Travel & Tourism

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 27, 2024 – SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 27, 2024 – The critical role of women in tourism across Latin America and the Caribbean took center stage at the First Regional Conference on Women's Empowerment in Tourism. Co-hosted by UN Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism of Paraguay in Asunción on October 21-22, the conference debuted a comprehensive report highlighting the contributions and challenges faced by women in this vital sector.

The report underscored the significant role tourism plays in empowering women. Currently, women comprise 52% of the overall tourism workforce, with that number increasing to 60% in specific areas like accommodation and food services. Furthermore, the report revealed that 69% of those enrolled in tourism-related education programs are women, indicating a strong interest in tourism as a career path.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 27, 2024 – SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 27, 2024 – The Spanish island of Mallorca recently hosted the 2024 meeting of the International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO), a UNWTO initiative aimed at promoting sustainable tourism practices worldwide.

The meeting, held alongside the III Sustainable Destinations Summit, brought together over 100 participants, including experts, academics, government officials, and tourism professionals. The focus was on developing actionable policies to drive sustainable practices across destinations.

UNWTO's Executive Director, Zoritsa Urosevic, emphasized the importance of placing science at the heart of tourism transformation. She urged the INSTO network to adopt the new metrics for measuring sustainable tourism recently approved by the UN Statistical Commission.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 27, 2024 – SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 27, 2024 – Air Cairo has officially launched its new route from Cologne/Bonn Airport to Cairo, connecting travelers from the Rhine region to the capital of Egypt twice a week. The inaugural flight departed on Sunday, October 27th, at 11:40 am, marking the start of this exciting new connection.

Thilo Schmid, CEO of Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH, expressed his enthusiasm for the new route, stating, "Cairo, with its rich history and the world-famous Pyramids of Giza and Sphinx, is always worth a trip. Because many travelers are drawn to Egypt in autumn and winter, the new Air Cairo route is a great addition to our flight schedule."

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 7, 2024 – The 9th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism will be held in Manama, Bahrain, on 18-19 November under the theme "Gastronomy Tourism: A Driver of Economic Diversification and Inclusion."

This is the first time the Forum will be held in the Middle East. Bringing together global leaders, policymakers, industry experts, and renowned chefs, the event will highlight the power of gastronomy tourism to advance economic resilience, inclusivity, sustainability, and build a strong image for destinations.

Top chefs join sector leaders

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 7, 2024 – Tourism leaders from both Africa and the Americas have jointly committed to working together to make the sector a pillar of collective sustainable and inclusive development across both continents.

The "Punta Cana Declaration" was adopted at the conclusion of the first joint meeting of UN Tourism's Regional Commissions for Africa and the Americas and followed two days of shared dialogue around the key themes of education and investments in the sector. Recognizing the historic ties between the two regions, as well as their unique and complementary cultures, the Summit served as a landmark platform for strengthened cooperation, capitalizing on innovation, education, investments, and creative industries for the future development of tourism.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 7, 2024 – UN Tourism and the TUI Care Foundation have launched "Colourful Cultures," an initiative aimed at supporting local artists and artisans, particularly women and youth, in rural tourism destinations across selected African countries.

Applications are now open for projects in Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, The Gambia, Tunisia, and Zambia.

The initiative aims to enhance the benefits of tourism for local artists and artisans, driving sustainable economic opportunities while safeguarding cultural heritage and enhancing community empowerment and engagement.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 7, 2024 – UN Tourism and easyJet holidays have stepped up their collaboration to develop a groundbreaking ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Framework for businesses across the sector.

According to the latest UN Tourism data, international tourist arrivals have returned to 96% of pre-pandemic levels, with full recovery likely by the end of the year. With further growth anticipated, there is a pressing need to look beyond the economic impacts of the sector and measure metrics relating to environmental dependencies, community impact, employee wellbeing, and much more. However, the sector currently lacks a unified Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting framework, making it difficult for tourism companies and stakeholders to measure, compare, and meaningfully communicate their sustainability efforts and impacts.

Scaling up support for ESG

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 7, 2024 – The World Committee on Tourism Ethics (WCTE) of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has called for peace on World Tourism Day 2024.

Recognizing tourism's significant influence in fostering cross-cultural understanding as a foundation for peace and sustainable development, the Committee reaffirms the vital role of tourism as a catalyst for peace, mutual understanding, and friendship among people worldwide.

The Committee also calls for all efforts to support peace negotiations in conflict-affected destinations, adhering to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter.

The World Committee on Tourism Ethics interprets, implements, and evaluates the provisions of the UN Tourism Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, promotes its ethical principles, and monitors their practical application by the private sector including the right to Tourism.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 7, 2024 – The G20 economies must lead the way in ensuring tourism fulfills its vast potential to build a fairer and more sustainable future for people and the planet.

At a meeting of the Ministers of Tourism of the G20 economies in Belem, Brazil, UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili noted that the sector is on track to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year. Given this, the focus must now shift to the future, with an emphasis on empowering and including local communities, fighting climate change, and progressing nature net positive and circularity.

Secretary-General Pololikashvili said: "Tourism heavily depends on biodiversity, climate stability and natural resources. Accelerating climate action in tourism is critical for the resilience of the sector and host communities." In this context, he applauded Brazil's G20 Presidency focus on inclusion and sustainability.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 7, 2024 – UN Tourism has brought together Ministers from the G20 economies to advance tourism policies and transform governance across the sector.

On the eve of the official meeting of the G20 Ministers of Tourism, the side event called for a new approach to tourism policy and governance that places a focus on people and planet.

With the event held under the Brazilian Presidency of the G20, high-level representatives of Azerbaijan, Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the USA as well as the InterAmerican Development Bank, recalled the positive importance and impact of tourism in the economy and society and its potential to contribute to the SDGs and to reduce inequalities within and among countries.