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UN Tourism News #21 | 3 March 2021
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Initiating Preparations for UNWTO General Assembly in Morocco The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Kingdom of Morocco met to advance the organization of the 24th UNWTO General Assembly in October 2021, the first global high-level United Nations event to be held since the beginning of the pandemic. |
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UNWTO Global Startup Competition Winners Announced Startups from around the world have been recognized for their unique contributions to sustainable and responsible tourism in the UNWTO SDGs Global Startup Competition. |
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The Power of Culture and Creativity in Tourism Recovery The shared values and close ties between tourism and culture stakeholders means both sectors can work together to ensure inclusive access to heritage, as countries around the world recover from the pandemic. In recognition of this mutually reinforcing relationship, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and UNESCO have collaborated to produce a set of new guidelines focusing on the responsible restart of cultural tourism. |
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Statistics to Restart Tourism in the Caribbean From the need for enhanced political engagement to developing relevant expertise, the World Tourism Organization, jointly with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, have united their Members in the Caribbean to address the key challenges they face in making effective use of statistics to drive the restart of their tourism sectors. |
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Tomorrow Today - What's new in UNWTO's Innovation, Education and Investments Department? |
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"The year 2020 taught us that the words innovation, sustainability and inclusion must be part of the tourism model that we must promote when we can travel proactively again”- Natalia Bayona, Director, Innovation, Education and investments. The first two months of the year were quite active for UNWTO’s Innovation, Education and Investment department, but this is just a small sampling of all the activities and initiatives that will take place this 2021 aimed at continuing to maintain Innovation, Education and Investments as the central focus in the recovery of the sector. Innovation:
Education:
Investments:
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The shared values and close ties between tourism and culture stakeholders means both sectors can work together to ensure inclusive access to heritage, as countries around the world recover from the pandemic. In recognition of this mutually reinforcing relationship, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and UNESCO have collaborated to produce a set of new guidelines focusing on the responsible restart of cultural tourism.
UNWTO invited the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to contribute to the UNWTO Inclusive Recovery Guide, Issue 2: Cultural Tourism. This is the second set of guidelines relating to the socio-cultural impacts of COVID-19 issued by UNWTO and will continue to be revised, as the situation evolves.
The publication draws on the insights and expertise of the two UN agencies to analyse the impact of the pandemic on their respective sectors. This includes how lost revenues are severely impacting communities, heritage sites, cultural events, spaces and institutions, while also weakening destinations’ competitiveness and market differentiation. The guidelines on cultural tourism also stress the need for support from policymakers to ensure the relevance of culture in the emergency and contingency planning within tourism destinations.
Alongside the new guidelines, UNWTO is urging the cultural tourism sector to create participatory governance structures, bringing together artists, creators, tourism and culture professionals, the private sector and local communities, for an open dialogue, data exchange and real-time solutions. The document also advocates for better urban–rural connections so as to ensure the benefits of both culture and tourism are enjoyed as widely as possible.
As a result of the pandemic, 90% of countries introduced total or partial closures of their World Heritage sites. In many cases, sites of special significance to humanity were closed to the public for the first time in decades. At the same time, the pandemic highlighted the relevance of both tourism and culture. The sudden fall in tourist arrivals has been felt across the globe, while millions of people have turned to virtual cultural experiences for comfort and inspiration.
The release of the guidelines comes within the context of the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development 2021, a UN initiative designed to recognize how different manifestations of culture, including cultural tourism, can contribute to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Startups from around the world have been recognized for their unique contributions to sustainable and responsible tourism in the UNWTO SDGs Global Startup Competition.
The competition, which was supported by the United Nations Innovation Network, attracted some 10,000 initial proposals. From these, the jury chose 25 winners from 18 countries, highlighting the array of tourism talent in every global region and its widespread ability to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Shortlisted finalists were judged according to criteria which included the potential of the startups to contribute to a specific Goal, their ability to be scaled-up and the maturity of both the product and the team behind it.
The 25 winning startups, selected by a jury made up of leaders from across the tourism sector, offer distinct solutions for advancing the SDGs. The Americas led the way in submitting winning proposals, with nine of the competition winners coming from the region. Europe provided eight winners, Asia and the Pacific six, and Africa and the Middle East one winner each.
By embracing innovation, we can realise this potential and build a better future for people and planet through tourism
“The winners show the power of new ideas for transforming our sector”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili in recognizing tourism’s potential to contribute to all Sustainable Development Goals. He added: “By embracing innovation, we can realise this potential and build a better future for people and planet through tourism. I congratulate them all and look forward to seeing these startups grow and deliver positive change.”
Lisandro Menu-Marque, Director-General of International Business Development for Globalia and Wakalua said: "The take-off of post-Covid tourism is moving closer and closer. The implementation of many of the innovative solutions, which have been brought us entrepreneurs from all over the world, will be part of this. The collaboration of institutions, governments and corporations will help host and scale up many of these projects through the Wakalua Hub, to make tourism a much more sustainable, responsible and socially impactful sector, all with the support of the UNWTO.”
Globalia is a key ally of UNWTO in its shift to lead the positive transformation of the sector, working together to identify and promote innovation through several competitions over recent years.
Likewise, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Qatar National Tourism Council Secretary General, H.E. Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Congratulations to all 25 winning startups that have showcased unique and pioneering solutions for sustainable tourism. We look forward to welcoming and hosting top startups at the Tourism Tech Adventures Forum in Doha, Qatar, which will boast a truly distinctive pitching opportunity.”
The winning startups will now be given expert support and backing to develop further, including through guided mentorship programmes from Amadeus, Google, IE University and FarCo, and tailored mentorship sessions from Mastercard and ClarkeModet.
The winners will also be invited to take part in a pitching event, to be hosted by Wakalua within the framework of Spain’s International Tourism Fair (FITUR). Another pitching event will take place at the Tourism Tech Adventures Forum, due to be held in Qatar in collaboration with Qatar Airways and Qatar National Tourism Council, another key partner for the project.
Furthermore, the winners will benefit from access to all UNWTO’s collaborators for the competition, opening the door for potential game-changing pilots and networking opportunities with Amazon Web Services, Globant, BBVA, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and IDB Lab, Telefonica, Plug and Play, the Advanced Leadership Foundation, Impact Hub, mentorDay and the destination partners for the Competition.
The winners and the SDG that the startup will help advance are as follows:
Etnica (Guatemala)
Ifarm Agritech (Kenya)
BlueDot (Canada)
Immersion India (India)
Sisterwave (Brazil)
ECOLOO Greentech Malaysia SDN BHD (Malaysia)
Source (United States of America)
BeFC (France)
Enexor BioEnergy (United States of America)
Swimsol (Austria)
Clio Muse Tours PC (Greece)
Community Homestay Network (Nepal)
DefinedCrowd (United States of America)
FREED GROUP (aka TravelFlan) (Hong Kong)
Travaxy - accessible travel (Israel)
Lumitics (Singapore)
ClimateTrade (Spain)
Opus 12, Inc. (United States of America)
Safety Line (France)
Seven Clean Seas (Singapore)
Impulse Travel (Colombia)
Nibi (Colombia)
Siliconbali (Portugal)
