Tourism leaders from 18 countries met for the 14th annual UNWTO Asia-Pacific Executive Training Programme. In line with UNWTO's Year of Tourism and Rural Development, the three-day programme focused on sharing knowledge and good practice relating to harnessing the power of the sector to create opportunities for all outside of big cities.

Since 2006, UNWTO has organized the special training session with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea. This Executive Training Programme is the only initiative of its kind in the region and is renowned for its stimulating content and thought-provoking discussions. Participants are able to design and formulate policies and programmes in their respective destinations to further stimulate tourism growth and enable the sector to be a viable force for good.

This 14th session, held virtually between 15-17 December, welcomed 37 participants from 18 different countries. The event was opened by Mr. Harry Hwang, Director for the Regional Department of Asia and the Pacific, followed by pre-recorded congratulatory remarks from both UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, and Vice-Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Ms. Youn-he Choi.

Among the topics addressed were governance and community development for enhanced rural development, and product development and commercialization of tourism experiences in rural areas. Also, and in line with UNWTO's wider focus on innovation as a means of driving recovery, participants explored ideas relating to the digital transformation of tourism, including the potential to create new education and work opportunities. Furthermore, a special feature of this year's edition of the Training Programme was a Special Session on Restarting International Tourism which presented successful case studies China, Greece, The Maldives, Portugal and the Republic of Korea.

Finally, recognizing the unprecedented impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on global tourism, the training programme aimed to facilitate the sharing of good practices for the recovery of tourism with practical examples from the region and beyond. The Minister of Tourism of the Maldives, H.E. Dr. Abdulla Mausoom, presented encouraging numbers of international tourists in the Maldives, with over 35,759 international arrivals in November compared to 1,752 in July when the country started to reopen its borders. This was all thanks to the successful implementation of regulations and health protocols involving PCR testing, the creation of a tourist help desk at the airport, monitoring of inter-resort movements, and compliance training for tourism staff.

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
+34 91 567 8100
UN Tourism