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

    TURESPAÑA will be presenting Spain’s official Tourism Outlook for the upcoming summer season.

    When:  30 May 2013, 5-7 p.m.

    Where: Salón de Actos, Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo, Paseo de la Castellana 162

    For registration and full programme, please visit www.tourspain.es.

 

PR No.: PR13023

Meeting UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, in Ankara, President Gül emphasised tourism’s contribution to “global peace, interaction between cultures and to the efforts to overcome biases”.

Other topics addressed during the meeting included the importance of visa facilitation in stimulating tourism growth and the most recent trends in the tourism sector in the world and in Europe with President Gül stressing that “borders must be open to travel”.

“Turkey has placed tourism firmly as a priority in the development of the country and the wellbeing of its people”, said Mr. Rifai. “The number of tourists visiting Turkey soared from less than 10 million in 2000 to nearly 35 million in 2012. This impressive growth is the result of a strong commitment to the sector and an adequate national tourism policy which includes issues such as visa facilitation for key emerging markets such as Russia”

In 2012, 34.9 million international tourists visited Turkey, generating more than US$ 25.7 billion in exports and making it the 6^th most visited country in the world. Tourism is one of the leading economic activities of Turkey, accounting for 16% 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, 48 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

Principal Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO.org

 

WTTC

Communications Director: Toby Nicol

Tel: (+44 ) 207481 6483

www.wttc.org

PR No.: PR13019

Hosted by the Government of Turkey, the meeting was chaired by the Minister of Tourism of Greece, Olga Kefalogianni, in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Abdurrahman Arıci, the Minister of Economy of Lithuania, Birutè Vesaite, and UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

“The 55^th Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe was an excellent opportunity to exchange information about tourism trends in Europe and in the world as well as to share views about the challenges and opportunities facing European tourism.” said Kefalogianni. “In this respect, UNWTO acts as an important support to us through the expertise it offers to its Member States.”

“The common mission of all tourism stakeholders should be to work towards promoting greater awareness of the sector, especially to promote its sustainability. In Turkey, we firmly believe that the growth of tourism can only be achieved through an international collaborative vision.” said Arıcı

“The annual meeting of the UNWTO Commission for Europe aims to achieve a greater regional coordination and to engage UNWTO Member States in the activities of the Organization. Amidst the current economic situation, cooperation and the exchange of views and good practices between countries in Europe becomes ever more important”, said Rifai.

During the meeting, UNWTO advanced two important initiatives to promote a sustainable and responsible tourism. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on sustainable tourism development was signed between Greece and UNWTO. The MoU includes the promotion of sustainable tourism practices and the introduction of measures that respond to climate change impacts in Greek destinations. It expands to a national level the cooperation recently established between UNWTO and Greece through the opening of a sustainable tourism observatory in the Aegean islands.   

In the framework of the UNWTO Campaign to engage the private sector in the promotion and implementation of ethical principles and practices in business operations, five representatives from Turkey’s tourism private sector - Festtravel, TOBB, TUROFED, TURSAB, and the Turkish Tourism Investors Association – joined the Private Sector Commitment to the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. Through the Commitment companies pledge to uphold, promote and implement the values of responsible and sustainable tourism development championed by the Code of Ethics.

“Tourism is an important part of Europe’s economy. In order to raise tourism sector’s competitiveness and ensure its sustainable growth we highly support UNWTO’s initiative to promote the application of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism principles to tourism business worldwide.” said the Minister of Economy of Lithuania, Birutè Vesaite.

 

Contacts:

UNWTO

Principal Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60