better know and respect each other and protect our natural and cultural heritage" said UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai, opening theevent.

"We must pivot our tourism growth strategies in line with the key areas that the United Nation's International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development promotes: inclusive and sustainable growth;social inclusiveness, employment and poverty reduction; resource efficiency, environmental protection and climate change; cultural values, diversity and heritage; mutual understanding, peace and security" said the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Michael Holness.

The Minister of Tourism of Jamaica, Edmund Bartlett, recalled that more than 40% of the GDP in the Caribbean relies on tourism and that "sustainability in tourism is to our own survival". He stressed that "global tourism has been identified as one of the catalysts to promote sustainable development".

The Conference was preceded by a one day session on the future of tourism in the Caribbean with a strong message of "the Caribbean is open for business" following the recent hurricanes Irma and Maria. The current challenges and risk affecting Caribbean destinations, namely natural disasters, the need to build resilience and promote multi-destination travel were at the heart of discussions.

The event is organized in collaboration with Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHTA), Chemonics International, a leading international development firm, the George Washington University and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

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