UN Tourism and UN Habitat Partner for a Better Urban Future Through Tourism
UN Tourism and Spain’s Office of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) partnered to discuss the role and challenges of tourism in cities and territories.
The meeting, held with the support of the Department of Territorial Planning of the Basque Government under the theme “Advancing Sustainable Urban Tourism: developing tools for promoting good practices in cities”, gathered experts from UN agencies, international organizations, representatives of national, regional and local governments, academia and the private sector. The Experts Group explored how the sector can contribute to the creation of more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities, as well as addressing the challenges around urban tourism.
Representatives from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bilbao, Genoa, Medellin, Porto, Valencia, Venice, as well as the Basque Country, shared their policies and practices fostering knowledge exchange and opportunities for mutual collaboration. From the UN Tourism and UN-Habitat intersection of mandates, different perspectives about the role of tourism as a contributor to the social, economic, environmental, and cultural sustainability of the cities were brought to the debate.
Representatives of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme and the (OECD) Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development were also part to the meeting and shared their vision and experiences in a topic that brings together cities, tourism, territories, economy, environment, culture and heritage.
Objectives and outcomes of the Expert Group Meeting
The experts meeting focused on:
- Identifying current challenges for sustainable urban tourism.
- Understanding the role of tourism in the Urban Agenda.
- Looking into the latest trends and ongoing initiatives, policies and plans on urban tourism.
- Exploring how innovative approaches could contribute to promoting sustainable tourism in urban contexts and territories.
- Exploring ways to integrate a sustainable urban tourism approach into policies and plans in urban and territorial settings.
Next Steps in the Global Urban Agenda
The Expert Group Meeting takeaways will deepen the work of both UN Agencies on advancing sustainable and resilient cities and territories and will serve to guide regional and local governments and other stakeholders in identifying the key challenges facing urban tourism in order to move towards sustainability in their contexts, providing them with tools and proposals to address them.
The conclusions from the meeting will also serve to prepare the discussions and events on sustainable urban tourism at the 12th World Urban Forum (WUF 12) in November 2024 in Cairo, Egypt and the Mayors Forum for Sustainable Urban Tourism, led by UN Tourism.
To achieve this goal, UN Tourism engaged the services of Interbrand, the leading global branding agency. Interbrand successfully translated the Organization’s renewed vision for tourism into a new visual identity and brand narrative.
Member States - both as recipients of its services, assistance and as active stakeholders in the Organization's Programme of Work.
The new brand expression is not only limited to words and messages but also expands into a reinvented visual discourse. UN Tourism has a new design language starting from its symbol. “Bringing the world closer” is the new tagline that inspires the concept of a Pangea shaping a human figure in action. This drastic evolution from the former globe symbols reflects the Organization’s emphasis on the dynamic nature of tourism and on putting people first.