Source: UN Tourism
Source: UN Tourism
Source: UN Tourism
Source: UN Tourism
Source: UN Tourism

The masterclass was the culmination of three days’ worth of intense and interactive discussions where leading figures from across the fields of gastronomy, sport, and business, shared their visions for sustainable tourism and personal testimonies leading up to their own success.

Addressing young delegates from 57 countries, the Ivorian made clear the links between tourism and sports, both sectors with the power to bring hope and opportunity for all, including across Africa. Mr Drogba engaged in an honest and open dialogue covering many topics ranging from his personal journey to fame, the importance of giving back through his own philanthropic Foundation, and the vital role of tourism as a driver of mutual respect, sustainability, and for bringing together sports fans from all over the world.

“In my career, I was lucky enough to travel widely: from Lagos, to Shanghai, London, and Sarajevo, just to mention a few, and meeting people from different traditions was one of the things that brought me the most joy,” he said.

Working towards a common goal

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili added: "As a UNWTO Ambassador, Didier Drogba brings the drive and energy he showed on the football pitch to promoting the power of tourism for growth and development. Like UNWTO, Drogba is empowering global youth and so helping to build a more sustainable and resilient future for us all."

The inaugural Global Youth Tourism Summit was organized by UNWTO in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism of Italy and the Italian National Tourism Agency (ENIT). It was open to young people aged 12 to 18, giving them a unique platform to engage with tourism leaders from the public and private sectors and to develop the skills and knowledge they will need to become leaders themselves.

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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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UN Tourism

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