Tag Archives: UNWTO

Speaking at the WTTC Global Summit in Riyadh, Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, UNWTO said, “This year, we brought tourism to the UN General Assembly for the first time and we have also put tourism on the G20 agenda. UNWTO can be your voice at the global governance level.”

Anita Mendiratta, Special Advisor to the Secretary General, UNWTO, has said that the rate of growth in India is fantastic. “International travel opened in India in March this year, and it’s the domestic market that’s lifted the base line of travel activity.”

Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General, UNWTO, speaking at the 116th Executive Council of the UNWTO said, “We’ve succeeded in putting tourism on the UN agenda as a top priority.” Over 200 participants from 32 countries stand together for tourism at the 116th UNWTO Executive Council.

Based on the latest available data, international tourism continued its recovery in January 2022, with much better results than in early 2021.  International tourist arrivals more than doubled (+130%) compared to January 2021, growing by 18 million. This increase in number of arrivals is the same as in the whole of 2021 over 2020. Despite the robust results, the pace of recovery was impacted by the Omicron variant and the reintroduction of travel restrictions across several destinations.

Anita Mendiratta, Special Advisor to the Secretary General, UNWTO, has said that had it not been for domestic tourism, a lot of countries wouldn’t have survived. Hence, she advises, “Domestic tourism must remain at the heart of the strategy, with international and regional strategies complimenting it and not becoming replacements to that strategy.”

Global tourism experienced a 4% upturn in 2021, compared to 2020 (415 million versus 400 million). However, international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) were still 72% below the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to preliminary estimates by UNWTO. This follows on from 2020, the worst year on record for tourism, when international arrivals decreased by 73%. 

Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director, UNWTO, said that there is a need to rethink the whole sector, boost rural tourism, and improve safety for travellers. “This has been very tough two years, but we see that in the future, we need to rethink the sector fully and that maybe an opportunity,” she said.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) of the United Nations calls out against the introduction of blanket restrictions on travel, as witnessed in recent days. This call echoes the concerns raised by UNWTO Members during the 24th UNWTO General. Countries from all global regions expressed their solidarity with Southern African states, calling for the immediate lifting of travel bans imposed on specific countries and for freedom of international travel to be upheld.

According to the latest forecast by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the same amount was lost in 2020, making it one of the sectors hit hardest by the health crisis. The coronavirus pandemic would likely cost the global tourism sector $2 trillion in lost revenue in 2021, revealed UN’s travel body, calling the sector’s recovery “fragile” and “slow.”

FICCI organized the 6th National Tourism Investors Meet recently, where Suman Billa, Director, Technical Cooperation & Silk Road at UNWTO talked about creative destruction; He said “We all know that the world post pandemic is going to be very different from the world as we knew before. If we were a destination, it would be very surprising if post pandemic we start with the same products and same businesses that we had before the beginning of the pandemic because the world has changed tremendously since then. Every business and every product that is out there has been questioned, investigated and they have come to new forms”.