PR No.: PR 16075
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Jordan are organizing a regional conference on ‘Investing in Tourism for an Inclusive Future: Challenges and Opportunities’. The Conference will take place in the world heritage city of Petra, Jordan, on 26-27 October.
Under the patronage of Jordan’s Prime Minister Hani Mulki, the conference will gather the ministers of tourism from Jordan, Lebanon, Montenegro, Palestine and Tunisia, alongside representatives from the private sector, investment funds, tourism companies and associations.
Moderated by CNN Money Emerging Markets Editor John Defterios, participants at the high level panel will discuss how tourism can promote inclusive development in the southern and eastern Mediterranean with a particular focus on human capital, energy efficiency and micro, small and medium-sized-enterprises.
The partnership between UNWTO and the EBRD aims at supporting inclusive and sustainable tourism, building on UNWTO’s expertise in capacity building and the EBRD’s longstanding financial support for the private sector.
Useful links:
Conference programme and website
Latest International Tourism Trends and Data
Contacts:
UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino
Tel: +34 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org
UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
Tel: +34 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org
EBRD Communications Adviser, Nibal Zgheib
Tel: +44 207 338 7753 / ZgheibN@ebrd.com
PR No.: PR 16073
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt are organizing the 5th Global Summit on City Tourism: “Cities: Local Culture for Global Travellers” on 1-2 November 2016 in Luxor. During the summit, UNWTO will launch the Mayors for Tourism Initiative.
Tourism has become a central component of the economy, social life and geography of many cities in the world and is ideally positioned to seize the opportunities provided by urbanization. Yet many challenges are emerging, including the need to effectively manage the growth of tourism in many cities around the globe.
The 5th Global Summit on City Tourism: “Cities: Local Culture for Global Travellers” will discuss city tourism trends and debate themes such as sustainable development, spatial organization and rejuvenation, innovation in city tourism, cross-cultural behaviour, and new business models or the so‑called ‘sharing economy’.
The development of clusters that engage public and private players from all sectors is central to the new paradigm of city tourism development, in which tourism needs to be a tool for social cohesion and cultural preservation, beyond its fundamental contribution to economic activity.
Within the framework of the Conference, UNWTO will officially launch the City Tourism Network, a forum offering participants an opportunity to learn the objectives and main lines of action of the network. The City Tourism Network is composed of key stakeholders from the public and private sectors working towards policies to encourage the sustainable development of City Tourism on local, national and international levels. In particular, the new initiative “Mayors for Tourism” will be presented, aiming to gather mayors and decision-makers from cities around the world to discuss and collaborate on tourism issues. The Mayors for Tourism Initiative aims to promote the important role of tourism as a driving force for socio economic development in cities, and prioritize the sector in the urban agenda.
Mayors of world cities have been invited to share best practices in managing the challenges and opportunities that tourism presents to local administrations and to propose formulas to align their tourism‑related policies with those of national governments.
The Summit will be preceded by the 104th Session of the UNWTO Executive Council, taking place in Luxor on 30 October-1 November 2016.
Useful links:
UNWTO Global Report on City Tourism
Contacts:
UNWTO Media Officer: Rut Gómez Sobrino
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@UNWTO.org
UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org
The UNWTO Course in Egypt on Tourism for Diplomats, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, was inaugurated on 3rd October by H.E. Mr. Yehia Rashed, Minister of Tourism; H.E. Amb Heba Al Marassi, Director of the Institute of Diplomatic Studies; and Mr. Amr Abdel-Ghaffar, UNWTO Regional Director for the Middle East.
The objective of this course is to provide participants with knowledge, skills, and a forum for discussion and reflection on Tourism so that, by the end of the course, diplomats will be able to carry out the duties of international tourism relations and tourism promotion.
These initiatives blend presentations with workshop activities: the former aim at promoting active learning through a calibrated mix of theory and practical examples, while the latter aim at actively involving participants in a collaborative process.
The UNWTO Course in Egypt on Crisis Management in Tourism, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and the Ministry of Tourism of Egypt, was closed on 29 September by the Minister of Tourism, H.E. Mr.Mohamed Yehia Rashed and Mr. Amr Abdel-Ghaffar, UNWTO Regional Director for the Middle East.
Over forty highly qualified officials from the Egyptian Tourism Authority, the Egyptian Tourism Federation, the Egyptian Ministries of Health, Civil Aviation, Defense, Interior, and Tourism, could benefit from this course, delivered by Prof. Germán Porras, as a follow-up of the mission carried out in Egypt in 2015.
This course aimed at providing participants with knowledge, skills, and a forum for discussion and reflection on the various crisis management tools so that they could plan and implement crisis management plans that mitigate the impact of crisis situations and accelerate recovery. Therefore, topics presented were, among others: Prevention and Preparedness, Institutional and Social Awareness, How to deal with a Tourism Crisis, the Tourism Crisis Management Plan, etc.
The methodology used for such capacity initiatives adopt a fact-driven approach, by presenting state-of-the-art theory through the analysis of real-life case examples and in-class activities, tailored on participants’ knowledge and objectives. The modular structure is conducive of a highly interactive learning experience that blends presentations, case studies, discussions, debates and practical activities.
The UNWTO Executive Training Course in the Arab Republic of Egypt on Crisis Management in Tourism, organized by the World Tourism Organization, its UNWTO.Themis Foundation and Ministry of Tourism of the Arab Republic of Egypt, was inaugurated on 25th September by H.E. Mr Yehia Rashed, Minister of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Amr Abdel-Ghaffar , UNWTO Regional Director for the Middle East and Advisor to the Secretary-General on Tourism and Peace, and the facilitator of the course Mr Germán Porras, Senior Tourism Policy Adviser at the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The objective of this course is to provide participants with knowledge, skills, tools and a forum for discussion about current key issues and practices in crisis management strategy.
Participants are expected to gain better understanding on key concepts in crisis management and its processes, apply tools and international best practices in the local contexts and oversee crisis management in tourism strategy development and implementation.
This event blends presentations with workshop activities: the former aim at promoting active learning through a calibrated mix of theory and practical examples, while the latter aim at actively involving participants in a collaborative process that simulates a crisis management planning process for the Arab Republic of Egypt and MENA region.
