UNWTO/CHIMELONG PROGRAMME TRAINS  JOURNALISTS IN BOTSWANA ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND WILDLIFE

The role of media to inform and engage the general public as well as to advocate for sustainable tourism and wildlife was the focus of the training workshop held in Botswana in December 2017. The activity is part of the UNWTO/Chimelong Programme that promotes the relation between wildlife and sustainable tourism as is being implemented between 2017 and 2019.

The different angles of the tourism, the impacts of the sector on local communities and the relevance of wildlife as a key component of sustainable tourism were analyzed in a training workshop held in Kasane, Botswana in December 2017. 30 local and international journalists shared their experiences and the challenges faced in covering these topics and enhanced their knowledge about the relevance of wildlife to tourism development.

Besides the training, the journalists participated in the International Symposium and Annual Conference of the 10YFP Sustainable Tourism Programme (STP). The event was hosted by the Botswana Tourism Organization and co-organized by UNWTO and the governments of France, Morocco and the Republic of Korea, with support from the 10YFP Secretariat and UN Environment in Kasane, at the door of the National Park of Chobe. The event brought together international organizations and individual experts and entrepreneurs on sustainable tourism-related topics such as wildlife protection and green energies.

The media training conducted in Botswana was the second activity of this type held in the framework of the UNWTO/Chimelong Programme. The Programme aims at enhancing the potential of sustainable tourism to foster wildlife conservation. The first media workshop was conducted in the Republic of Congo in July 2017.

In addition to the capacity building of journalists through workshops and field missions, the Media Development component of the UNWTO/Chimelong Programme includes a Media Award and training of National Tourism Administrations on media-related topics.

The UNWTO/Chimelong Programme was agreed between both signatories in 2016, with occasion of the 1^st World Conference on Tourism for Development that took place in Beijing, China in the month of May of that year.

More about the UNWTO/Chimelong Programme: /chimelong