Affiliate Members Working Groups
In addition to Networks, UNWTO also works on promoting Working Groups, which serve as a starting point to bring together Affiliate Members who share interests in specific sectors of tourism and encourage the exchange of expertise.
On the occasion of the 38th Plenary Session of the Affiliate Members held in Yerevan, Armenia on 3-4 October 2016, it was decided to create working groups within the Affiliate Members Programme. Working Groups will allow for better support for each of the initiatives identified in the UNWTO Programme of Work including the Affiliate Members Annual Action Plan, and to provide ways for more members to actively participate in the various activities.
Working groups are defined as multidisciplinary teams led by and collaborated with UNWTO Members with common interests in a topic or issue, with the following goals:
- Serve as practical mechanism to promote and lead the discussion and action plan on a particular subject/project
- Positively advocate for tourism policy in line with UNWTO´s principles, while assisting tourism stakeholders to support those initiatives with tangible outcomes
- To establish a roadmap and propose a methodology that could enhance stakeholder collaboration and provide concrete results
Thus far, the following working groups have been created:
- Working group on accessible tourism (At the request of Red Estable)
- Working group on destinations at stake (At the request of BTW)
- Working group on quality in tourism (At the request of Instituto de Calidad Turística – ICTE)
- Working group on scientific tourism (At the request of Fundación Starlight)
- Working group on technology and tourism (At the request of Google and Kyoto University)
- Working group on youth tourism (At the request of WYSE)
- Working group on air connectivity with related brand elements (At the request of ICF)
- Working group on SDGs Support(At the request of Hostelling International)
Additional information
Working Groups serve as a starting point to bring together Affiliate Members who share interests in specific sectors of tourism and encourage the exchange of expertise.
The Working Group on Accessible Tourism is led by Affiliate Member Red Estable and is in an initaitive aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge on accessibility in tourism. This Working Group is a tool in achieving UNWTO's mandate to promote responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
Main aims and objectives:
- Establish joint training mechanisms for UNWTO Affiliate Members and other organizations and individuals involved in accessible tourism
- Implement procedures which will help improve the promotion and commcercialization of accessible tourism products
- Support and contribute to the standardization of accessible tourism products
Working Groups serve as a starting point to bring together Affiliate Members who share interests in specific sectors of tourism and encourage the exchange of expertise.
The Working Group on SDGs Support is led by Affiliate Member Hostelling International and is in an initaitive aimed at aligning efforts within Affiliate Members to actively support UNWTO’s vision for tourism and the SDGs in the future.
Main aims and objectives:
- Enhance understanding of the SDGs by building awareness and support among the Affiliate Members and increasing collaboration amongst the members of the Working Group
- Ensure the SDGs are prominently positioned within the Affiliate Members Department Programme of Work
- Exchange knowledge and insights regarding the SDGs and understand and identify future challenges and opportunities
- Work to enrich the resources upon SDGs topic with contributions from the private and not-for-profit sectors
Working Groups serve as a starting point to bring together Affiliate Members who share interests in specific sectors of tourism and encourage the exchange of expertise.
The Working Group on Resilience in Destinations at Stake is led by Affiliate Members BTW and TOBB and is in an initaitive aimed at enhancing methods to best stabilize destinations which are suffering sharp declines in bookings as a result of a crisis. It aims to explore ways to leverage the potential contribution the sector can make for recovery and in minimizing the impact of future crises. In this context, the Working Group seeks to develop a modern professional crisis management and organization and communication system. It will serve as a medium for stakeholders to effectively address the challenges generated by crises by establishing and consolidating a structure and methodology for collaboration in areas of work related to crisis management.
Main aims and objectives:
- To enhance methods to best stabilize destinations at stake
- To explore ways to leverage the contribution of the tourism sector for recovery
- To exchange knowledge and best practices in terms of crisis management
Working Groups serve as a starting point to bring together Affiliate Members who share interests in specific sectors of tourism and encourage the exchange of expertise.
The Working Group on Technology and Tourism is led by Affiliate Member Google and is in an initaitive aimed at exploring the relationship between tehcnology and tourism and how technology can improve the tourism sector as a whole, as well as the challenges this implies.
Main aims and objectives:
- Establish relations and collaboration mechanisms in the field of technology among UNWTO members.
- Encourage the implementation of research activities and pilot studies in this area.
- Disseminate activities advanced by the members, especially the technologically innovate experiences, studies and activities, as well as the benefits of applying it in their practice.
- Promote the quality and competitiveness of tourist facilities, resources and services through access to technology.
- Encourage the development of technological provisions in ensuring correct management of the destination, as well as accessibility to information on its tourism activity, aligned with the real needs of tourists.
Working Groups serve as a starting point to bring together Affiliate Members who share interests in specific sectors of tourism and encourage the exchange of expertise.
The Working Group on Youth is led by Affiliate Member WYSE and is in an initaitive aimed at making youth an integral part of every government's strategic tourism policy and ensuring that proper, standardised research is carried out to better understand the profile, characteristics and interests of young travellers.
Main aims and objectives:
- Ensure youth travel is prominently positioned within the Affiliate Members Department Programme of Work
- Provide a platform for Affiliate Members to exchange knowledge and insights regarding the youth travel sector and understand and identify future challenges and opportunities
- Increase collaboration amongst Affiliate Members with the aim to raise awareness of the value of youth travel within government, the mainstream tourism industry and public within destinations around the world
AMConnected
If you are an Affiliate Member, you can use AMConnected to be informed about the activities of the Working Groups and request to join. You can easily have access to AMConnected using the following access form in this page
Join the Working Groups
Participation is open to UNWTO Member States, Associate Members and Affiliate Members. Interested entities are kindly asked to send a formal request to am@unwto.org