The Hospitality Challenge: Supporting the Hospitality Talents of Tomorrow

• All Regions
• 12 Nov 2020

In June 2020, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Sommet Education launched the Hospitality Challenge. This was designed to identify ideas and individuals capable of accelerating the recovery of the tourism sector in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initiative has received almost 600 applications from all around the world. The 30 top finalists will be granted a full-board scholarship for Bachelor or Master’s degree-level courses at 30 different hospitality programs. All of them are hosted by Sommet’s internationally renowned institutions specialized in Hospitality and Culinary Arts: Glion Institute of Higher Education, Les Roches, and École Ducasse.

The scholarships are dedicated to accelerating the personal development of talented individuals who will build the Hospitality of Tomorrow. Bringing the submitted projects to life and increasing their chances of impacting the tourism sector has been the driving force of this challenge. The three most entrepreneurial projects among the 30 winners will receive seed money from Eurazeo, the leading global investment group to which Sommet Education belongs.

Out of the 600 applications, 39% were submitted from the Americas, followed by Europe (28%), Africa and the Middle East (both 18%), and Asia and the Pacific (15%).

It shows how innovators from around the world can keep tourism, hospitality and travel at the very forefront of sustainable development and positive change for all

Putting People and Planet First

The Hospitality Challenge focused on four categories. The Hotels and Hotel-Related Operations category was the most popular, receiving 41% of all applications, followed by the Luxury Travels, Goods and Services category (34%), then the Food and Beverage category (17%), and finally the Smart Real Estate category (8%). The breakdown of the different categories demonstrates a strong interest in improving the operational side of hotels through its social impact, with many projects aiming to reduce unemployment and the better management of hotel staff.

Among the four categories, four eminent trends have emerged: waste reduction and sustainability, jobs and education, safety and travel experience, as well as revenue and productivity. Almost 50% of the projects address Sustainable Development Goal 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth. Many projects also offer new perspectives on the COVID-19 response.

A large number of the high-quality projects promoting inclusivity and sustainability to reinvent the Hospitality of Tomorrow, also provides fresh ideasfor the tourism sector. These will allow tourism to keep on contributing to overall socio-economic recovery.

Winners Announced in March 2021

UNWTO and Sommet Education would like to thank all the participants, innovators and entrepreneurs for their enthusiasm and contributions to the Hospitality Challenge, and to congratulate the 30 selected finalists.

UNWTO Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The tourism of tomorrow must embrace new ideas, new voices and the full diversity the sector has to offer. This competition highlights the best global tourism and hospitality has to offer. It shows how innovators from around the world can keep tourism, hospitality and travel at the very forefront of sustainable development and positive change for all.”

Benoît-Etienne Domenget, Sommet Education CEO adds “we are thrilled to welcome so many diversified talents in our institutions next year. The variety of backgrounds and profiles will source of creativity and bring fresh perspectives to all.”

Out of the following 30 selected finalists, the three winning projects will be announced in March 2021:

• “Chartok” – Hotel Collaboration Software
• “Coliving Hotels” - Medium and long-term shared housing rentals
• “Digital Butler” – Personalized guest assistance
• “Digital Concierge” - Digitalized guest experience
• “FirstClasset” – Asset model and payment process
• “Food safety and organic food production”
• “GauVendi” – Retail system
• “Go-Travel direct hotel booking club” – Data driven direct booking club
• “Hogaru” – Cleaning and facility management provider
• “Hosbot” – Digital Hospitality assistant
• “Hospitality Onlearning” – Online Hospitality learning platform
• “HUTS” – HR management support
• “Join F&B” – Recruitment of disabled people service
• “Komodore” – Guest management automation
• “Lemonade Social” – Experience driven e-commerce
• “Little Big Travel” – Experience travel provider
• “Luxury Origin” – Immersive customizable luxury experience
• “Mes Petites Feuilles” – Urban SmartFarming
• “Olappa Linens” – Sustainable linen
• “Recotrak” – Certification process for food donation
• “Searchef” – Food & Beverage sharing platform
• “Service Club Delivery” – Recruitment solution
• “SiliconBali” – Youth employability
• “Travel Seeds” – Sustainable on-line booking platform
• “TrekSecure” - Covid contagion response application
• “Tiptrip” – On-line guest comment management
• “Viridescent” – Eco-friendly on-line booking platform
• “Virtual Hospitality Research Platform” - Research Hospitality platform
• “Woof Together” – Standards in pet-friendly hospitality
• “Young Hotelier Network”- Social impact community integration

Related links

• Download the press release in PDF
• UNWTO and Sommet Education Hospitality Challenge
• UNWTO: Innovation, Investment and Digital Transformation
• UNWTO Brings Tourism Sector Together to Plan for the Future

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UNWTO Brings Tourism Sector Together to Plan for the Future

• All Regions
• 6 Nov 2020

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has once again brought leaders from across the sector together for high-level talks aimed at strengthening cooperation between the public and private sectors. The 42nd Plenary Session of the United Nations specialized agency’s Affiliate Members focused both on immediate priorities for tourism’s vital restart and on the longer-term task of ensuring the sector continues to be a key pillar of sustainable development.

The event provided a unique, high-level platform to allow Members to share their best practices and proposals for recovery. With the theme “Recovering Tourism. Rebuilding Trust. Reinforcing Partnerships,” the Session echoed the wider priorities of UNWTO, above all restoring confidence in international travel and promoting collaboration at every level. Participants were encouraged to make use of the new Affiliate Members Virtual Corner, launched to coincide with the Plenary Session.

United behind the UNWTO Programme of Work

Tourism needs the support of governments and international organizations to grow back and grow back stronger and more resilient, benefitting many millions of people and businesses worldwide

The Plenary Session focused on laying the foundations for UNWTO’s Programme of Work for 2021. This roadmap includes continuing to make tourism a key pillar of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and further enhancing sustainability and inclusivity across the whole of the sector. UNWTO’s Affiliate Members, who include businesses, academia and civil society actors, will play an important role in the United Nations specialized agency’s work in the challenging months ahead.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The engaged participation of every part of our sector will be needed to restart tourism and drive recovery. From the start of this crisis, tourism has led the way in adapting to the new reality and putting public health concerns first. Now, tourism needs the support of governments and international organizations to grow back and grow back stronger and more resilient, benefitting many millions of people and businesses worldwide.”

Making good on UNWTO’s pledge to lead by example, this hybrid meeting again demonstrated that international travel is safe and that tourism is proactively adapting to the new post-COVID reality. In all, more than 200 delegates took part in the Plenary Session, either in-person or virtually, with the diversity of tourism on full display

Celebrating tourism at its best

Against the backdrop of Plenary Session, the UNWTO Affiliate Members Distinction Awards show how tourism is living up to its status as the ultimate people-first sector. The event celebrates those stakeholders that best embodied the spirit of solidarity and determination that underlined the sector’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. IFEMA, was recognized for its response to the crisis, in particular for allowing its exhibition spaces to be repurposed for healthcare. At the same time, CNN was recognized for its inspirational communication campaigns, including its work bringing the UNWTO #TravelTomorrow campaign to a global audience of millions.

Other Affiliate Members recognized at the 2020 Awards include Chameleon Strategies for its work in Asia, and both Facility Concept and the Africa Tourism Partners Company for advancing UNWTO’s work in Africa. The Xcaret Group was recognized for its work restarting attractions and theme parks, while IATA was commended for its work in support of the global air transport sector. Alongside these, CaixaBank was recognized for its contribution and support to tourism companies through its specialized business line "CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism", with the Ayuntamiento de Madrid leading by example in fostering public-private partnerships for response and recovery.

The ceremony also highlights tourism’s wider contribution and the role Affiliate Members are playing in advancing this. EGEDA was recognized for its work promoting the Sustainable Development Goals, the Seoul Tourism Organization, was commended for its work promoting tourism as a tool for peace and reconciliation, while the Royal Commission for Al Ula was singled out for its promotion of inclusive community development through tourism.

The UNWTO Affiliate Members Distinction Awards ceremony can be watched live online from 20:00 on Friday 6 November. Access the live stream here.

Related Links

• Download the press release in PDF
• UNWTO Affiliate Members: Working with the Private Sector
• UNWTO Affiliate Members Virtual Corner
• 42nd UNWTO Affiliate Members Plenary Session
• UNWTO in Namibia – First Visit to African Member State Since Start of Pandemic

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A Lifeline for Small Island States: UNWTO Joins IMO to Highlight Importance of Cruise Tourism

• All Regions
• 5 Nov 2020

In a joint statement issued today, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) highlight the importance of the cruise sector for the world economy.

According to industry data, the cruise sector supports 1.2 million jobs and contributes US$150 billion to the global economy every year. Tourism is vitally important for Small Islands States, where it sustains millions of livelihoods and brings substantial socio-economic benefits. 

The two UN agencies also recognise the efforts made by the industry, countries and international organizations to protect the safety, health and well-being of passengers and crew, as well as the health of the population of destination port States of cruise ships. Since cruise operations were suspended worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has been reviewing and enhancing its protocols to identify ways to go further in protecting the health of passengers, crew and the general public.  

The joint statement invites governments to use the Guidance on the gradual and safe resumption of operations of cruise ships in the European Union in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic (shared by IMO in Circular Letter No 4204/Add.26) to facilitate the recovery of the sector under safe conditions, as well as three framework documents (operator framework, passenger framework and seafarer framework) developed by the United Kingdom’s Chamber of Shipping together with CLIA. 

IMO and UNWTO emphasise that the resumption of cruise ship operations will also benefit the wider maritime community, since passenger ships participate in the automated mutual-assistance vessel rescue (AMVER) and are often requested by Rescue Coordination Centres to offer assistance to ships in distress at sea. 

IMO and UNWTO reiterate their call to Governments to designate all seafarers and marine personnel as key workers and remove any barriers to crew changes. 

RELATED LINKS

• Download the press release in PDF
• UNWTO: Tourism and COVID-19 – Putting People First
• Joint statement to support the safe resumption of cruise ship operations following the COVID-19 pandemic
• New International Code to Provide Greater Legal Protection for Tourists
• 75 Years of the United Nations: Cooperation and Trust as Important as Ever

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New International Code to Provide Greater Legal Protection for Tourists

• All Regions
• 2 Nov 2020

Tourists are to be given greater legal protection as consumers under new plans being advanced by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). With restoring confidence a key priority for the sector, the International Code for the Protection of Tourists advanced by UNWTO with the support of almost 100 Member States so far, will make the support available to tourists affected by emergency situations clearer and more consistent globally.

In its first meeting, the Committee for the Development of an International Code for the Protection of Tourists has featured the active participation of 92 UNWTO Member States. Together, they adopted a concrete plan of action to restore tourists’ confidence through a common and harmonized framework. Within the next weeks, international organizations, the European Commission as well as private stakeholders will be called upon to join this unprecedented initiative to achieve a more fair and balanced share of responsibilities among all tourism stakeholders in the post COVID-19 world.

Helping tourists in trouble

Ahead of today’s meeting, UNWTO published the Recommendations for the Assistance to International Tourists in Emergency Situations, laying the ground for the International Code for the Protection of Tourists.

Establishing a standard set of minimum consumer protection standards for tourists will help make people feel safer and more confident in international travel

These Recommendations are addressed at States and are designed to ensure that responsibility for tourists in emergency situations is shared fairly across the whole of the tourism value chain, including:

• Preventing possible disruptions by drawing up contingency plans and coordination protocols and training tourism stakeholders to assist tourists in emergency situations
• Providing real-time information for tourists
• Addressing cross-border cooperation between governments and tourism service providers
• Fostering close collaboration between governments and travel and accommodation providers
• Addressing the effective repatriation of tourists.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Uncertainty and a lack of trust in travel are among the biggest challenges we face as we work to restart tourism. An International Code for the Protection of Tourists will be a landmark step towards addressing this. Establishing a standard set of minimum consumer protection standards for tourists will help make people feel safer and more confident in international travel. And it will also ensure that the responsibility of managing the disruptions caused by this pandemic is shared fairly across the whole of our sector.”

It is anticipated a progress report on the development of the International Code for the Protection of Tourists will be presented at the next UNWTO General Assembly (end of 2021 in Marrakech, Morocco) for approval by Member States.

Related Links

• Download the press release in PDF
• Recommendations for the Assistance to International Tourists in Emergency Situations
• UNWTO Delegation in Brussels for Talks with European Institution Leaders
• Stepping up support and coordination for a safe and sustainable recovery of tourism

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International Tourism Down 70% as Travel Restrictions Impact All Regions

• All Regions
• 27 Oct 2020

Restrictions on travel introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to hit global tourism hard, with the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) showing a 70% fall in international arrivals for the first eight months of 2020.

According to the newest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international arrivals plunged 81% in July and 79% in August, traditionally the two busiest months of the year and the peak of the Northern Hemisphere summer season. The drop until August represents 700 million fewer arrivals compared to the same period in 2019 and translates into a loss of US$ 730 billion in export revenues from international tourism. This is more than eight times the loss experienced on the back of the 2009 global economic and financial crisis.

“This unprecedented decline is having dramatic social and economic consequences, and puts millions of jobs and businesses at risk,” warned UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. “This underlines the urgent need to safely restart tourism, in a timely and coordinated manner”.

This unprecedented decline is having dramatic social and economic consequences, and puts millions of jobs and businesses at risk

Recovery short-lived

All world regions recorded large declines in arrivals in the first eight months of the year. Asia and the Pacific, the first region to suffer from the impact of COVID-19, saw a 79% decrease in arrivals, followed by Africa and the Middle East (both - 69%), Europe (-68%) and the Americas (-65%).

Following its gradual reopening of international borders, Europe recorded comparatively smaller declines in July and August (-72% and -69%, respectively). The recovery was short-lived however, as travel restrictions and advisories were reintroduced amid an increase in contagions. On the other side of the spectrum, Asia and the Pacific recorded the largest declines with -96% in both months, reflecting the closure of borders in China and other major destinations in the region.

Demand for travel remains largely subdued due to the ongoing uncertainty about the pandemic and low confidence. Based on the latest trends, UNWTO expects an overall drop close to 70% for the whole of 2020.

Rebound in international demand expected by Q3 2021

UNWTO’s Panel of Experts foresees a rebound in international tourism in 2021, mostly in the third quarter of 2021. However, around 20% of experts suggest the rebound could occur only in 2022. Travel restrictions are seen as the main barrier standing in the way of the recovery of international tourism, along with slow virus containment and low consumer confidence. The lack of coordinated response among countries to ensure harmonized protocols and coordinated restrictions, as well as the deteriorating economic environment were also identified by experts as important obstacles for recovery.

Relevant links

• Download the press release in PDF
• UNWTO World Tourism Barometer Volume 18 • Issue 6 • October 2020
• International Tourism and COVID-19
• UNWTO Tourism Recovery Tracker
• Covid-19: Putting people first
• Report: Travel Restrictions 7th

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75 Years of the United Nations: Cooperation and Trust as Important as Ever

• All Regions
• 23 Oct 2020

UNWTO Secretary-General Message, 23 October 2020

The United Nations, of which UNWTO is proud to be a part, was established to promote peace among nations and allow us to work together to build a better future for all.

75 years on, this mission is more relevant than ever.

The ideals that lie at the heart of the United Nations system: solidarity, cooperation and the drive for equality are the same ideals needed to ensure our recovery from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is true for every part of our societies, not least for tourism. Around the world, many millions of people are eagerly waiting for tourism to restart. For many, their livelihoods depend on it.

For this reason, UNWTO has pledged to not stand still. Even where others urge caution, we have a responsibility to move forwards – and to bring the rest of the sector, as well as political leaders, with us.

The sixth meeting of our Global Tourism Crisis Committee emphasized just how determined every part of global tourism is to get moving again. Once again, through the Committee we succeeded in bringing together a wide range of voices, reflecting the diversity of tourism itself. These included both political and business leaders – those in a position to transform ideas into action.

Only together are we stronger. We will draw on both the power of the private sector and the determination of governments to introduce a new set of Common Safety Protocols for tourism.

These will provide a clear and harmonized set of safety and hygiene protocols, vital if we are to raise confidence in international travel.

At the same time, we realize that people don’t just want to feel safe when they travel. They also want to be reassured that they will be supported in times of uncertainty.

For this reason, UNWTO will also establish an International Code for the Protection of Tourists, and we are working to ensure all our Member States, not just those in the EU zone, are included in plans to for the safe relaunch of free movement of people across Europe.

All of our actions are guided by clear, objective analysis of this rapidly-evolving situation.

Just as misinformation about the health risks of COVID-19 puts lives at risk, so too does misinformation about the safety of international travel place livelihoods in jeopardy.

From the very start of this crisis, UNWTO has been the trusted, verified source of information for every part of our sector, as well as for governments and international organizations. Our data and insights have guided tourism’s response and now inform its recovery.

As the UN celebrates 75 years of cooperation and progress, we stand behind the “Verified” campaign, launched by Secretary-General António Guterres to prevent the spread of false information while at the same time respecting freedom of opinion.

International travel can return safely – we have seen this first-hand through the return of in-person events. And we are working closely with airlines, airports and tourism accommodation providers to make clear that tourism is proactively leading the way in adapting to our new reality.

The benefits of restarting tourism will be felt far beyond our sector. It will help kickstart the recovery of our economies and societies.

And it will help us begin the next 75 years of the United Nations’ mission to bring peace and prosperity for all, with the determination to leave nobody behind.

UNWTO Secretary-General
Zurab Pololikashvili

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