The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is to work with California-based Eightfold.ai to help connect tourism jobseekers with employers and so drive the global recovery of the sector.

The new partnership will see UNWTO harness the power of the Eightfold Talent Exchange, a marketplace connecting workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with available jobs. Using advanced deep-learning AI, the Exchange matches people to the right jobs in companies that are hiring, creating a bridge between those looking for a job and organizations that need to hire quickly.

All 159 UNWTO Member States, as well as the more-than-500 Affiliate Members will benefit from direct access to the platform. They will also be able to offer Talent Exchange to workers who have lost their tourism-related jobs due to COVID-19. At the same time, workers can sign up to find available jobs that make use of their skills and experience. Members that have hiring needs also can sign up to post jobs and find talent who can do the job immediately.

Connecting employers with tourism talent

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili says: "The COVID-19 pandemic has hot the global tourism sector hard, and up to 120 million jobs are at risk. However, tourism has a long history of adapting and embracing innovation. This partnership will be a great help to the many millions of people who are dependent on tourism for their livelihoods, while also connecting employers with the very best talent our sector has to offer."

Kamal Ahluwalia, President of Eightfold.ai, added: "With Eightfold Talent Exchange, we're providing all members of UNWTO with a platform that can unite Members over a shared goal: getting individuals who have lost their jobs back to work. The AI powering the Exchange understands the capabilities of each person: both the skills that they have from their work experience, and the skills that they could easily learn."

For more information on Eightfold Talent Exchange and for a list of participating organizations, please visit Eightfold Talent Exchange website.

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.

UN Tourism Communications Department
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UN Tourism