PR No.: 15087

Through a wide range of case-studies, the UNWTO Global Report on Public-Private Partnerships: Tourism Development, provides a solid evidence base for the importance of effective PPPs in tourism, illustrating how partnerships across different destinations and market segments can be used as development tools.

The Report, a collaboration between UNWTO and its Affiliate Member the Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT), a world leading tourism research institute from Australia, was launched this week in Madrid, Spain, in the presence of UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, Virginia Greville, Ambassador of Australia to Spain, and Noel Scott, Deputy Director of GIFT.

“This Report clearly demonstrates that public-private collaboration plays a key role in advancing tourism’s contribution to inclusive development, particularly in emerging destinations where the sector can make a significant positive impact in local communities. I am confident that the findings will inspire effective cross-sector partnerships that can help maximize tourism’s development potential” said Mr. Rifai on the occasion.

Ambassador Greville highlighted Australia’s experience in building tourism capacity in the Asia-Pacific region, and emphasized the need of a partnership approach to tourism development: “truly sustainable tourism involves all stakeholders”.

Presenting the main findings of the report, Professor Scott noted that through PPPs, stakeholders can come together to achieve remarkable results in areas such as product development and capacity building.  In order to succeed long-term, PPPs often require an external party or well-positioned stakeholder to lead partnership development and provide benefits to all stakeholders involved: “To demonstrate tangible outcomes is not only important in encouraging participation, but also for maintaining momentum and ensuring the sustainability of the project”, said Mr. Scott.

Note to editors

The Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT), a UNWTO Affiliate Member and partner of the UNWTO Knowledge Network, is located on the Gold Coast, Australia and is a strategic initiative of Griffith University. Its mission is to undertake and disseminate world leading research in tourism that will produce both an academic and industry impact. GIFT also work collaboratively within series of international partners to achieve research excellence and sustainability.

Useful links:

UNWTO Global Report on Public-Private Partnerships: Tourism Development 

Griffith Institute for Tourism

UNWTO Affiliate Members

Press release: UNWTO and Australia’s Griffith University join forces to advance tourism knowledge

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer: Rut Gomez Sobrino
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 

Iran’s Vice-President and President of Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) Massoud Soltani Far presided over the closing ceremony of the UNWTO National Workshop on Tourism Satellite Account which took place in Tehran from 31 October-1 November 2015.

Soltani Far’s presence at the Workshop is testimony to the strong political will behind Iran’s plan to increase international tourist arrivals substantially over the next 5 years after registering the record figure of 5 million in 2014. This is further corroborated by the fact that for the first time in its history ICHTO, Central Bank of Iran, Statistical Centre of Iran and Immigration Bureau of Iran came together to ascertain from UNWTO’s experts and to discuss what needed to be done to set up TSA in Iran. These are the governmental institutions whose collaboration is imperative for the development of the Tourism Satellite Account.

The Tourism Satellite Account is the statistical instrument that UNWTO has been using for the past 15 years to help its member countries to understand tourism’s contribution to their economies and their national accounting systems. The Organization has been organising international conferences, national and regional seminars or workshops to bring this message home to its members and to provide them with the necessary capacity-building to equip them technically. Within the Asia-Pacific region, the most recent seminars and workshops on TSA took place in Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.  All of these constitute a follow-up to the 2-year regional statistics capacity-building programme which UNWTO implemented in all the regions from 2010-2012.

The UNWTO National Workshop on Tourism Satellite Account was the first national workshop on the subject which it organised in close collaboration with ICHTO. The primary objective was thus to initiate the process of laying a foundation for the development of TSA for Iran. It drew the participation of over 80 officials from the relevant entities as well as representatives of the trade.

The Workshop marked the start of a new beginning as well as the declaration and demonstration of an inter-institutional united front in Iran’s quest for upstaging the economic importance of tourism through the Tourism Satellite Account.

PR No.: 15078

During the same day, UNWTO will present the first Global Conference on Wine Tourism, in cooperation with the Georgian National Tourism Administration to be held in Georgia in 2016. The activity is part of the UNWTO Gastronomy Network plan of action. The platform was officially presented in September 2015 during the UNWTO General Assembly in Medellin, Colombia and aims to promote information and knowledge to further develop Gastronomic Tourism.

Experiential travel and the booking revolution will also be tackled during the Social Silk Road seminar that will take place on the 4 November, an activity which will be conducted in partnership with Travel Perspective, supported by WTM. The seminar, under the title ‘The rise of experiential travel and the booking revolution’ aims at analyzing how new trends are shaping the booking process and how emerging destinations are transitioning into a digital context.

Finally, UNWTO will join PATA at a side event to discuss ‘How do young Asian travelers step out of the crowd’. As the rise in global tourism will be driven by young travelers, particularly from the Asian continent, the session will try to provide strategies to destinations in order to cope with this phenomenon.

Useful links:

UNWTO Programme of Activities at WTM 

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218

PR No.: PR15072

The Awards were created in the framework of the partnership between UNWTO and JATA signed in 2013 and aim to promote the principles and implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism among Japanese government authorities, the tourism industry and local communities.

In parallel, UNWTO and JATA organized the International Tourism Forum on ”Tourism and Culture,” with the presence of the Chair of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics, Pascal Lamy.

“Culture is of immeasurable value to host communities, while tourism can be a considerable force for the promotion and safeguarding of tangible and intangible heritage” said Mr Lamy. “Tourism also represents a vital force for peace, as is stated in the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism,” he added.

The link between culture and economic development was also underlined by UNWTO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Xu Jing, who offered to the audience examples of opportunities for stronger cooperation between the two fields, one of the priorities of action of UNWTO work.

Under the theme “Move. See. Feel” the second edition of the JATA Tourism Expo offered an overview of the current trends in world tourism with a focus on the Japanese market. With more than 1,600 exhibition booths, and nearly 200,000 visitors the JATA Tourism EXPO 2015 included the International Tourism Forum, the Travel Showcase, and Japan Night.

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino
Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218

The Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific is glad to present the second issue of the bi-monthly “UNWTO/PATA Tourism Updates”, a joint initiative of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) which is an outcome of the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed between the two organizations to synergize their work in the region.

The updates are aimed at summarizing the impacts of external factors on the tourism sector such as information technologies, the social media, and political issues. It also draws on meetings, reports and media conferences held by UN agencies based in Bangkok (UNESCAP, WHO, UNICEF, ILO, UNESCO) as well as the work of inter-related institutions and groups such as ADB, GMS, ASEAN, and APEC. These news items often tend to go unnoticed by the tourism sector and hence the UNWTO/PATA Tourism Updates have the unique advantage of drawing attention to them as they impact on tourism in the Asia Pacific region. 

The second issue of the UNWTO/PATA Tourism Updates draws attention to some pressing and current subjects such as the linkage between tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) advocated by the United Nations and its related agencies. These go beyond the post 2015 millennium development goals (MDGs) and set targets for the next 15 years to 2030. The 2015-2016 State of the Future Report dwells on various global challenges that we shall have to face in the near future. Tourism, through its multi-disciplinary connections will be one of the major players of this agenda.

Some of the subjects highlighted in the second issue of the Tourism Updates pertain to SME credit analysis using bank lending data of Thai SMEs, APEC’s initiative in pushing for lifting of Asia-Pacific trade barriers for small businesses, a review of ASEAN socio-cultural community blueprint, developing economic corridors in South Asia, the landmark USD 3 trillion trade deal to reduce tariffs on IT products, WHO’s initiative on good health and well-being for all age groups, and UN’s action to curb rhino poaching and elephant killings. All these, directly or indirectly, influence the tourism sector in Asia and the Pacific. Taking note of them is our duty.

More details:

UNWTO/PATA Tourism Updates 

PRESS RELEASE

Philippine Department of Tourism

06 October 2015

PH leads the East Asia and the Pacific

towards a new era of tourism development

At the 21st United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly in Medellín, Colombia on 12-18 September 2015, the six Regional Commissions elected new chairs and vice-chairs for the period 2015-2017.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) is pleased to announce that the Philippines was unanimously elected as Chairperson of the Regional Commission for East Asia and the Pacific (CAP) with Cambodia and Japan as vice chairpersons. The Philippines will also sit as member of the Committee on Statistics and Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) owing to its efforts of institutionalizing the implementation of the TSA in the Philippines, the first in the ASEAN region which is in consonance with the UN system of satellite accounting.

Mr. Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General lauded the Philippines for taking the Chairmanship that will greatly contribute to the global travel and tourism agenda of increasing competitiveness and promoting sustainable development in the region.  Asia and the Pacific region is now the fastest global tourism destination with 263 million international arrivals in 2014 with a growth rate of 5.3%.

The five other commissions and their respective chairs (C) and vice-chairs (VCs) are:  Africa – Zimbabwe (C) and Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire (VCs); the Americas - Haiti (C) and Paraguay and Chile (VCs); Europe - Switzerland (C) and Montenegro and Lithuania; South Asia - India (C) and Bangladesh and Afghanistan (VCs); and the Middle East - Lebanon (C) and Egypt and Jemen (VCs).

“We are very happy about the strong confidence of countries in the Asia Pacific for the Philippines to lead the region.  It is an affirmation of the Philippines’ leadership to pursue reforms and address key issues to enhance travel and tourism development in the region, to include, among others, domestic tourism, air connectivity, and travel facilitation,” DOT Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr. said.

CONTACT:           EVELYN A. MACAYAYONG

                               Media and Communications Service

                               459-5200, loc. 509, 510

                               eamacayayong@tourism.gov.ph; eamacayayong@yahoo.com.ph

                            (Photo courtesy of DOT)

DOT Assistant Secretary Rolando Cañizal and Mr. Xu Jing, UNWTO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific