Travel leaders focus on restarting tourism, cooperation
Travel Biz News —
Travel and tourism leaders have focused both on immediate priorities for tourism’s vital restart and longer-term task of ensuring the sector to be a key pillar of sustainable development during the 42nd Plenary Session of the United Nations specialized agency’s affiliate members held in Madrid recently.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) once again brought leaders from across the sector together for high-level talks aimed at strengthening cooperation between the public and private sectors in Madrid, Spain on November 6.
With the theme “Recovering Tourism. Rebuilding Trust. Reinforcing Partnerships,” the Session echoed the wider priorities of UNWTO, above all restoring confidence in international travel and promoting collaboration at every level.
Participants were encouraged to make use of the new Affiliate Members Virtual Corner, launched to coincide with the plenary session, according a release issued by UNWTO.
The Plenary Session focused on laying the foundations for UNWTO’s Programme of Work for 2021. Theroadmap includes continuing to make tourism a key pillar of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and further enhancing sustainability and inclusivity across the whole of the sector.
UNWTO’s Affiliate Members, who include businesses, academia and civil society actors, will play an important role in the United Nations specialized agency’s work in the challenging months ahead, the statement said.
The hybrid meeting demonstrated that international travel is safe and that tourism is proactively adapting to the new post-COVID reality.
More than 200 delegates took part in the Plenary Session, either in-person or virtually, according to the statement.
November 9, 2020
Image credit : UNWTO
