UN Tourism Launches National Open Innovation Challenge in Collaboration with France

• Europe
• 24 Oct 2024

UN Tourism has announced the UN Tourism National Open Innovation Challenge, in partnership with France. This groundbreaking collaboration marks a significant milestone as it is the first time UN Tourism and the Government of France have joined forces to empower innovation and entrepreneurship in the sector.

France, the most visited country in the world with 100 million international tourist arrivals in 2023, is also a vibrant hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. With nearly 60,000 startups and over 30 unicorns, it stands as a beacon of innovation.

Our new competition will help find and recognize the next wave of tourism innovators and give them the support they need to truly transform our sector

‘As the world's leading tourist destination and a land of innovation with a dynamic ecosystem of start-ups, France is now giving itself the resources it needs to nurture the future champions of travel tech. This is good news for the tourism economy, but it's also good news for the planet. It's in our start-ups that the solutions for building a more sustainable, more responsible tourism and for decarbonising the entire sector are being born. I am delighted that they can now benefit from the recognition and support of UN Tourism, which will enable them to become more international and share their best practices’, says Marina Ferrari, Delegated Minister for Tourism Economy of France.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili says: “As the world’s top tourism destination, France is at the forefront of innovation. Our new competition will help find and recognize the next wave of tourism innovators and give them the support they need to truly transform our sector.”

“We commend the impressive ‘Welcome to France’ and ‘French Tech’ initiatives. These initiatives nurture and guide successful startups by leveraging the strengths of their communities. They set an exemplary standard for the rest of the world, encompassing almost 25,000 startups and representing over 1.1 million direct and indirect jobs”, says Natalia Bayona, UN Tourism Executive Director.

The Challenge is open to pairs of French startups (headquartered in France) and large companies (French or foreign) in the tourism sector.

• The co-developed solution must address a use case in travel tech or tourism innovation.
• Startups must have a minimum viable product (MVP), a prototype, or a solution ready for scaling.
• Companies must be able to provide resources, mentorship, and support for implementation and expansion.

Applications are now open and will close at the end of March 2025.

Related links

• Download News Release on PDF
• UN Tourism National Open Innovation Challenge

Sustainable Tourism through Destinations: Mallorca Hosts 2024 Global INSTO Meeting and III Sustainable Destinations Summit

• Europe
• 18 Oct 2024

UN Tourism has brought together its International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories to explore actionable policy recommendations that drive sustainable practices across destinations.

Organized by the Fundació Mallorca Turisme (Consell de Mallorca) with the support of UN Tourism, the 2024 meeting of the Network (INSTO) was held alongside the III Sustainable Destinations Summit. Welcoming more than 100 participants, the events featured thought leaders, academics, government officials, and development practitioners to address key issues surrounding the advancement of sustainable tourism worldwide.

Topics discussed included the vital need to enhance governance between national and regional levels, as well as measuring the local impact of tourism through effective data management. Out of these discussions, delegates identified the best ways to forge actionable policies that drive sustainable practices across destinations.

Science-driven transformation

UN Tourism’s Executive Director, Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic, said: “As we are meeting at the backdrop of just adopted new metrics beyond GDP for measuring the Sustainability of Tourism by the UN Statistical Commission, let us collectively mainstream – as INSTO network-  this new set of indicators, placing sciences at the heart of tourism transformation. Together, we are accelerating progress towards more responsible, accessible, and sustainable tourism destinations.”

José Marcial Rodríguez Díaz, Executive Counsellor for Tourism of Consell de Mallorca, highlighted the efforts being made by his Department "to promote real coexistence between residents and tourists, encouraging responsible tourism among all visitors and within a framework of sustainable development of tourist activity:

“From day one, at the Consell de Mallorca we have been committed to the maximum respect for coexistence; this is our main purpose and mission. For all these reasons, we cannot make the wrong enemy in tourism. We must find the balance between the temporary resident and the permanent resident; between feeling visited and not invaded".

Launched in 2004, the UNWTO International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO) aims to foster continuous improvement in sustainability and resilience within the tourism sector. Through systematic monitoring of tourism performance, INSTO connects dedicated destinations, enabling the exchange of knowledge and best practices for responsible tourism management.

Today, INSTO numbers 45 members from the Americas, Asia & the Pacific, and Europe, with exciting new additions from observatories in Colombia and Austria.

Related links:

• Sustainable Development
• Download the Press Release in PDF

UN Tourism and easyJet holidays advance partnership towards ESG Framework for Tourism Businesses

• Europe
• 30 Sep 2024

UN Tourism and easyJet holidays have stepped up their collaboration as they develop a groundbreaking ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Framework for businesses across the sector.

According to the latest UN Tourism data, international tourist arrivals have returned to 96% of pre-pandemic levels, with full recovery likely by the end of the year. With further growth anticipated, there is a pressing need to look beyond economic impacts of the sector and measure metrics relating to environmental dependencies, community impact, employee wellbeing, and much more. However, the sector currently lacks a unified Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting framework, making it difficult for tourism companies and stakeholders to measure, compare, and meaningfully communicate their sustainability efforts and impacts.

UN Tourism is proud to be working with easyJet holidays to address the vital need for a clear, consistent ESG Framework for our sector

Scaling up support for ESG

To address this, UN Tourism, in collaboration with the University of Oxford (Oxford SDG Impact Lab), has been developing the first harmonized ESG Framework for Tourism Businesses. easyJet holidays has been part of the project from its inception and is now scaling up its support to accelerate the next critical phases. Through this strategic partnership, easyJet holidays will play a key role in supporting the research and development of the ESG Framework, including pilot testing with companies worldwide, stakeholder engagement, and organization of awareness initiatives.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili says: "UN Tourism is proud to be working with easyJet holidays to address the vital need for a clear, consistent ESG Framework for our sector. As we rollout this out, such public-private collaboration play a key role in scaling up our efforts to better understand and manage tourism's impacts at every level."

Garry Wilson, easyJet holidays' Chief Executive Officer says: "We're extremely proud to continue our partnership with UN Tourism, as a founding partner in developing  the first consistent ESG framework for the tourism industry. We strongly believe in the power of collaboration, between the public and private sector, as an important and effective driver of achieving our Sustainable Development Goals."

Collaborative effort and common statistics framework

The development of the ESG Framework is being guided by extensive research, with input from nearly 600 tourism companies worldwide to date. This comprehensive approach ensures that the Framework addresses the real-world challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

The ESG Framework aligns closely with UN Tourism's "Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism" (SF-MST), endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission with unanimous support from all 193 UN Member States. MST establishes fundamental concepts, definitions, data structures, and indicators for assessing tourism sustainability from the international to the local levels. The ESG Framework extends these principles to businesses, fostering greater alignment between public and private sector data.

Related Links

• Download News Prelease on PDF
• ESG Project website