What does World Tourism have in common with Pokemon Go?
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has partnered with one of its newest Affiliate Members, real-world games developer Niantic, to enhance global tourism through the use of mobile augmented reality game experiences.
UNWTO will collaborate with Niantic, creators of Pokémon GO and Ingress Prime, to curate unique campaigns around the world that will build awareness for the Organization’s Travel.Enjoy.Respect campaign, designed to enhance tourism’s contribution to the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Each activity will also be designed to inspire and support exploration, and promote safe and responsible gaming practices for players of all ages.
Niantic and UNWTO will work together to combine tourism and Augmented Reality technology for players to engage with real-world locations using Niantic’s mobile games in a variety of ways. Niantic’s games and global initiatives have brought millions of players from around the world together at real-world events that promote civic engagement and cultural diversity while highlighting local heritage.
“With our ongoing commitment to promote sustainable and responsible tourism, and Niantic having recently become a UNWTO Affiliate Member, this partnership is a natural fit,” said Ion Vilcu, Director of UNWTO’s Affiliate Members Department. “Niantic are pioneers in creating real-world mobile game experiences that not only motivate their players to discover new places, but also to appreciate the culture and beauty of the world around them,” he added.
“Our goal at Niantic is to create interactive games that encourage exercise, social interaction and exploration, giving players the opportunity to play together in the real world and discover the incredible history hidden in their own neighbourhoods,” said Anne Beuttenmüller, Head of Marketing EMEA at Niantic. “We’re looking forward to creating brand new adventures in collaboration with UNWTO to increase awareness around their mission of responsible tourism,” she added.
Niantic was accepted as an Affiliate Member on 31 October 2018 at the 109th session of UNWTO’s Executive Council, held in Manama, Bahrain. This new partnership helps to bolster UNWTO’s ongoing efforts to bring together the actors of the ‘ecosystem’ of tourism technology under its priority of innovation and the digital transformation in tourism.
UNWTO: Community involvement needed in cultural tourism’s digital transformation
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)’s International Seminar on Harnessing Cultural Tourism through Innovation and Technology and 40th Affiliate Members Plenary Session concluded with a renewed call for community participation in development of cultural tourism using cutting-edge technologies (12-14 November 2018, Hamedan, Islamic Republic of Iran).
Cultural and heritage attractions are key to tourism development in many countries around the world, and innovation and technology can make these attractions more accessible while preserving their essence, the seminar concluded. It also stressed that innovation and technology should empower, rather than disenfranchise, host populations and communities and can assist them in retaining their authenticity, while cultural heritage development and preservation should be a part of local and national plans for socioeconomic development through tourism and technology.
“Technology and innovation, including ICT, can improve the quality of the tourist experience. It can improve governance, profits and the wellbeing of residents. And it can preserve intangible and tangible heritage resources for the sustainable development of cultural tourism,” said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili opening the event.
“The world’s diverse range of culture and heritage form the best means and ways to connect peoples of the world – but only if the rights and privileges of both host and guest populations are respected and responded to. And innovation and technology can help”, added Iranian Vice-President Ali Asghar Mounesan, who also heads the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handcraft and Tourism Organization (ICHTO).
The seminar agreed that informed governance and policies surrounding uptake of new technologies and innovative practices can guide tourism development and open doors for the sector, with conservation and revitalization of cultural heritage one of its main benefits. It also highlighted that for tourism authorities, participation of, and collaboration with, the host community should be a driver for technology-driven change. It was urged that tourism development not only maximize benefits and minimize costs for greater competitiveness, but also respond to the expectations and needs of hosts and guests alike.
The seminar was organized by UNWTO, ICHTO and Alisadr Tourism Company. Alongside it, Hamedan played host to the UNWTO Affiliate Members’ 40th plenary, in which active discussions were held as UNWTO’s Affiliate Members voiced their opinions and suggestions on the Affiliate Members Department’s Programme of Work for 2019.
Bartlett Appointed to African Tourism Board
KINGSTON, Jamaica; November 12, 2018: Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett has been appointed to the board of sitting ministers and appointed public officials, of the newly formed African Tourism Board association.
Bartlett received the appointment while in London, last week, during the official unveiling of the multinational-body at this year’s World Travel Market. The organization, which is part of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners, was developed to promote the hospitality sector in Africa.
Other members include Hon. Jose Gonçalves, Cape Verde’s Minister of Tourism; Hon. Minister Mahmoud Kombo, Zanzibar’s Minister Information, Tourism and Heritage; Pascal Viroleau, CEO The Vanilla Islands Organisation; and Hon Dr. Memunatu Pratt, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Tourism & Culture.
The leadership of the group also includes a number of international travel journalists, as well as leading African travel and tourism companies.
During the unveiling ceremony last Monday, the initiative received endorsement from Former Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Dr. Taleb Rifai and President of the World Travel Awards Graham Cooke.
The African Tourism Board provides aligned advocacy, insightful research, and innovative events to its members. It aims to enhance the sustainable growth, value, and quality of travel and tourism to-from-and-within Africa.
The association will provide leadership and counsel on an individual and collective basis to its member organizations. It is also expanding on opportunities for marketing, public relations, investments, branding, and promoting and establishing niche markets.
The official launch is scheduled to take place in Cape Town, South Africa next April.
No show at World Travel Market: UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili.
The World Travel Market (WTM) in London is seen by many as the most important global tourism industry event together with ITB Berlin. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for many years was seen the gatekeeper and utmost authority in the World about tourism. Not this year.
The previous UNWTO Secretary Taleb Rifai had a hands-on approach traveling the world and never left out an important opportunity to demonstrate great understanding, mentorship, and left no opportunity to connect people showing how much he cares about the largest industry in the world – travel & tourism. He built the largest and most influential network of tourism leaders based on trust and friendship. Now retired, Rifai was seen at this year’s World Travel Market. He spoke at key events on the sideline of WTM sharing his wisdom, influence and strong leadership.
Yesterday UNWTO was holding a ministerial summit on investment and innovation with many tourism ministers attending and CNN Richard Quest hired to moderate and keeping the event engaged and informative.
Who was missing this year was the man himself, the UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. His deputy addressed the ministerial summit but had no mentioning or reason for Pololikahvli not showing up. eTN received many angry “off the record” comments from ministers and key stakeholders saying UNWTO has no leadership anymore and became an institution or statistics. UNWTO was not mentioned at key events and appeared to have often vanished. The close partnership between UNWTO and WTTC was not brought up, but it appears other organizations are now gaining leadership in the world of tourism.
Rumors say Zurab didn’t want to face burning media questions about his unique and questionable leadership, others say he was busy campaigning in his home country Georgia for upcoming elections. As usual, there were no comments by UNWTO officials, and no press-conference is scheduled during WTM.
Others say an anonymous letter with devastating content questioning his ability to lead was circulated to many ministers and UNWTO members.
The official excuse for Zurab staying home: He had to attend government meetings in Spain over the new headquarters!
Last year WTM London sparked a million meetings, resulting in around £3 billion in contracts. If one has a game-changing travel product or service, this is where you tell the world.
A large number of tourism ministers attended and debated with members of the private industry. The Twitter ID #ideasarrivehere didn’t result in many comments, some say a tag #And go no further should have been added – and all of this wasn’t about CNN Richard Quest not doing a good job – he did.
eTN is interested in the anonymous letter and anyone wanting to share can also remain anonymous.
There was no response from UNWTO.
Call for 100,000 “Strong Climate Champions” by 2030
Speaking at the launch of the African Tourism Board, Professor Geoffrey Lipman co-founder of SUNx – the Strong Universal Network said, “It’s time for Travel & Tourism to intensify preparations for the terrifying inevitability of Climate Change.”
Quoting Einstein, Lipman, who is a former leader in IATA; WTTC and UNWTO said “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over believing you will get a different result. By that definition our industry is insane.”
“We talk incessantly about the benefits of growth and the importance of sustainability – but the truth is we have institutionalized the first and simply recognized the second. Moreover, we just don’t factor in the true costs of action to deal with the new norm of atmospheric pollution and dynamically extreme weather or plan for the radical disruption it will cause to a sector, with relatively stable weather patterns at the core of its products”.
Lipman said that we also need to realize the exposure to our kids and grandkids, stop talking to ourselves and engage directly with the next generation. He outlined a new plan by SUNx – a legacy initiative for Maurice Strong, the father of global Sustainable Development Action – to create a movement for 100,000 industry climate activists by 2030, tracking the Paris Accords and SDG13.
He called on the industry, through an enlightened CSR vision, to join with SUNx in an SDG 17 partnership for Climate Friendly Travel ~ measured to manage: green to grow: 2050 proof to innovate.
By the simple act of a low-cost, Scholarship Plan for graduates, committed to help society bend the Paris Curve towards more stable temperature levels, we can empower the next generation, who are the ones who will have to really deal with the transformation to the New Climate Economy.
The SUNx plan, targets every UN State and links academia, industry and civil society in the building of the movement. With its Lifetime Learning Portal and committed support systems in Europe, China and Latin America already in place, the addition of Africa through SDG partnerships with the African Tourism Board and ICTP would be a major step forward.
He referenced agreements with IRISS and t-Forum for Tourism Innovation for Resilience Scholarships in Naples Italy: with CBCGDF to extend the system in China and Belt and Road Countries: with Plan 21 to bring IBM Watson Analytics into play, as well as with Copernicus in Europe. There are plans with Les Roches in Switzerland to hold an annual Strong Climate Summit for Students in 2019 and with the Earth Focus Foundation in Geneva to deliver a Climate focussed cartoon series for kids, based on the return of the Dodo. He noted the annual ClimART Award with LCD
He added that if the big leaders in our sector give small scholarships in the places they operate …we can reach 100,000 Strong Climate Champions way in advance of 2030. Promoting the donors’ CSR and Climate Resilience vision. Catalysing more scholarships from their supply chain, impact investors and public sources. As well as helping our sector to play the true leadership transformation role that my friend Maurice Strong always believed we have the capacity to do.
Lipman concluded “there is already a powerful Travel force in society, now we must truly make it a force for good through Climate Friendly Travel – and there is no better place for Strong Climate Scholarships than the 54 States of Africa whose billion middle class travellers by 2050 will be in the front line of the new climate norm”
UNWTO calls for tech and investment in tourism at World Travel Market 2018
The 2018 edition of World Travel Market (WTM) will see the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) continue its operational focus on investing in innovation and digital advances for a tourism sector that can deliver opportunities for all. UNWTO will co-host a Ministerial Summit and launch a white paper on the relationship between music and tourism at the UK tourism trade fair on 6-7 November 2018.
Following the official celebration of World Tourism Day 2018 (27 September) in Budapest, Hungary under the theme of ‘Tourism and the Digital Transformation’, and the ‘Tourism Tech Adventure: Big Data Solutions’ forum held in Manama, Bahrain on 1 November, UNWTO will host this year’s UNWTO/WTM Minister’s Summit on 6 November on the topic ‘Investment in Tourism Technology’.
The Summit will continue the conversation on innovation and digital transformation, a UNWTO priority designed to give tourism its deserved prominence on the digital agenda. It will debut a disruptive new format, involving private sector leaders for the first time. A panel of investors will discuss investment in tourism technology, followed by the ministerial segment that this year will link both public and private sectors to set the agenda for ensuring the sector’s digital transformation enhances its inclusion, sustainability and competitiveness.
Both panels will be moderated by CNN’s foremost international business correspondent Richard Quest, anchor of Quest Means Business, with focus on creating innovative ideas and partnerships that can boost investment. Developing an innovation ecosystem, data-driven decision making, digital destination branding, and the role of government and policy in smart tourism management are among the topics to be addressed.
UNWTO, Procolombia and Sound Diplomacy launch first report dedicated to music and tourism
UNWTO’s presence at WTM will also encompass the launch of a new white paper, produced in partnership with Procolombia and Sound Diplomacy, examining the role of music in tourism development, marketing and experiences, and the economic benefits of music and tourism sector partnerships. The launch of ‘Music is the New Gastronomy’ on 6 November will accompany a panel exploring the value of music tourism in depth.
Zambia new Chair of UNWTO Executive Council
Zambia has assumed chairmanship of the world global tourism body’s executive council during the current session of meetings taking place in Manama, Bahrain.
Ambassador Designate Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France, Dr. Christine Kaseba, has presented her Letters of Credence to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, at a special session in Bahrain.
Zambia becomes the second African country since 2010 to chair the UNWTO Executive Council with Ambassador Kaseba, the Permanent Representative to the UNWTO, leading proceedings at the ongoing 109th session on behalf of Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mr. Charles Banda.
During her presentation of credentials held on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, Ambassador Kaseba acknowledged the organization’s management vision and priorities of making tourism a key sector for the 2030 Agenda based on smart, competitive, and responsible tourism for sustainable development.
Ambassador Kaseba said the government has identified tourism, arts, and culture as some of the priority growth sectors of the national economy towards development in the National-Vision 2030 aimed at turning Zambia into a “prosperous middle-income country by the year 2030.”
She is the former First Lady, wife of the late President Sata.
The Ambassador added that tourism had also been identified as one of the priority areas for investment due to its numerous forward and backward linkages to various other sectors of the economy.
Receiving the Letters of Credence, the UNWTO Secretary-General expressed interest to visit Zambia and further pledged to enhance multilateral relations with the country.
UNWTO Agenda receives strong support at Executive Council
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) concluded its 109th Executive Council session in Manama, Bahrain today, with Members showing appreciation both for progress made under the 2018 institutional priorities and for the Organization’s financial stability and restructuring process. Tomorrow UNWTO will also introduce a forum named ‘Tourism Tech Adventure: Big Data Solutions, bringing together the ‘ecosystem’ of tourism innovation and raising the sector’s role in the digital agenda.
A successful 109th session of the UNWTO Executive Council brought with it much appreciation of the Organization’s efforts in 2018. A number of Member States expressed great support for UNWTO’s efforts to prioritize tourism in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The executive management team was praised for creating a cleaner structure more equipped to effectively respond to Members’ requests, as well as the clear management priorities and sharp focus placed on UNWTO’s work areas of education and digital transformation.
A mere ten months into the new mandate, UNWTO was able to communicate showing a financial surplus. At this point in the year, the Organization has received higher contributions than in the last three years and the highest percentage of budgetary income since 2014, with expenditure also on target.
UNWTO’s Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili gave thanks to Bahrain, the host country for the proceedings. “Being hosted in Bahrain is very relevant. Here you can see how innovation and being a smart destination can be positioned high on the political and economic agenda, and how supporting tourism education and capacity building is a sound investment”, he said.
On the margins of the Council UNWTO held a high-level workshop on data-driven tourism management. The Organization has introduced a new forum, ‘Tourism Tech Adventure: Big Data Solutions’, where panellists debate how open data platforms are revolutionizing tourism, along with how to stimulate venture capital and greater gender equality in tourism and technology.
‘Tourism Tech Adventure: Big Data Solutions’ will also welcome another round of pitches for finalists of the 1st UNWTO Tourism Startup Competition in Collaboration with Globalia, launched in June 2018 to identify companies that can foster the sector’s digital transformation. The finalists’ projects will be presented at the next International Tourism Fair of Madrid (Fitur) in January 2019.
The forum serves as a follow-up to the official World Tourism Day 2018 celebrations on 27 September in Budapest, Hungary, under the theme of ‘Tourism and the Digital Transformation’, and a precursor to the upcoming UNWTO and World Travel Market ministerial summit in London, UK (6 November) on investment in tourism technology. All are part of UNWTO’s ongoing strategy to give tourism its deserved prominence on the digital agenda. Secretary-General Pololikashvili signed cooperation agreements during the Executive Council with the tourism authorities of Argentina and Portugal to strengthen UNWTO’s cooperation agenda on innovation in tourism.
Mr. Pololikashvili announced during the Council that UNWTO governing bodies’ meetings will have a specific overarching thematic focus each year. After 2018’s focus on digital transformation, 2019 will look at employment and education in line with the theme of World Tourism Day 2019: ‘Tourism and Jobs: a better future for all’.
WTTC applauds Senators Blunt and Warner on their commitment to Travel & Tourism
Today, the leaders of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) joined and applauded Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Mark Warner (D-VA) for their commitment to Travel and Tourism and its role in creating jobs and driving economic growth in the United States.
The two Senators jointly met with the 30-strong Executive Committee of the WTTC as part of its annual meeting in Washington, DC on October 30th. The Senators discussed the role of Travel & Tourism in the United States – the world’s biggest Travel & Tourism economy. Furthermore, the group discussed:
- Continuing support for inbound international travel and for Brand USA, America’s destination marketing organization;
- Deploying biometric technologies to ensure safe, efficient and seamless cross-border travel;
- Opportunities to maximize the industry’s economic potential by promoting job training and apprenticeship programs.
Commenting on the event, Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said: “I would like to thank Senators Roy Blunt and Mark Warner for the time they have devoted to the WTTC Executive Committee. Their leadership on critical Travel & Tourism issues in the United States Senate is commendable and will help drive our mission forward.”
“We are truly living in a Golden Age of Travel, with nearly 77 million international visitors to the United States last year who spent a record-setting $251 billion,” said Chris Nassetta, Chairman of WTTC and President and CEO of Hilton.
“Senators Warner and Blunt have been great champions of Travel & Tourism because they understand the positive economic impact our industry has had on their states and the country as a whole.”
WTTC represents the global leaders of private sector Travel & Tourism companies which between them account for two-thirds of a trillion US dollars in turnover; its Executive Committee consists of the Chairs, Presidents and CEOs from companies from across the world.
UNWTO: Sustainability set to shape new standard of tourism statistics
The World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) initiative Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) received a boost last week when its working group met in Madrid (24-25 October). After successful pilot studies to produce credible and comparable data, the initiative is on track with its aim of getting the MST framework adopted as the third international standard on tourism statistics.
The group of experts creating a statistical framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism met to establish the MST initiative’s major goals for 2019. The initiative is creating a draft framework for a data standard for tourism’s impact on sustainability and plans to have it adopted as the third international standard on tourism statistics by the UN Statistics Commission (UNSC).
Among the areas of discussion during the group’s meeting on 24-25 October were summarizing the pilot studies done in Germany, Philippines and Saudi Arabia to test MST’s relevance, and which have shown feasibility of the proposed framework in three different national contexts. This means the MST framework is on track to be prepared for submission as an international standard.
For 2019 the MST working group has tasked itself with refining and documenting three statistically-based tourism indicators to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets. UNWTO is the custodian agency of these three indicators, and coordinates the development of tourism-related indicators with countries and UN agencies. The next step will then be to present this draft framework in UNWTO’s 2019 meetings of its governing bodies.
Background to the MST framework
Statistical frameworks enable countries to produce data that is credible and comparable across countries, time periods and other standards. MST is a UNWTO-led initiative for a statistical framework for tourism, supported by UNSC since March 2017. Its roadmap was set in the 6th International Conference on Tourism Statistics, held in June 2017 in Manila, Philippines.
In order to develop tourism potential, better manage the sector, and support effective evidence-based policy decisions, there is a need to better measure tourism using high-quality official statistics covering economic, social, and environmental sustainability. MST aims to expand existing tourism measurement beyond its primarily economic dimension to also measure social and environmental dimensions.
It aims to link UNSC’s System of Environmental-Economic Accounting with the Tourism Satellite Account framework, which is one of the two existing official frameworks for measuring tourism. The other is the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics. Both were developed and proposed to UNSC by UNWTO. A similar process is planned for MST.