UNWTO and the International Civil Aviation Organization have agreed to strengthen their partnership with the aim of supporting the safe restart of travel and tourism and accelerating the two sectors’ shift towards greater resilience and sustainability.

Confirmed a week ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), the new agreement underscores UNWTO’s call for enhanced collaboration in order to realize tourism’s potential to lead recovery and drive sustainable and inclusive growth. In the immediate term, UNWTO and ICAO will work to support aviation and tourism bounce back from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coordination at every level

At the same time, the agreement illustrates a shared commitment to enhancing coordination at every level, from policy research and management areas, to border management and facilitation of safe and seamless travel, one of UNWTO’s long-standing priorities. The Memorandum of Understanding also recognizes the importance of securing relevant finance mechanisms to accelerate the shift towards greener travel and tourism, with a commitment to joint advocacy and fundraising efforts.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Tourism and air travel are essential pillars of growth and opportunity, most notably for developing countries and communities. As air travel resumes and tourism restarts, both sectors must collaborate to support the livelihoods of today and to build a more resilient and sustainable future. The partnership between UNWTO and ICAO will allow exactly this.”

ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano added: “This agreement is an important step to help our organizations address joint data and research initiatives, the modernization and financing of aviation infrastructure, and the alleviation of economic regulatory constraints to enhance air connectivity and seamless travel.”

Building on past partnerships

ICAO has been part of UNWTO’s Global Tourism Crisis Committee, established at the start of the current crisis to unite the diverse tourism sector behind a common response and recovery plan. At the same time, UNWTO has also contributed to ICAO’s COVID-19 Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART), working to identify and recommend strategic priorities and policies for countries and aviation industry operators. Moreover, ICAO has been part of the UNWTO’s Committee for the development of an International Code for the Protection of Tourists as an observer, actively contributing to the drafting of the Code together with 98 Member States, five non-UNWTO Members and several observers from a diverse range of international organizations and private stakeholders.

RELATED LINKS

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