UN Tourism Highlights the Multiple Benefits of Local Tourism Development at the WTA Xianghu Dialogue 2024

Asia and the Pacific
29 Oct 24
1 Nov 24

In Partnership With:

World Tourism Alliance (WTA)

Duration:
29 October – 1 November 2024

Sanya, Hainan Province, China

Context

UN Tourism presented its “Developing Local Communities through Sustainable Tourism Development Roadmap” at the WTA Xianghu Dialogue, held on 30 October 2024 in Sanya, Hainan Province of China.
UN Tourism actively contributed to the WTA Xianghu Dialogue 2024 by co-organizing a half-day session entitled “A Future of Green and Sharing—New Development of Sustainable Tourism. During the keynote speech and subsequent panel discussion, community-based tourism’s contribution to equitable economic growth, cultural preservation, and environmental stewardship was highlighted.

Highlights

UN Tourism’s approach to sustainable tourism development was conveyed during a keynote speech by Jaime I. Mayaki, the Director of Technical Cooperation. Apart from presenting the many activities UN Tourism is currently leading in the field of sustainability, the speech highlighted key elements that must be realized if tourism development projects are to be sustainable and profitable over time, primarily the importance of a gradual approach open to all relevant actors across the tourism value chain, and the importance of high-quality tourism products based local ownership and distinctiveness.

UN Tourism also hosted a panel session focused on “Developing Local Communities through Sustainable Tourism”. With the participation of experts from the Beijing Technology and Business University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Airbnb China, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), and the Finance Center for South-South Cooperation, the role of Community-Based Tourism (CBT) in fostering inclusive economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability was discussed. It was agreed that CBT engages and empowers local communities and ensures that tourism activities remain aligned with a community's values, needs, and aspirations.

A major highlight of the session was the presentation of the “Developing Local Communities through Sustainable Tourism Development Roadmap”, a publication developed by UN Tourism for the World Tourism Alliance (WTA). The roadmap provides local communities and tourism actors with practical insights for attractive, sustainable and competitive tourism through in-depth research. It also provides a collection of community-based tourism examples, both from China and the rest of the world. The community-based roadmap reminds us that, while undoubtedly global, we also remain intrinsically local and in need of belonging. In practice, this means that development cannot come at any cost but must be qualitative in nature and aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.