UN Tourism joins G20 Presidency to discuss the future of tourism policies and governance

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.

Opening the event Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili applauded Brazil’s G20 Presidency focus on inclusion and sustainability and said “The challenges ahead of us are immense. As so are the opportunities offered by a sector that creates jobs and brings people together like no other. Yet, to really transform our sector, we need new policies and new governance models. We need to place communities and the environment at the centre of our polices and we need stronger coordination of all government agencies as well as among national and local stakeholders.”

Minister of Tourism of Brazil, Celso Sabino said “UN Tourism is bringing to Belem, an essential debate for the tourism sector but also for the world. Sustainability is a priority for the government of the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and tourism when developed in a responsible manner, protecting the environment, culture and history, is the most prosperous way for the development of nations. And Brazil is leading this so much needed and urgent debate. We are very happy to host the G20 Tourism here at the heart of the Amazon, the capital of Pará.”

G20 Ministers outline way ahead for tourism

At a time of multiple challenges facing the world, participants agreed that with the growth of the sector there are increasing multidimensional externalities which require rethinking tourism planning and management. Key takeaways included the urgent need for:

• A new governance build upon regular consultation and inclusion of residents, stronger coordination among all agencies in government and among national and local authorities as well as with the private sector.
• Targeted polices on gender, social inclusion, decent jobs, climate change, circularity, nature net positive and regional development across all areas of tourism.
• Improving the measurement of the impact of tourism in its three dimensions at national and local levels – economic, social and environmental. Participants welcomed the recent approval by the United Nations of the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism.

Ministers represent top tourism economies

The G20 economies represent over 70% of all international tourist arrivals and receipts generated worldwide and 82% of tourism’s global GDP. In 2023, the sector accounted directly for 3.1% of the GDP of the G20 (USD 2.8 trillion), 5% of all exports of the group and 23% of all its service exports (USD 1.3 trillion).

In 2023, the G20 economies received 900 million international tourist arrivals. In the first seven months of 2024, international tourist arrivals to the G20 reached 97% of pre-pandemic levels with countries such as Saudi Arabia (+73%), Türkiye (+15%), Spain (+11%), Japan (+7%) and Brazil (+1%) leading growth and already surpassing 2019 levels.

Speaking at the UN Tourism side event were Mr Kanan Gasimov, Head of Administration, State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan, HE Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of Tourism of Canada, HE Verónica Pardo, Undersecretary of Tourism of Chile, HE Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Tourism of India, HE Martini M. Paham, Deputy Minister for Human Resources and Institutions, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, HE Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism of Jamaica, HE Sultan AlMusallam, Vice Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia, HE Jordi Hereu Boher, Minister of Industry and Tourism of Spain, HE Alex Lasry, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Travel & Tourism in the USA and Pedro Martel, Division Chief Environment, Rural Development, and Disaster Risk Management at Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

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About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members’ competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism’s contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism’s 500 plus Affiliate members.

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