Azerbaijan, Baku, 4 April 2018 - The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili met H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of Republic of Azerbaijan to discuss the development of the tourism sector in the country and how to further strengthen cooperation between Azerbaijan and UNWTO.

PR No.: PR 18028

The UNWTO.TedQual Programme is pleased to announce that the following Tourism Education programme at the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University has been awarded the UNWTO.TedQual Certification:

• Bachelor of Social Sciences: Hospitality and Tourism

List of Institutions with UNWTO.TedQual certified tourism education and training programmes

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The UNWTO Silk Road Programme welcomes Malaysia, who recently joined the Programme, now comprising 34 Member States.

Mr Zurab Pololikashvili, the UNWTO Secretary General, praised its adhesion in his speech at the 8^th UNWTO Silk Road Ministers’ Meeting at ITB Berlin 2018.

Malaysia, famous for its cultural and natural heritage, started its trade along the historic routes of the Maritime Silk Road in the 7^th century. Due to its strategic position between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, the country became a meeting point for traders and travellers from East and West. Attracted by supplies ranging from tin to spices, ships travelled along the narrow Malaysian Straits of Malacca to trade, exchange and replenish stocks. Malaysian history of continual interaction with cultures, religions and traders is reflected by its diverse intangible heritage, music, dance and cuisine.

Malaysia has a strong interest in working with the UNWTO Silk Road Programme to develop collaborative maritime experiences along the Silk Road together with the other Member States, and numerous UNWTO Affiliate Members from the public and private tourism sphere.  

Under the auspices of UNWTO, Malaysia has already contributed valuable input to UNWTO’s research publication "Tourism on the 21st century Maritime Silk Road: impacts and opportunities".

The UNWTO Silk Road Programme is looking forward to working together with Malaysia to revive historic Silk Road routes as a sustainable and internationally competitive tourism concept.

Click in the image to know more about the activities implemented in 2017 and 2018:  

Training in Bangladesh, January 2018	Media training/field visit, Botswana, December 2017	Training in Guinea, November 2017
Workshop in Gabon-Niger, July 2017	Media training/field visit in Congo, July 2017	Workshop in China, March 2017

Brazaville hosted a seminar involving 20 African journalists where the different angles of sustainable tourism-related topics was addressed. 

A group of international journalists joined the activity and had the opportunity to cover the presentation of the first Tourism Plan for the country as well as to visit projects related to sustainable tourism and wildlife like Odzala Park and the cataracts. The initiative has served to enhancing the understanding of the journalists about the potential of the sector in the African continent as well as to understand the link between sustainable tourism and wildlife preservation. 

Madrid, Spain, 3 March 2018 - “To engage the media and to recognize the work of journalists in the coverage of wildlife and sustainable tourism.” This is the ultimate goal of the Media Award announced by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on the occassion of Wildlife Day celebrated on 3 March. The UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative aims to promote the value of tourism for wildlife conservation and includes also training to tourism administrations and to media on the theme.

PR No.: PR 18019

The UNWTO/Chimelong Media Award seeks to recognize the most committed and original purveyors of news and stories related to wildlife conservation and tourism.

“The engagement of media is as important as that of governments and private sector to address the role of tourism as a driver to foster wildlife conservation. Much of our activities in this area are focused in Africa and Asia. The African continent for example is a unique case with regard to wildlife and tourism. Supporting the role of tourism in wildlife conservation is critical for socio-economic development and the achievement of the SDGs and the Agenda 2030 in Africa” said UNWTO Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvili. 

The UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative is being implemented between 2017 and 2019 and aims at engaging key stakeholders like the media and tourism administrations in fostering sustainable tourism as a means to protect wildlife. Seven African countries (Republic of Guinee, Niger, Republic of Congo, Botswana, Benin, Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo) hosted in 2017 activities of the UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative. Over 100 tourism officers and 50 media professionals have enhanced their capacities and understanding on wildlife through these activities.

A jury of international experts will choose the best piece promoting wildlife and tourism

The Jury of the Media Award is integrated by representatives from UNWTO, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), UN Environment and Lonely Planet.

John Scanlon, Secretary General of CITES commented “we welcome the initiative of UNWTO on occasion of the World Wildlife Day to highlight the role of the media in raising awareness of how well-managed tourism can support wildlife protection. Journalists can inform and educate the general public, and thereby help generate a positive change in how we view wildlife and sustainable tourism, both within governments and with the private sector”. Scanlon invited journalists worldwide to take part in the competition, “join us in advancing the global cause for wildlife by participating in this years’ Media Award on Wildlife and Sustainable Tourism”, he said.

The role of sustainable tourism in fostering wildlife protection is stressed by Tom Hall, Editorial Director of Lonely Planet and member of the Jury of the UNWTO/Chimelong Media Award. “I'm pleased to be a part of the UNWTO/Chimelong Media Award judging process as the protection of wildlife and advocacy of sustainable tourism is vital to the positive future of travel,” he said.

The Media Award welcomes articles, reports and interviews addressing the topic of wildlife and sustainable tourism published between January 2017 and June 2018 in any of the five UNWTO official languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic).

The deadline for submissions is 15^th July 2018. The awardee will be designated at the Awards Ceremony that will take place in September 2018.    

Contact:

Marcelo Risi, Senior Media Officer, UNWTO

mrisi@unwto.org

Ruth Gómez Sobrino, Project Manager Media Component, UNWTO/Chimelong initiative: rgomez@unwto.org

Indonesia has recently become the 7^th country in the world, the 4^th in the Asia-Pacific but the 1st in South East Asia in international openness according to UNWTO’s openness data for 2016. This came as a result of a Presidential Decree of March 2016 which granted visa exemption to 169 countries and special administration regions the world over. The policy shift in visa facilitation is intended to increase the number of international tourists to 20 million in 2019 which is expected to generate USD 24 billion thereby making tourism its number 1 export earner.

This change in the government’s visa regime was prompted by 1 main factor: the findings of a joint research UNWTO and WTTC presented to the 4^th T20 Ministers’ meeting in 2012 which concluded that policy changes involving visa facilitation brought about growth in tourist arrivals ranging between 5% and 25% annually on average over a period of 3 years.

Indonesia’s visa relaxation also stems from the fact that since 2014, the government has prioritized tourism as a key economic sector to drive the overall national development of the country. This is because tourism in recent years increased its contribution to the national income from 10% to 17% and rose in ranking from the 5^th position to become the 4^th biggest foreign exchange earner after oil and gas, coal and palm oil. For the 20 million international tourists forecast for 2019, Indonesia is expecting to cash in USD 24 billion in international tourist receipts.

UNWTO undertook a study in April 2017 to provide a preliminary analysis of the first year of the application of Indonesia’s visa free policy in the form of desk research and stakeholder consultations.

One important finding of this preliminary study is the fact that the visa free policy has indeed been positive for business in Indonesia, and this is supported by impressive growth figures and overall industry optimism.

However, as this 169 country visa free policy became fully operational only a year ago, there is insufficient data to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the visa policy and to determine fully if there is a causal relationship between the introduction of visa-free travel and the nearly 20% year on year growth. Nonetheless, early indications suggest that the policy is indeed increasing visitor demand to Indonesia.

Research over the years has underlined the importance of visa free policies to successful national tourism development strategies. However, a visa free policy in isolation is no guarantee for tourism growth. Rather, such policies should be seen as part of an overall national effort.

Related links:

UNWTO's work in the field of Travel Facilitation

PR No.: PR

The UNWTO.TedQual Programme is pleased to announce that the following Tourism Education Programme at City University of Macau has been awarded the UNWTO.TedQual Certification: 

• Bachelor of International Hospitality and Tourism Management with Honors (chinese/english)

List of Institutions with UNWTO.TedQual certified tourism education and training programmes (link: /institutions-unwtotedqual-certified-programmes)