Source: UN Tourism

The Republic of Indonesia has become the first signatory of the Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics, the landmark instrument created to ensure global tourism is fair, inclusive, more transparent, and works for everyone.

The ceremony, hosted by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Madrid, is a significant step towards the ratification of the Convention, which was adopted during the 23rd meeting of the UNWTO General Assembly in September 2019. With the sector currently facing up to the biggest crisis in its history, today's signing was a clear sign that Member States are looking to UNWTO for firm leadership and remain committed to its mission to use this pause as an opportunity to realign tourism.

The Convention was hailed as a "big step forward" towards introducing a universal, legally binding ethical code for tourism, one of the world's most important socio-economic sectors. In a special ceremony attended by the country's Ambassador to Spain Bapak Hermono and hosted at the UNWTO headquarters, Indonesia became the first country to sign, signalling its strong commitment to uphold the highest ethical principles as it expands its tourism sector.

Indonesia played an important role in the drafting of the Convention as part of the Committee that converted the Global Code of Ethics in Tourism into an international legally binding instrument. A Member State since 1975, it is currently working with UNWTO to restart tourism in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, in September 2020, UNWTO conducted a virtual meeting with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and the Regional Government of Bali to explore solutions for the safe reopening of Bali to international visitors. In this regard, technical assistance from UNWTO will be provided in due course.

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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