The World Tourism Organization wishes to express, on behalf of the international tourism community, its heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the tragic accident in Santiago de Compostela as well as its solidarity to the Spanish authorities at this difficult time.

“Our thoughts at this terrible moment are with the families and friends of the victims and the people of Galicia and Spain” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

To raise awareness among the international community about the growing importance of pilgrimage and spiritual tourism in the light of tourism development is among the main objectives of the first International Congress on Pilgrimages and Tourism, to be held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in September 2014. UNWTO will collaborate with local and national Spanish authorities as organizers for the event (Santiago de Compostela, 12 July 2013).

UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, Secretary of State for Tourism of Spain Isabel Borrego Cortés and Galician President Alberto Nuñez Feijoo have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to organize the Congress which will take place in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, epicenter of one of the most renowned pilgrimage routes in the world: The Route of Santiago. Policies and strategies for the preservation and management of heritage sites along religious routes will be discussed, highlighting the positive contribution of pilgrimages to sustainable growth and international peace.

“Alongside religious conviction, values of exchange are at the heart of the spiritual journey in any pilgrimage, the same values at the core of tourism,” said the UNWTO Secretary-General. “I have every confidence that this event will offer a unique opportunity for us to explore the dimensions of tourism and pilgrimages, and help us to see how tourism can foster spiritual and cultural respect and understanding among people, while creating opportunities to benefit populations worldwide,” he added.

Spiritual tourism comprises a significant portion of the tourism sector, with pilgrims and religious travelers making up a sizeable part of domestic and international tourism. UNWTO estimates that 300 to 330 million tourists visit the world´s key religious sites every year.

Useful links:

Secretariat of State for Tourism of Spain

Xunta de Galicia

Contacts:

UNWTO Senior Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: +34 91-567-8100

Fax: +34 91-567-8218

PR No.: PR13044

UNWTO will draw on the expertise of Isdefe in providing engineering services to the Spanish Administration and international public bodies.

“We share a common view with Isdefe and this agreement will contribute to advance new concepts for tourism development which will be positioned in the global tourism agenda”, said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, in signing the agreement.

Specific areas of cooperation include projects on tourism and infrastructure and connectivity, energy, and development assistance.

“We are proud to join our efforts to the work that UNWTO carries out in support of one of the leading economic activities of our time”, said Francisco Quereda Rubio, CEO of Isdefe. “This agreement consolidates our commitment to overall UN goals of sustainability and corporate social responsibility, which we subscribed already in 2009 when we joined the Global Compact of the United Nations”, he added.

Relevant links:

ISDEFE

Contact:

Senior Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

PR No.: PR13043

“Sweden is among the top contenders for its innovation, space technologies and sustainable tourism. It’s very exciting to see our joint project and partnership on innovation reach the global market. We will present some interesting results on the progress within this coming year. This is a possibility for knowledge sharing and an opportunity for countries to benefit from each other’s development”, said Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General, will be one of the first advisors in the Global Tourism Innovation Network. The purpose with the global network is to contribute to cooperation in sustainable and innovative development by facilitating benchmarking and knowledge opportunities for sustainable development in the tourism sector.

“I am very proud to announce the Secretary-General as an advisor in our Global Tourism Innovation Network. We are now looking forward to spearheading Down to Earth for Tourism together with UNWTO. This offers an exciting new toolbox for finding new innovative solutions to meet challenges for the tourism sector in the 21 century”, says Jan Lundin, President of the Swedish Travel and Tourism Industry Federation.

During the coming year, the three pilot projects will be conducted in Africa, in Asia and in Sweden, launched in October 2013 at the Global Tourism Innovation Summit in conjunction with the Swedish Tourism Gala in Stockholm.

Useful Links:

UNWTO and Swedish Tourism launch new initiative at Rio+20

Contacts:

RTS

Communications Director: Anneli Sundström

Tel: +46 (0)70-250 35 91

UNWTO

Senior Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: +34 91-567-8100

Fax: +34 91-567-8218

PR No.: PR13037

UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai emphasized the importance of tourism to the Cyprus economy and highlighted the existing opportunities to grow the sector. ”The country is open for business and tourists all year around”. Rifai expressed his confidence that Cyprus would “implement policies that ensure the steady growth of the tourism sector, namely in the area of air connectivity and visa facilitation”.

Topics addressed during the meeting with President Anastasiades included the importance of visa facilitation and open skies policies as well as the need for product diversification.

The Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, singled out the fight against seasonality and the diversification of the tourism product as main priorities in order to increase Cyprus’ competitiveness.

Jürgen Buchy, President of the German Travel Association (DRV), who accompanied the UNWTO Secretary-General during the visit, confirmed that “in the German market bookings to Cyprus are currently steady”.

In 2012, 2.5 million international tourists visited Cyprus (+3% compared to 2011), generating more than US$ 2.6 billion in exports. Tourism is one of the leading economic activities of Cyprus, accounting for 26% of all exports.

Note to Editors:

UNWTO and WTTC are jointly presenting heads of state and government around the world an Open Letter which calls on them to acknowledge tourism’s key role in delivering more sustained and balanced growth and to prioritize the sector higher in national policies in order to maximize its potential. The Open Letter outlines Travel & Tourism’s value as one of the world’s largest generators of jobs, a powerful driver of socio-economic growth and development and a key player in the transformation to the Green Economy. To date, 51 heads of state and government have received the Open Letter from UNWTO and WTTC.

Useful links:

Open Letter to Heads of State and Government

Contacts:

UNWTO

Senior Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

WTTC

Communications Director: Toby Nicol

Tel: (+44 ) 207481 6483