UNWTO Executive Council Meets

Ahead of the 118th session of the UNWTO Executive Council, the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer showed international arrivals reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels. The first quarter global results of 2023 set the pace for this upward trend to continue.

In 2022, UNWTO asked the world to "rethink tourism". Now it's time to put those plans into action. Building a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive tourism sector will require more and better-targeted investments, skilled workers and more innovation. UNWTO is working closely with our Member States to make significant progress in all these areas and we leave Punta Cana with a clear focus around shared goals and a shared vision for our sector. Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili

Highest Political Support for Tourism

UNWTO welcomed delegations from 40 countries to its Council meeting, with the high-level political support reflecting tourism's heightened relevance.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili met with President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic. The one-on-one meeting focused on tourism investments and education, both shared priorities.
The 118th session of the Executive Council counted on the participation of high-level delegations from 40 countries, including 30 Council members.
Secretary-General Pololikashvili was awarded the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic's "Champion of Tourism" recognition for his leadership of the sector and friendship of the country.

Guiding Tourism Forward

The UNWTO Secretary-General gave Member States an overview of the Organization's work since the previous Executive Council (Marrakesh, Morocco, 25 November 2022) as well as UNWTO's priorities looking ahead:

The Secretary-General's report provided an up-to-date overview of tourism numbers and trends, identifying potential challenges for 2023 and beyond, including the cost-of-living crisis and geopolitical uncertainty.
Members were given an overview of UNWTO's key achievements around its main priorities (investments, education and jobs, innovation and tourism and rural development).
Participants were provided with a update on UNWTO's status as an Organization, including plans to open new Regional and Thematic offices, and new approaches to tourism governance.

Focus on Sustainability

On the eve of the Executive Council, UNWTO participated in an International Forum on Sustainable Tourism organized by the Dominican Republic. In Punta Cana, UNWTO:

invited the Dominican Republic and Maldives to become the first countries to sign up to the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, designed to reduce waste and increase circularity in the sector;
provided an overview of its central role in advancing sustainability, including as part of the One Planet Network, which UNWTO will continue to lead in 2024-25; and
announced progress on the creation of a landmark first global standard for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism

Education, Jobs and Investments: Priorities for Tourism

During its Executive Council session, the UNWTO Secretariat provided updates on progress made in advancing its key priorities of education, jobs and investments:

UNWTO and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts have partnered for a Bachelor's Degree in International Sustainable Tourism
Reflecting the feedback of Members, UNWTO is set to launch a new Educational Toolkit to help make tourism a subject in high schools everywhere
UNWTO Investment Guidelines are serving as the bridge between investors, destinations and projects, with editions focused on countries in the Americas and Africa
Plans to create a Pan-African Tourism Fund, a Guarantee Fund to provide security for banks, investors and financial institutions, continue to advance

Within the framework of the Executive Council, UNWTO held the first ever Thematic Session on tourism communications and its role in building a new narrative focused on the sector's importance for economic development and social opportunity.

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

With global tourism on track to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, UNWTO convened its Executive Council to advance plans to place education, investments and sustainability at the centre of the sector’s future.