Geneva - Tourism's unique potential as a tool for driving the global sustainable development agenda has taken center stage at a special event hosted by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The session, entitled "Tourism Financing for the 2030 Agenda" was held during the 2019 Global Review of Aid for Trade at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO). UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili began the discussions by highlighting the key role that the global tourism sector plays in economic growth and job creation.

Ministers, development partners and financing institutions need to better understand and recognize how tourism can contribute to the 2030 Sustainable Agenda. Tourism is explicitly mentioned as a target in three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (8, 12 and 14), though, as speakers at the Geneva session noted, for the sector to really realize its enormous potential, the amount of aid and development financing directed towards tourism needs to be increased significantly. Unlocking Tourism's potential for realizing the 2030 Agenda requires a combination of effective and robust policy frameworks, enhanced private sector action, and an innovative approach to partnerships for development cooperation.

"This is an important time for both the tourism and the international development sectors," said Mr. Pololikashvili.
"Strengthening and unlocking aid flows for tourism will help the sector be a driver of job creation, as well as of social and economic development and economic diversity. UNWTO welcomes the opportunity to join ministers, tourism leaders and our partners for these important talks here in Geneva. Working together we can harness the power of the new aid architecture and ensure that nobody gets left behind as tourism transforms lives around the world."

Also joining Mr Pololikashvili for the session were Ms. Arancha González, Executive Director, International Trade Centre (ITC), H.E Dr. Rania Al- Mashat, Minister of Tourism, The Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Toshiyuki Nakamura, Director General, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Ms. Caroline Freund, Director of Trade, Regional Integration and Investment Climate, World Bank.

Useful Links

Aid for Trade Global Review 2019: "Supporting Economic Diversification and Empowerment."

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.

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