The UNWTO.TedQual Programme is pleased to announce that the following Tourism Education Programmes at Guangdong Polytechnic of Science and Technology has been awarded the UNWTO.TedQual Certification:

• Tourism Management

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

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

• Bachelor of International Tourism Management (BITM)

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

http://academy.unwto.org/content/institutions-unwtotedqual-certified-programmes

The UNWTO.TedQual Programme is pleased to announce that the following Tourism Education Programmes at Zhuhai College of Jilin University have been awarded the UNWTO.TedQual Certification:

• Tourism Management
• Golf Management

List of Institutions with UNWTO.TedQual certified tourism education and training programmes (http://academy.unwto.org/content/institutions-unwtotedqual-certified-
programmes)

Fact Sheet on the Easter Sunday Attacks (4/21) in Sri Lanka - 6 May 2019

Message of the Secretary-General of UNWTO for Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the attacks and ahead of the support of global tourism community to the country

Press releases:

1. Special media statement by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau: Sri Lanka Tourism begins destination brand recovery process - 1 May 2019
2. Interview by Hiran Cooray, Chairman, Jetwing Symphony PLC by The Sunday Island - 4 May 2019

For further information on Sri Lanka, please contact:

Media Unit, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB)

Tel: 0112426900 (Ext.: 243)

UNWTO has successfully completed a mission to Ulaanbaatar to organise a two-day national tourism workshop in response to a requestreceived from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) of Mongolia for technical assistance to increase international tourist arrivals.

In line with the request, the main purpose of the workshop was capacity-building on overall tourism planning, product diversification and sub-themes on tourism growth management and planning.

Mongolia is a relatively unknown destination compared to other more popular destinations in Asia and as a result receives a relatively low volume of international tourist arrivals. This is in spite of its great potential for tourism development which is evident in its vast areas of pristine natural environments with abundant wildlife and flora.

Mongolia’s tourism sector and the tourism products it offers differ in many ways from those of other countries owing to reasons such as its geographic location, its immense territory and its developing infrastructure. Currently, the majority of tourism activity in Mongolia takes place along the ‘traditional tourism triangle’ which stretches in the form of a circuit from Ulaanbaatar City to Uvurkhangai Province in central Mongolia, Umnugovi Province in the south, Khuvsgul Province in the north west and back to Ulaanbaatar City.

In response to the government’s request for support in the diversification of Mongolia’s tourism products to beef up the flow of international tourists, UNWTO has made a number of recommendations including the improvement of internal road and rail network for tourism penetration into more remote areas of Mongolia; increasing current restricted capacities in air transport and easing onerous visa procedures for some nationalities; allocation of additional landing rights to airlines; and the formulation of national and regional tourism master plans or the incorporation of clear tourism policies within the existing national planning framework.

The mission also addressed critical tourism planning issues that will arise in Mongolia in the light of the Government’s policy of increasing international tourism arrivals and improving the environmental sustainability of domestic tourism. At the macro level, the workshop served as a platform to increase awareness of the potential benefits that tourism can bring to Mongolia economically, socially, and environmentally, so that the sector can be perceived, together with animal husbandry and mining, as one of the three main pillars of the Mongolian economy.

Important new developments and trends that emerged from the workshop and which could aid in advancing the government’s attempts to increase international tourist arrivals include the opening of the new airport in Ulaanbaatar, the longer-term planning of six regional airports which will allow direct access to regional destinations, and the need for a sustainable distribution of tourists (both international and domestic) as well as sound tourism destination management.

The workshop attracted about 120 participants from MET’s regional offices, national travel agents and tour operators, tourism associations, academic institutions, conservation groups, NGOs and representatives from the Prime Minister’s office.