At FITUR: The International Spanish Tourism Trade Fair (Madrid, 19-23 May 2021), UNWTO will ensure sustainability, innovation and responsibility are a central part of the conversation. FITUR was the last global in-person trade fair to take place before the COVID-19 pandemic, and is the first one to return, sending a clear message of the resolve of the tourism sector for a safe and responsible restart.

This year’s trade fair will continue the long-standing partnership between UNWTO and FITUR, with the United Nations specialized agency for tourism addressing the most pressing challenges currently facing the sector while also looking to the future and supporting the tourism talent of tomorrow.

Sustainable development takes the lead

The week kicks off with the 25 winners of the UNWTO SDG Global Startup Competition meeting for a special workshop on winning investment for scaling up. On Tuesday 18 May, the top entrepreneurs and innovators will be celebrated at the Royal Theatre in Spain. The hybrid event will celebrate the diversity of the award-winning ideas for advancing the sustainable development goals and the people behind them. The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has commended UNWTO’s leadership in promoting innovation and will send a message to the winners.

Tourism for all

With FITUR officially opening on Wednesday 19 May, UNWTO hosts an expert meeting on Accessible Tourism featuring good practice in accessibility with a particular focus on tourism in rural and natural areas. Sustainability will be the focus of the UNWTO Affiliate Members meeting on Friday 21 May, giving its members - from the private sector, local and regional governments and academia - the opportunity to present their work, and to network both in-person and virtually.

Investment and innovation for development

The 12th edition of the Tourism Investment and Business Forum for Africa (INVESTOUR) will be held virtually on Thursday 20 May. The gathering of public and private sector tourism leaders will focus on the development of effective strategic partnerships, and on assessing possible travel and tourism trends post-pandemic.

On the same day, UNWTO will also feature in FITUR Talent, highlighting the increasingly important role innovation can play in delivering tourism education and training for all. Similarly exploring the potential of technology to create opportunities, this time for destinations, the Round Table on Tourism and Cinema, will see UNWTO and Netflix come together to assess the role TV and film can play in promoting locations and experience.

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

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