Sustainable Tourism Conference & Symposium on Accelerating the Shift towards Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

The Sustainable Tourism Conference & Symposium on Accelerating the Shift towards Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in Africa was held back to back with the Fifty-eighth Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Africa and within the framework of SITA (Salon International du Tourisme d’Abidjan). It gathered Ministers of Tourism of Africa, high-level officials, tourism stakeholders and Affiliate members to share their visions and experiences concerning the integration of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) into the tourism sector.

(From left to right) Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism of Jamaica; Hon. Lahcen Haddad, Minister of Tourism of Morocco; Hon. Mohammed AbuZaid Mustafa Mohamed, Minister of Tourism, Antiquities and Wildlife of Sudan; Mrs. Bulelwa Seti, Chief Director Africa and Middle East, National Department of Tourism of South Africa; Hon. Walter Mzembi, Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, Zimbabwe, CAF Chairman; Hon. Amar Ghoul, Minister of Tourism, Land Management and Handicrafts of Algeria; Hon. Benjamin Roberts, Minister of Tourism of the Gambia and Dr. Dirk Glaesser, Director, Sustainable Development of Tourism Programme, UNWTO.

On the first day, Ministers from Algeria, Ghana, Islamic Republic of the Gambia, Jamaica, Morocco, South Africa, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, discussed their plans to address the recently approved Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goals 8 and 12 which include specific targets for the tourism sector with regards to sustainable economic growth and SCP. Moreover, representatives from UNCTAD, Embassy of Cameroon to Spain, Tourism Ministry of Côte d’Ivoire, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Climate Change Fund, UNDP Côte d’Ivoire, GIZ GmbH, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), debated on enhancing sustainable tourism investment and financing.

The second day, representatives from GSTC, UEMOA, East Africa Tourism Platform, Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, OIPR, FITUR/IFEMA, ECOWAS, RETOSA, FTT, Afrique Nature, and ECO-CI, discussed the importance of improving collaboration among stakeholders to enhance the tourism sector's performance with regards to SCP. All in all, the Sustainable Tourism Conference & Symposium resulted in enhanced dialogue on decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation by accelerating SCP patterns in the tourism sector in relation to the SDGs and the 10YFP Sustainable Tourism Programme.

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The Programme of the event can be downloaded here

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