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May 19, 2023

UNWTO Executive Council meets in Punta Cana

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FA News Desk
Image credit UNWTO
Image credit UNWTO

With global tourism on track to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) convened its Executive Council to advance plans to place education, investments, and sustainability at the center of the sector’s future.

The 118th session of the Executive Council is being attended by delegations from 40 countries including 30 Council members, said the press note of the UNWTO.

Ahead of the 118th session of the UNWTO Executive Council, the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer showed international arrivals reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels. The first quarter global results of 2023 set the pace for this upward trend to continue.

Participants were provided with an update on UNWTO’s status as an Organization, including plans to open new Regional and Thematic offices, and new approaches to tourism governance.

On the eve of the Executive Council, UNWTO participated in an International Forum on Sustainable Tourism organized by the Dominican Republic.

In Punta Cana, UNWTO invited the Dominican Republic and Maldives to become the first countries to sign up to the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili has said, “In 2022, UNWTO asked the world to “rethink tourism”. Now it’s time to put those plans into action. Building a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive tourism sector will require more and better-targeted investments, skilled workers and more innovation. UNWTO is working closely with our Member States to make significant progress in all these areas and we leave Punta Cana with a clear focus around shared goals and a shared vision for our sector.”

Reflecting the feedback of Members, UNWTO is set to launch a new Educational Toolkit to help make tourism a subject in high schools everywhere UNWTO, it said.

Within the framework of the Executive Council, UNWTO held the first ever Thematic Session on tourism communications and its role in building a new narrative focused on the sector’s importance for economic development and social opportunity.

Meanwhile, the UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili met with President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic, it reads adding also UNWTO chief Pololikashvili was awarded the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic’s “Champion of Tourism” recognition for his leadership of the sector and friendship of the country.