The event was officially opened by President of the United Nations General Assembly Csaba Kőrösi, alongside President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Lachezara Stoeve.
Reflecting on the unprecedented relevance of tourism on the UN agenda, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), together with the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, Republic of Croatia and support from Ministry of Tourism, India, Chair of the G20 Tourism Working Group dialogue within the framework of the UN High-Level Political Forum on the sector’s Sustainable Development.
The high-level event further advanced UNWTO’s work in making tourism a key pillar of sustainable development, most notably through enhanced public-private partnerships.
Alongside other partners, the UN event provided a better understanding of the SDGs from the perspective of tourism and inspired further action among both government and private sector stakeholders.
The event also presented the Goa Roadmap for Tourism as a Vehicle for Achieving the SDGs developed under India’s G20 Presidency whilst raising awareness about a crucial development that is mobilising the power of data by forging a global consensus for harmonised data on the economic, social and environmental performance of tourism at international, national and destination levels.
It also outlined the benefits that private sector can bring to, and draw from, the development of harmonised Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework for tourism businesses, as well as share the key points of the recently launched “Achieving the SDGs through tourism: Toolkit of Indicators for Projects (TIPS)” developed in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as a comprehensive resource designed to guide users in aligning tourism development projects with the SDGs.
Connecting leading stakeholders, the Forum side event targeted common action between the public, private and academic sectors for the tourism sector to achieve real sustainability by focusing on the economic, social and environmental aspects in tourism as well as governance. The discussions counted on the insights of public, private and academic sector leaders from every global region, as well as key figures from within the UN.
Moderated by UNWTO Executive Director Zoritsa Urosevic, the high-level roundtable discussion featured Ministers of Tourism of Croatia, India, Jamaica, Spain and the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations, Dr. Ivan Šimonović. The Director of EasyJet Holidays, Matt Callaghan represented the private sector, while the Executive Director and co-Founder of Oxford SDG Impact Lab, Edward Brooks provided the academic perspective.
