The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Hilton and the WYSE Travel Confederation will join forces ahead of International Youth Day at the Youth General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters to highlight tourism’s capacity to empower youth.

The New York event is part of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 framework, and will focus on the tourism industry’s potential to create jobs, provide entrepreneurship opportunities, and deliver a more responsible tourism sector for today’s Youth.

Young people represent around 23% of the 1,235 million tourists travelling internationally each year. The event will discuss the contribution of this influential to world peace and a better future through sustainable tourism.

“Youth can be a powerful catalyst to advance the contribution of tourism to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 8 on economic growth and jobs, and Goal 12 on sustainable consumption and production as they can lead a transformation into a more responsible way of travelling” said Sandra Carvao,  Chief Communications at UNWTO.

Hilton and the International Youth Foundation plan to preview the latest Global Youth Wellbeing Index, revealing that young people are “plugged in,” and yet disconnected from vital skills, economic opportunities, local communities and governments. Reconnecting Youth is an urgent need at this moment in history when half of the world’s population is under 30.

“Our future depends on resilient and thriving societies, and this starts with young people. To help better understand the challenges facing Young people, Hilton collaborated with the International Youth Foundation to commission the Global Youth Wellbeing Index,” said Daniella Foster, Senior Director of Global Corporate Responsibility, Hilton. “To better equip today’s Youth for the workforce, Hilton has committed to opening our doors to one million young people by 2019. As of today, we are more than half way there.”

The Global Report on the Power of Youth Travel by UNWTO and the WYSE Travel Confederation shows that youth and student travel markets are increasingly important and resilient. It also concludes that youth travel spend more on local communities and thus represent a growing opportunity for socio-economic development.

The event will also highlight the role of tourism in the accomplishment of the SDGs, in particular for Youth, through job creation, entrepreneurship and social inclusion. It will also look into the future of tourism jobs and skills development.

Participants include leaders and influencers including:

• Sandra Carvao, Chief, Communications, UNWTO
• Daniella Foster, Senior Director of Global Corporate Responsibility, Hilton
• Russ Hedge, Representative of WYSE Travel Confederation and Hostelling International
• Susan Reichle, President, International Youth Foundation
• Kelley Louise, Executive Director, Travel SocialGood and Travel Blogger
• Shoaib Rizvi, Youth Assembly Awardee 2017

The Youth Assembly (YA) is a unique platform for fostering dialogue and generating partnerships between exceptional youth, civil society, the private sector, and the United Nations.

Session: “The Power of Youth: Making a Difference Through Sustainable Tourism”

Date: Friday, August 11

Time: 10:00am to 11:30am ET

Livestream: http://webtv.un.org/

Learn more about the event

Learn more about the Youth Assembly

Learn more about the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development