Fourth meeting of the Expert Group on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism

• All Regions
• 19 Sep 23

Marbella, September 19 - 20, 2023 (on-site & online).

The 4th Meeting of the Expert Group on Measuring Tourism Sustainability (MST) is scheduled to take place in Marbella, Spain, in September 2023.

The Expert Group on MST constitutes a diverse and inclusive assembly, established by UNWTO in collaboration with prominent nations, the International Labour Organization, and the United Nations Statistics Division. Its primary purpose is to provide guidance for the formulation of a Statistical Framework for Assessing Tourism's Sustainability.

The framework aims to support a more harmonized and integrated measurement of the impacts and dependencies of tourism on the economy, society and the environment, at both the national and sub-national levels.

• Information note
• Final Programme

Documents

• Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) - Version as of 14 September 2023
• SF-MST Draft Glossary
• Proposals for a set of indicators

Presentations

Setting the scene

• Objective of the Expert Group, Mr. Peter Laimer, Chair of the Expert Group on MST and Statistics Austria
• MST progress, Ms. Clara van der Pol, Director a.i., Statistics Department, UNWTO (see presentation)
• Developments by the MST Editorial Board, Mr. Michel Dubreuil, Chair of the MST Editorial Board and Destination Canada (see presentation)

SF-MST Introduction and key features (chapters 1 and 2)

• Main updates, Mr. Michel Dubreuil, Destination Canada (see presentation)
• Findings from the Research Team on the delineation of sub-national spatial areas (Chapter 2), led by Mr. Raul Hernandez, La Laguna University, Spain (see presentation)

Measuring economic sustainability (chapter 3)

• Main updates, Mr. Carl Obst, UNWTO Expert (see presentation)
• Findings from the Research Team on Tourism Occupations led Mr. Manpreet Singh, Australian Bureau of Statistics and Mr. Michel Dubreuil, Destination Canada (see presentation)

Measuring environmental sustainability (chapter 4)

• Main updates, Mr. Arturo de la Fuente, Eurostat (see presentation)
• Findings from the Research Team on Attribution of environmental flows to tourism, led by Mr. Calvin Jones, Cardiff Business School (see presentation)
• Launch of the Switzerland MST pilot, Mr. Fabian Schrey, Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland (see presentation)
• The Nordic case, Ms. Kathrine Lindeskov Johansen and Mr. Jonathan Lindahl, Centre for Regional and Tourism Research, Denmark (see presentation)
• A UN Perspective, Mr. Julian Chow, Statistician, UNSD (see presentation)

Measuring social sustainability (chapter 5)

• Findings from the Research Team on the social dimension, led by Mr. Nico Heerschap, former Statistics Netherlands (see presentation)
• Main updates on chapter 5, Mr. Carl Obst, UNWTO Expert (see presentation)
• Measuring resident perceptions and the link to sustainability, Mr. Julio López Astor, co-chair of the UNWTO Committee on Statistics and Turespaña (see presentation)
• Measuring social progress of tourism in Costa Rica, Ms. Mariana Garita, Costa Rica Tourism Board (see presentation)
• Addressing decent work in tourism, Ms Valentina Stoevska, Senior Statistician, ILO (see presentation)

SF-MST complementary topics (new Chapter 6)

• Introduction of the new chapter 6, Mr. Carl Obst, UNWTO Expert (see presentation)
• Insights from a practical compilation perspective, Ms. Apolonija Oblak Flander, National Statistical Office, Slovenia (see presentation)

Towards a core set of MST indicators

• Initial set of core indicators based on SF-MST and process, Ms. Clara van der Pol, Director a.i., Statistics Department and Ms. Leandry Moreno, Officer, Statistics Department, UNWTO (see presentation)
• Developing a coherent system of indicators at regional level, Ms. Ana Moniche, European Projects and International Networks, Junta de Andalucía (see presentation)
• Nature and sustainable tourism for the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework, advances in the Mexican agenda, Raúl Figueroa Diaz, Director of Satellite Accounts, INEGI, Mexico (see presentation)
• Measuring tourism sustainability for policy, Ms. Zrinka Marusic, Institute for Tourism, Croatia (see presentation)

Towards a harmonized ESG framework for Tourism Businesses

• Progress and Findings from the company pilots, Ms. Laura Ballerini and Ms. Amy Booth, University of Oxford SDG Impact Lab (see presentation)

• Insights from leading companies
  • Hilton Worldwide, Mr. Harry Chrispin, Senior Manager ESG EMEA (see presentation)
  • Maxx Royal Resorts, Ms. Duygu Tepe and Ms. Eda Kocadere, Marketing Business Development (see presentation)
  • Fuerte Hoteles, Mr. Héctor Abuín Bermúdez, Corporate Multi-brand Operations Director (see presentation)
  • BWH Italia, María Teresa Cantú, Head of Membership Marketing & ESG (see presentation)

Way forward

• Conclusions, next steps and research agenda, Mr. Peter Laimer, Chair of the Expert Group on MST and Statistics Austria (see presentation)
• Briefing on the next meeting of the UNWTO Committee on Statistics, Mr. Julio López Astor, Co-chair of the Committee and Turespaña

 

News release

• Final Sprint to a Global Standard on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism

More information

• Empresa Pública para la Gestión del Turismo y del Deporte de Andalucía, S. A.
• On Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism: MST
• Statistics of Tourism
• Junta de Andalucía

Photos of the 4th Meeting of the Expert Group are available online at the flickr photo stream.