With more than 20 participants from 21 countries, the 2015 Practicum ended on 27th with a closing ceremony attended by the President of the UNWTO.Themis Foundation, Enric Pujal, and the Executive Director of UNWTO.Themis Foundation, Omar Valdez.

This edition, held in English from 22 to 29 November in Madrid (Spain) and in Andorra la Vella (Principality of Andorra), included a workshop on Crisis Communications in Tourism and was attended by officials from national, regional and/or local tourism administrations, from the Principality of Andorra, Bhutan, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Madeira, Republic of Moldova, Russia, Sudan, The Gambia and Tunisia.

The objectives proposed in this initiative were successfully fulfilled with the help of the presentations, interactive and practical activities, discussions and debates, and group works given by the workshop facilitators: Sandra Carvão, Chief of Communications and Publications at the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Rut Gómez Sobrino, Media Officer at the UNWTO, and Tom Buncle, Managing Director of Yellow Railroad Ltd.

Member States officials attending the workshop were given the opportunity to discuss and reflect on the topic and also share their experiences. Moreover, they were provided with an overview of the key elements of crisis communications including the use of social media, media relations, stakeholders coordination in order to prepare participants to be able to plan and implement crisis communication plans to manage crisis communications in a more effective manner, and therefore mitigate the impact of crisis situations and accelerate recovery.

The UNWTO Practicum is held every year in the framework of the UNWTO.Capacity programme of the UNWTO.Themis Foundation.