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AM NEWS | VOL. 51 MARCH 2023

AM NEWS | VOL. 51 MARCH 2023

Dear Affiliate Members,

I am pleased to introduce you to a new edition of the Affiliate Members Newsletter. This monthly publication will inform you about the latest news, events, and initiatives related to your membership and our Affiliate Members network. Also included is the updated calendar of events for 2023, including the main UNWTO events and those carried out by our Affiliate Members, with the participation of the Affiliate Members Departments or the UNWTO.

Regarding the upcoming initiatives organized by the Affiliate Members Department, we are pleased to inform you that we will be present at ITB Berlin, the world's leading travel trade show. In this framework, the UNWTO and the host of the fair, ITB Berlin have jointly organized a Roundtable Discussion on "Connecting sports tourism to health" that will count on the participation and contribution of experienced Affiliate Members in this area.

I am also pleased to inform you that the UNWTO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of Croatia and the Affiliate Member Croatian National Tourist Board will host the Second World Sports Tourism Congress, on the 26-27 April, in Zadar, Republic of Croatia. More information regarding this event will soon be shared through the AMConnected platform.

Regarding the upcoming UNWTO statutory/high-level meetings, I would like to remind you that the 118th session of the UNWTO Executive Council is scheduled for the16 -18 May, in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I take this opportunity to highlight the importance of the participation of our Affiliate Members during these events as they provide an excellent stage to showcase proposals and initiatives for the Membership, and the opportunity to network and exchange information and knowledge with the entities, authorities, and key stakeholders attending. More information regarding this event will soon be shared through the AMConnected platform.

The Affiliate Members Department will continue to collaborate and support the Affiliate Members' initiatives to the best of its capabilities.

As usual, I am at your disposal and look forward to hearing any comments you might have.

Yours sincerely,
Ion Vilcu

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Climate Action in the Tourism Sector: An overview of methodologies and tools to measure greenhouse gas emissions

Climate Action in the Tourism Sector: An overview of methodologies and tools to measure greenhouse gas emissions

This report provides an overview of GHG emissions measurement in tourism alongside an assessment of the sector’s climate action efforts. It summarises current methodologies, establishing the approaches and frameworks guiding measurement and the tools available for practitioners to measure emissions. It also explores how the development of such methodologies and tools has progressed and what more needs to be done to support the sector to measure its emissions. In doing so, it advances the implementation of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, for which measurement is the first pathway that signatories are requested to adopt.

This report was developed by UNWTO with support from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection of Germany (BMU) and is released in collaboration with UN Climate Change (UNFCCC). The research was implemented within the framework of the Sustainable Tourism Programme of the One Planet Network in the support of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism.

Climate Action in the Tourism Sector - Cover

Case studies from the signatories of Glasgow Declaration

Climate Action

Climate Action  

There is a growing consensus among tourism stakeholders as to how the future resilience of tourism will depend on the sector’s ability to embrace a low carbon pathway and cut emissions by 50% by 2030

Glasgow Declaration

Glasgow Declaration  

The Glasgow Declaration is a catalyst for increased urgency about the need to accelerate climate action in tourism and to secure strong commitments to support the global goals to halve emissions over the next decade and reach Net Zero emissions as soon as possible before 2050.

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Fourth INSTO Insights Webinar: Measurement of Economic Benefits at the Destination Level

Submitted by UN Tourism on Thu, 03/02/2023 - 11:48
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One Year On, Tourism Stands Firm in Support of Ukraine

One Year On, Tourism Stands Firm in Support of Ukraine

This week, we mark a sad anniversary. It has been one year since the Russian Federation chose to invade Ukraine, in a clear breach of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law.

The invasion has exacted a terrible price. Millions have been forced to flee their homes – right now around 6 million people, 65 per cent of them women and girls, are internally displaced. And the number of casualties keeps growing by the day, including civilian victims as homes and even hospitals are deliberately targeted. The invasion has also created a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe not seen in Europe since World War II. And it has undermined the sense of security and trust we depend on to get the world moving again after the impacts of the pandemic.

From the very start, UNWTO has led tourism's response to the crisis. Our Members moved swiftly to suspend Russia from our Organization. At the same time, stakeholders from across the sector rallied in support of the Ukrainian people. As many as 8 million of them have sought refuge across Europe and UNWTO commends tourism actors who provided them with means of transport, accommodation and other practical assistance. We also thank the countries hosting refugees until returning is safe.

With no end in sight for the war, our solidarity must hold firm. This unwanted anniversary offers a moment to take stock and reflect. The past year has shown us the remarkable strength of a people determined to hold onto their freedom and sovereignty. It has also shown us the importance of standing together, both as an international community and as a major economic sector, and staying true to our shared values whatever the cost.

With each passing day, the united front that much of the global community has adopted since the invasion is also under attack, especially as countries everywhere continue to feel the economic fallout of the conflict and its social cost. That's why UNWTO will continue to amplify tourism's calls for peace and urge an immediate end to all hostilities. We will also be there when the war ends, as it surely will. Then, tourism's unique power, proven time and again, to build trust back, promote dialogue and understanding across borders, and provide opportunities, will be vital to help the people of Ukraine re-build the country they have already given so much to protect.


Zurab Pololikashvili
Secretary-General

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Third INSTO Insights Webinar: Measurement In The Field Of Water Management At Destination Level

Submitted by UN Tourism on Tue, 02/14/2023 - 15:26
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A Closer Look at Tourism: Sub-national Measurement and Analysis — INRouTe-UNWTO Collaboration —

A Closer Look at Tourism: Sub-national Measurement and Analysis — INRouTe-UNWTO Collaboration —

 
                                                                                                                                            

Tourism is an economic phenomenon concerning the movement of people to places outside their usual environment for either personal or business/professional purposes. As such, tourism has implications for the economy, for the natural and built environment, for the local population at the destination and for the visitors themselves. Due to these multiple impacts, UNWTO encourages an interdisciplinary approach in the formulation and implementation of national and sub-national tourism policies.

INRouTe adopts UNWTO's positionning of the United Nations international standards approved in 2008 (International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 and Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008) as the foundation for the measurement of tourism and sustainable development at the national, but also at the regional and local levels.

Tourism should thus be understood as a phenomenon that is territory-contingent, with flows and activities occurring unevenly across countries, regions, municipalities or any other territorial entity. The close link between tourism and territory exists not only because the natural or built territory is often the main tourism attraction (an exotic beach, a vibrant city), but also because the territory, and movements across it, largely condition tourism trips, the nature of the supply that caters to visitor consumption and, consequently, the relationship to potential welfare.

The Sixth International Tourism Forum for Parliamentarians and Local Authorities (Cebu/Philipines, 22-25 October 2008), organized by UNWTO and The Philippines national tourism administration, formally requested UNWTO to design guidelines for those (sub-national) regions where tourism plays a particularly relevant role. In addition, the TSA:RMF 2008 mentions that “there are various reasons for encouraging discussion on how the TSA can be adapted to the subnational level”. Also, the IRTS 2008 mentions that “increasingly, regional tourism authorities are interested in regional statistics and possibly some form of TSA at regional level as a means of providing useful indicators for tourism enterprises and organizations in identifying possible business opportunities, assessing the volume and intensity of tourism business and determining the extent to which private and public regional tourism networks and clusters are interconnected”.

To this purpose, UNWTO signed a cooperation agreement with the International Network on Regional Economics, Mobility and Tourism (INRouTe) —a non-profit association dedicated to advancing policy-oriented measurement and analysis of tourism in order to provide guidance to entities involved with regional and local tourism destinations. Through this agreement, INRouTe provides technical support to UNWTO. Central to this support is assistance in the development of a conceptual framework sufficiently robust for the sub-national measurement, monitoring, and analysis of tourism, so essential for designing policies that properly address today’s challenges and opportunities. Such a conceptual framework will be presented to UNWTO in the form of guidance documents. Based on this, UNWTO will design a set of general guidelines for the measurement of tourism from the sub-national perspective.

“Towards a Set of UNWTO Guidelines” (english) (french) (spanish) is the first in the A Closer Look at Tourism: Sub-national Measurement and Analysis series of guidance documents. It provides an overview of the INRouTe – UNWTO initiative, its objective, proposed recommendations and agenda for what is proposed as the first step to develop basic statistical information for regions and other sub-national territorial aggregations: the setup of a Regional Tourism Information System (R-TIS).

This will be crucial for a better measurement and understanding of domestic tourism flows and their economic contributions, an issue recurrently highlighted by several UNWTO Member States as being of utmost importance.
 

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G20 Tourism Side Event Focuses on Rural Tourism for Community Empowerment

G20 Tourism Side Event Focuses on Rural Tourism for Community Empowerment

The first meeting of the G20 Tourism Working Group to be held under the Indian Presidency placed the focus on the sector’s role in in advancing the 2030 Agenda.

UNWTO is working as the knowledge partner to the Presidency to deliver the Goa Roadmap for Tourism as a Vehicle for Achieving the SDGs. This week's meeting, held in the Rann of Kutch (7-9 February), featured as well a side event dedicated to rural tourism for community development and poverty alleviation. Here, UNWTO shared its recently launched Tourism for Rural Development Programme, including the Best Tourism Villages Initiative.

The side event was an opportunity to highlight opportunities for rural tourism, including new consumer behaviors and growing interest in new destinations. The meeting also explored the main challenges facing the sector, particularly with regards to digital and non-digital infrastructure, the empowerment of local communities and skills development. The findings presented were the result of an analysis of more than 200 candidacies by villages from around the world to the Best Tourism Villages Initiative as well as UNWTO Member States priorities and policies.

Representatives from Indonesia, Spain, Italy and Japan joined UNWTO, the UN Environmental Program, the International Labor Organization and the South Asia Women's Network (SWAN) in discussing how can tourism policy can support tourism's contribution to rural development. Participants stressed that the sustainability of tourism in rural areas is dependent on a comprehensive planning strategy is adopted and implemented based on a multi-action and multi-stakeholder participatory approach. Furthermore, it was noted that rural tourism requires the support of regional and local governments, the private sector, industry associations, civil society, communities and tourists.

In 2021, recognizing the immense potential of rural tourism in the country, the Ministry of Tourism of India formulated a National Strategy and Roadmap for Development of Rural Tourism. Reflecting this, the event included also rural tourism cases from India, including examples from Astro-tourism, homestays and women empowerment as well as the Indian village selected by UNWTO to join the Best Tourism Villages Upgrade Programme – the Khonoma Village in Nagaland.

G20 Tourism Side Event

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AM NEWS | VOL. 50 FEBRUARY 2023

AM NEWS | VOL. 50 FEBRUARY 2023

Dear Affiliate Members,

I am pleased to introduce you to a new edition of the Affiliate Members Newsletter. This monthly publication will inform you about the latest news, events, and initiatives related to your membership and our Affiliate Members network.

This special edition of the AMNewsletter highlights the main activities that saw the involvement of the Affiliate Members in the framework of FITUR 2023 (Madrid, Spain). This year's international tourism fair brought together 8,500 companies and more than 222,000 attendees, demonstrating that the tourism sector is on its way to the pre-pandemic level.

In this promising framework, the Affiliate Members Department (AMD) organized several events that counted on remarkable participation from the Affiliate Members. We presented the "Preliminary Conclusions from the World Experts Meeting on Cultural Tourism" (in collaboration with Comunidad de Madrid), followed by the 58th Meeting of the Board of Affiliate Members. We also held another edition of the UNWTO Affiliate Members Corner, under the theme "Trends taking shape in the travel industry in 2023", which provided an excellent opportunity to learn, exchange ideas, and discuss the important topics presented by 10 Affiliate Members. Furthermore, the AMD took the stage during FITUR SPORTS and FITUR SCREEN and had the opportunity to share the UNWTO's perspective on two growing topics in Tourism: Sports Tourism and Audiovisual Tourism. Lastly, my department held several bilateral meetings with Affiliate Members, and we had the opportunity to discuss future collaborations and set the basis for implementing joint projects included in the Programme of Work.

I am very satisfied with the outcomes achieved at FITUR, and I am looking forward to the meet you during the next International Tourism Fair: ITB Berlin. In this regard, I take this opportunity to remind you that, in view of the desire of Affiliate Members to take advantage of the main fairs and events to network and meet other Affiliate Members, my Department wants to further facilitate these fruitful interactions, and kindly invites you to let us know your planned events and activities for ITB Berlin. Click HERE for more information.

The Affiliate Members Department will continue to collaborate and support the Affiliate Members' initiatives to the best of its capabilities. As usual, I am at your disposal and look forward to hearing any comments you might have.

Yours sincerely,
Ion Vilcu

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UNWTO Announces Winning Start-Ups for “Awake Tourism Challenge”

UNWTO Announces Winning Start-Ups for “Awake Tourism Challenge”

UNWTO has announced the winners of its Awake Tourism Challenge, celebrating the start-ups that are reshaping the sector in every global region.

The Challenge was the second edition of the UNWTO Global Startup Competition focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Entrants were judged on how they are contributing to the development of an inclusive, resilient and sustainable tourism sector, with a focus on six core themes:

  • Local Community Involvement
  • Green and Blue Economies
  • Ecological and Sustainable Capital Creation
  • Tourism Tech for Good
  • Tourism Education
  • Women Empowerment

UNWTO Seceratry-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Tourism startups have the power and agility to transform the sector in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The winners of the UNWTO Awake Tourism Challenge all have the potential to help build a more inclusive and resilient sector and we look forward to supporting them as they grow in size and influence.”

Tourism startups have the power and agility to transform the sector in line with the Sustainable Development Goals

Winners from every global region

The competition attracted more than 2,000 entrants from 120 countries worldwide. The most submissions were from Europe, the Americas and Africa, followed by Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East. From these, an expert jury selected 30 finalists and then 15 winners.

Reflecting the broad talent of the global tourism sector, the winning start-ups are Coastruction (the Netherlands), Noytrall (Portugal), SmArt Tourism and Hospitality Consulting (Panama), Quantum Temple (USA), Socialbnb (Germany), Instituto de Accesibilidad (Spain), Kamatjona (Namibia), Baahdy & Birdy (Norway), WeavAir (Singapore), r3charge (Germany), Impact Innovations Institute (Armenia), NomadHer (South Korea), Murmuration (France), Evelity by Okeenea Digital (France) and Accessible Qatar (Qatar). The projects were recognized for offering innovative service with high customer value, most notably with high levels of youth engagement and the involvement of local communities. Start-ups were also recognized for their use of technology to monitor and manage the environmental impact of tourism activity. More information on the winners and finalists can be found on the competition website.  

A winning network

The winning start-ups will be offered an incubation period of three months at SPARK Crans-Montana, the Innovation Hub of Les Roches from the Sommet Education group, where they will be participating in mentorships, networking activities and have access to a VR lab, Digital Studio, and a dedicated co-working space. In addition, they will also receive scholarships for the UNWTO Tourism Online Academy, be included in the UNWTO Catalogue of top innovators, be featured in a global communications campaign to showcase each winner and invited for mentorships with project partners.

The competition was organized in collaboration with Wakalua, the first global innovation hub for tourism, powered by Ávoris, and counted with great support from renowned tourism experts and partners, including; SPARK, the Innovation Hub of Les Roches from the Sommet Education group, Amadeus, IE University, NEST, KPMG, MasterCard, Telefonica, Wayra, ClarkeModet, The FarCo, BBVA, MentorDay, Finnova, Google for Startups, the Valley Digital Business School, the Future Food Institute and the Inter-American Development Bank and the Singapore Tourism Board.

Innovation as priority

In 2022, UNWTO celebrated five years of its Department of Innovation, Education, and invesment. In that time, UNWTO has made innovation one of its main priorities for the sector, holding 23 competitions and challenges, as well as holding nine Tourism Tech Adventures, and creating an innovation network of more than 11,500 stakeholders drawn from every part of the diverse sector.

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UNWTO and Partners Advance Shared Accessibility Agenda for Tourism

UNWTO and Partners Advance Shared Accessibility Agenda for Tourism

UNWTO, Fundación ONCE and the Spanish Association for Standardization UNE have advanced efforts to introduce a comprehensive international standard for accessibility across the whole of the tourism sector.

At a special session on Seminar on Tourism for All, held at the FITUR 2023 tourism trade fair in Madrid, the three organizations were joined by representatives of tourism administrations, destinations, companies and professional industry associations to put forward new tools geared towards the implementation of the standard UNE-ISO 21902 on Accessible Tourism, across the value chain. These tools include a new user-guide focused on accommodation, food & beverage and MICE companies, launched at FITUR. The guide will serve ,as a starting point for assessing their levels of accessibility, and for developing or adapting their services.

This new guide was produced in collaboration with leading civil society and industry organizations such as Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, International Circle of Hospitality Directors (CIDH), as well as the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT). It is a follow up to the guidelines published in December, focusing on public administrations; in case of the latter, the support of Turismo de Portugal and Turismo de Argentina was key in messaging governments and destinations, entrusted with tourism policies, strategies and marketing plans.

Accessibility for growth and resilience

At the seminar, Miguel Carballeda, President of the ONCE Social Group and Jose Manuel Huesa, Director of Servimedia, argued that there is no longer any excuse for any destination or leisure and tourism experience to be inaccessible to any tourist, regardless of their background or ability. UNWTO Executive Director, Zoritsa Urosevic, added that accessibility is key to achieving SDGs. It is also key to resilience, since it brings along new customers, improving the sector's economic performance. Javier García Diaz, Director General of UNE and Vice-President of ISO, concluded that accessibility standards should be taken as guidance tools in carrying out improvements, instead of obligatory sets of measures.

Also in Madrid, the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador introduced its new policies planning at this event, while the City Hall of Cordoba (Spain) shared new actions at a local destination level, benefitting local communities and visitors. RIU Hotel & Resorts and International Circle of Hospitality Directors tackled the most pressing challenging in applying standards and the myriad of opportunities that universal accessibility entails.  

The speakers proved once more why accessibility is a major social inclusion and business opportunity as tourism's recovery continues. UNWTO, its partners and new collaborating organizations remain committed to producing new policy guidance tools in the sphere of accessibility, throughout 2023, leading the change.

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