Under its G20 Presidency, Brazil is initiating several inclusive development projects (Photo: G20Brasil)
UN Tourism says that tourism industry has a huge potential in promoting equitable, sustainable and inclusive development around the world.
To ensure that the industry lives up to its potential, the tourism-centric organisation of the United Nations has called upon the leaders of the G20 Group of nations, that include the top 20 economies of the world, which collectively represent over 60 pc of the global population and over 85 pc of the global GDP to lead the transformation of the sector.
According to a press statement issued by UN Tourism, at a meeting of the Ministers of Tourism of the G20 economies at Belem in Brazil, UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili noted that the sector is on track to fully recover 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.
Zurab Pololikashvili
“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,” Pololikashvili said.
In this context, he applauded Brazil’s G20 Presidency focus on inclusion and sustainability. UN Tourism says that accelerating climate action in tourism is critical for the resilience of the sector and host communities.
“The Belém Declaration affirms the collective commitment to promote a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive tourism in the world,” said Celso Sabino, Minister of Tourism, Brazil, in his concluding address.
At the G20 meeting, UN Tourism stressed the critical importance of education and skills for the future of the sector and its transformation. “ILO data shows that around 880,000 tourism jobs annually will require specialised training until 2030 and that 25 pc of tourism stakeholders report significant shortages in skilled employees, particularly in customer service and managerial roles,” Pololikashvili said.
The Secretary General also recalled the role tourism can have in development and welcomed the G20’s tourism focus on financing for development.
Celso Sabino
“For many developing countries, including Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, tourism is a major source of employment, foreign exchange earnings and tax revenues. Yet, the sector continues to be overlooked as a tool for development, with the total Official Development Assistance disbursements for tourism remaining below 0.25 pc of total ODA.” he said.
Pololikashvili thanked and commended the Belem Declaration adopted by the G20 Tourism Ministers which highlights the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) as a tool to produce credible, comparable, and integrated data on tourism’s economic, social, and environmental impact as well as the G20 Tourism and SDGs Platform developed by the G20 Tourism in collaboration with UN Tourism.
UN Tourism says that the G20 economies represent over 70 pc of all international tourist arrivals and receipts generated worldwide and 82 pc of tourism’s global GDP. In 2023, the sector accounted directly for 3.1 pc of the GDP of the G20, 5 pc of all exports of the group and 23 pc of all its service exports.
International tourism recovered 97 pc of its pre pandemic levels in the G20 economies in the seven months 2024. G20 tourism direct GDP value recovered fully already in 2023 at USD 2.8 trillion.
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